Introduction
In Ontario Canada, the use of technology in nursing has advanced with developments in ICTs where nurses are continuously taking advantage of the opportunities that ICTs present in improving the quality of service delivery in the nursing profession. According to the Registered Nurses of Ontario e-health refers to the leveraging of information and communication technology to enhance professional practice in the promotion and the facilitation of the health and wellbeing of individual and families or patients (Registered Nrseses' Association of Ontario, 2009). The importance of ICT knowhow development in the nursing profession in Ontario is in the development of awareness of nurses on the possibilities that computer technologies present in the management of healthcare. Further, it is also in essential in understanding the solutions that ICT may provide for challenges that nurses face in regard to aspects such as record keeping and information sourcing(Herbert, 1999). This paper critically analyses the place of technology in nursing specifically ICTs in the improvement of quality service delivery to patients in Ontario. It presents evidence of the challenges as well as the opportunities that ICTs pose for the nursing profession in Ontario.
The Use of ICTs in Nursing in Ontario
There are a myriad of Information Communication Technology (ICTs) that nurses have adopted in Ontario to help in mitigation of efforts that lead to the improvement of service delivery in the nursing profession. One of these applications is the nursing and Health Outcomes project in Ontario (NHOP). The main purpose of the project is to develop a means of data collection on patients’ health care. The data collected incorporated information on patients in acute care, long-term care, complex continuing care and home care settings. In all instances the project was found to be instrumental in the collection of nursing data such as functional status, therapeutic self-care, symptoms such as pain, nausea, etc. The data then becomes useful in planning for nursing services in Ontario. The success of this project in Ontario is a great opportunity for the improvement of nursing outcomes through electronic data collection. Nurses in Ontario are thus charting the way forward for other nurses in the country to emulate in regard to the application of the NHOP initiative in the management of nursing information to improve healthcare(CNA, 2006).
Fraser (2012) observes that nurses are techno literate in the sense that they are employing modern technological means in the management of communication needs either in their professional or personal lives, He adds that nurses in Ontario are in the forefront in engaging in debate on medical issues on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Moreover, he advances that the use of these communication technology applications has enhanced the nursing practice in Ontario particularly by increasing the quality of service delivery to patients.
In addition, social networks present advantages to the nursing profession and specifically to nurses in Ontario such as network connectivity that ensures nurses in Ontario are in touch with one another. More importantly, the nurses can make use of this network to develop knowledge and share information on how to improve the nursing profession and the quality of service delivery offered by nurses in Ontario. This is because each additional member to the network brings in additional knowledge and information to the variety of discussions that can take place in such online platforms in the end the information shared serves to improve the nursing profession in Ontario (Fraser, 2012).
In an investigation to explore the role that communications technology plays in family birthing centers, Ashley Prescator conducted a study in Ontario healthcare facilities that provided Neonatal Intensive Care broadcasting to families through video conferencing. The study found that the video conferencing is beneficial in promoting parental attachment to their new-born after discharge from the hospital (Preszcator, 2014). This application of communication technology in Ontario’s healthcare centers is another way that nurses in Ontario can take advantage of the possibilities that ICTs present in the better management of service delivery in the healthcare of patients in Ontario.
According to the Canadian Nurses Association (CAN), there are three main factors that are central to the adoption of ICT solutions by nurses in Ontario given the possibilities that it presents. Foremost the CAN acknowledges that Nurses must have access to ICTs so as to utilize them to their advantage. On this premise the CAN has made it its prerogative to ensure that nurses in Ontario have access to computers, internet and software that is essential in the storage and the management of nursing data (CNA, 2006).
Secondly, the CAN recognizes that access to ICTs is not all that is required to ensure that nurses can fully take advantage of the possibilities that ICTs present. This is because ICTs are constantly changing with advancements in technology. Hence, there is a growing need to equip nurses with knowledge and skills that they can apply in the effective use of ICTs to better manage the nursing profession in Ontario. For this reasons, the CAN is committed to the development of education initiatives in partnership with nursing institutions in Ontario to educate student nurses on competencies that pertain to the use of ICTs (CNA, 2006). The education of student nurses is based on advancing knowledge in informatics-a term that is used to refer to the development of information by the use of technology in ICTs aimed at improving the nursing profession in Ontario (CASN, 2014). Further, the development of knowledge in informatics in an evidence based nursing focused objectively to improve the quality of healthcare and safety of patients in Ontario serves as an effective way of ensuring that the nursing profession in Ontario delivers quality services to its clientele(CARNA, 2009).
The concerns of informatics in nursing as advanced by the Canadian Nursing Association (CAN) are four fold; first, the recognition that information management and ICTs are integral to the nursing practice. Secondly, that all registered nurses (RNs) must take a frontal role in advocating and implementing the collection, storage, retrieval and use of nursing data that generates information on patient’s outcomes. Thirdly, RNs must as well advocate for data standards and promote adoption of clinical practice care terminology with the capability to represent the patient's health data, as well as the clinical practice of all health-care providers. Finally, through development of knowledge in ICTs RNs should advocate for client-centered pan-Canadian electronic health record. Principally, these four elements informed the purpose of technical knowhow of nurses in Ontario in providing evidence based health care for patients with improved outcomes in healthcare service delivery, in Ontario’s healthcare facilities (CARNA, 2009).
