COVID-19 has had an alarming impact on healthcare. Restrictions are in place to provide safety to healthcare workers and patients. Although these restrictions are a safe guard to prevent the spread of the virus, it can be problematic for those who are need to be seen by a practitioner. Telemedicine uses technology to provide care for patients while still implementing the necessary safety measures. This area of virtual health allows practitioners to assess, diagnose, treat, and evaluate patients. Telemedicine can involve interdisciplinary the team, including registered nurses, to care for patients. This use of medicine also allows the patient to become more involved in their care, as they can access their record on records through the electronic health record (EHR) (Hebda et al., 2019, p. 384). This use of technology is not only beneficial during the pandemic, but for health access all around, and be used in multiple areas of healthcare.

From recent experience, I had to use telemedicine for an appointment with my primary care doctor. I have never used this before, so at first I was unsure what to do. However, with the help of the registered nurse, she was able to guide me through it with ease. As a registered nurse myself, I will need to familiarize myself with this technology, as it is becoming more prevalent outside of healthcare facilities and into patient’s homes. I will need to be able assist patients in using the application and collect pertinent information via a computer and/or phone screen. According to Baker and Stanley (2018) “lack of support will make a platform seem unfriendly and unusable and will make program adoption incredibly difficult to drive” (p 5). Telemedicine can be challenging in nursing, as some assessments may require more assistance from the patient. For example, if a patient has a complaint with coughing, I will have to use more open ended questions since I cannot use a stethoscope to evaluate the lungs.

Using Telemedicine in healthcare can potentially create fear whose who worry about their privacy. For such technology to be HIPAA compliant, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, systems must “include data encryption, log in controls, and auditing ability” (Baker & Stanley, 2018, p. 1). Baker and Stanley (2018), also recommend for facilities to contact their legal team to conclude if a Business Associate Agreement (BAA), or a contract owning responsibility, is needed. Technology is always changing and at times it can be difficult to keep up. With such a diverse patient population, we need to ensure healthcare has options for accessibility in the world of telemedicine.

Danielle P. Smith

References

Baker, J., & Stanley, A. (2018). Telemedicine technology: A review of services, equipment, and other aspects. Current Allergy and Asthma Reports, 18(11). doi:10.1007/s11882-018-0814-6

Hebda, T., Hunter, K., & Czar, P. (2019). Handbook of informatics for nurses & healthcare professionals (6th ed.). Pearson.

Discussion: Issues and Trends that Affect Health Informatics

In 1–2 paragraphs, describe issues and trends that affect health informatics. What is the current state of affairs in in general? For example, most facilities have implemented an electronic health record system, but interoperability with their other systems may be an issue. As a nursing informaticist change agent, how can you address these types of concerns in your field?

Discussion: Issues and Trends that Affect Health Informatics

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You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

• The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument. Discussion: Issues and Trends that Affect Health Informatics

Discussion: Issues and Trends that Affect Health Informatics

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.