Thirdly, after ensuring that nurses in Ontario have access to ICTs and that they as well have the required competencies to fully take advantage of the possibilities that the ICTs present the next objective is to ensure that nurses in Ontario fully participate in the development of knowledge and the sharing of information through ICT solutions aimed at improving nursing services in Ontario (CNA, 2006). To achieve this objective, the CAN has engaged in an ambitious initiative to develop a platform on the internet where nurses in Ontario can make contributions that would ultimately lead to the improvement of healthcare in Ontario. The CAN opened a portal dubbed NurseONE on which registered nurses of Ontario (RNO) can log in and engage in constructive debates that are aimed at improving the nursing profession in Ontario(Nursing: Nurses' association creates NurseONE online portal, 2014).
The implications of the incorporation of Information technology knowledge and use in Ontario’s nursing industry are such that it presents several advantages. Foremost, it develops appropriate information management competencies for knowledge based practice through inclusion of informatics studies in nursing formal education. As a result, nurses are able to use various data collection approaches that are appropriate to the medical case, they are handling in comprehensively completing client assessment. Secondly, nurses can make use of this information and other technologies to support their nursing practice such as are in communication with other nurses in other healthcare facilities, in Ontario. Similarly, Ontario nurses’ association can ensure the effective management of information in regard to production and storage of client files in electronic forms (CARNA, 2009).
Thirdly, an incorporation of the nursing debate in online platforms where issues relating to the challenges that the nurse’s face while working will provide an opportunity for sharing knowledge leading to the improvement of services offered to the client. Moreover, ICTs have the capacity of connecting nurses as groups where information can be shared in a community that improves the quality of nurse’s work environments and eventually, contribute to community nursing in Ontario (CNA, 2006).The successful implementation of the strategy, however, depends on three fundamental aspects. First, the CAN is concerned with the improvement of access to computer technology, secondly, to develop competencies among nurses and medics in regard to the use of ICT solutions in the profession of nursing in Ontario. Thirdly, it is concerned with the participation of the nurses in communication and information management platforms that incorporate the use of E-Nursing approaches in developing better healthcare and better patient outcomes in nursing (CNA, 2006).
Conclusion
Technology presents advantages that ease the manner in which work is done, and tasks are completed. Nursing in Ontario is no exception to the possibilities that the inclusion of technology in the management of healthcare presents. Foremost, the discussion finds that to a great extent the inclusion of technology in nursing is based on the equipment used in the treatment of patients in healthcare facilities such as incubators, stethoscopes and so on. However, the technology that the discussion identifies to be central to the improvement of service delivery in nursing are information related. The gist of technical knowhow in ICTs as the paper finds is in the development of knowledge and expertise for the development of the nursing profession in Ontario. The approach to achieving this is benched on the development of the awareness of nurses on the possibilities that computer technologies present in the management of healthcare in Ontario (Herbert, 1999). Whereas the greatest challenge to the achievement of this objective lies in access to ICT facilities the CAN in conjunction with other stakeholders has made strategic investments in addressing this challenge (CNA, 2006). Additionally, access to ICT facilities for nurses would prove ineffective if nurses are not empowered to take advantage of the solutions and possibilities that ICTs provide. Hence, another component of ensuring the effective use of ICTs by nurses is to develop nurses’ competencies in the field of informatics. Lastly, to ensure sustainability of the use of ICTs in improving the nursing profession the CAN has made it a priority to enhance nurses’ participation the NursesONE portal to network nurses ensuring that they share information on how to improve nursing in Ontario (CNA, 2006).
References
Nursing: Nurses' association creates NurseONE online portal. (2014). Retrieved 3 13, 2014, from Canadian Healthcare Technology : http://www.canhealth.com/News394.html
CARNA. (2009, March). The Role of the Registered Nurse in Health Informatics. Edmonton, Canada. Retrieved 3 13, 2014, from https://www.nurses.ab.ca/Carna-Admin//health_informatics_1.pdf
CASN. (2014). Canadian Nursing Education Conference-Anticipating and Shaping the Future of Nursing Education. Retrieved 3 13, 2014, from Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing : http://www.casn.ca/en/CanadianNursingInformaticsEducationStudyReport_76/
CNA. (2006, October). E-Nursing Strategy for Canada. Ottawa, Canada. Retrieved 3 13, 2014, from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDEQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cna-aiic.ca%2F~%2Fmedia%2Fcna%2Fpage%2520content%2Fpdf%2520en%2F2013%2F07%2F30%2F13%2F14%2Fe-nursing-strategy-2006-e.pdf&ei=lnchU4igGsSQrQezy
Fraser, R. (2012, September 30). Overview and Summary: Social Media and Communication Technology: "New Friends" in healthcare. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(3).
Herbert, M. (1999). National Informatics Project: Discussion paper. Ottawa: Canadian Nurses Association .
Preszcator, A. (2014). Exploring Communication Technology in the Family Birthing Center. Journal of Nursing.
Registered Nrseses' Association of Ontario. (2009). E-Health for Every Nurse. Retrieved 3 15, 2014, from http://www.rnao.org/ehealth/june09/index.htm
