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HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE EVOLUTION OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS

IN NURSING PRACTICE AND NURSING EDUCATION

Output: Discuss the current innovations, technological breakthroughs and advanced modalities in clinical nursing practice

and nursing education.

Nursing is the profession that assumes responsibility for the continuous care of the sick, the injured, the disabled, and the

dying. Nursing is also responsible for encouraging the health of individuals, families, and communities in medical

and community settings. 

The history of professional nursing begins with Florence Nightingale in the mid-19th century where she had the opportunity to

test her beliefs during Britain’s Crimean War. Soldiers were sickened by infectious diseases arising from poor sanitary conditions.

Nightingale and her nurses had reorganized the barracks hospital in accordance with 19th-century science: proper sanitation, good

ventilation, nourishing food prepared and served, and medications and treatments efficiently administered. By the end of the 19th

century, the entire Western world shared Nightingale’s belief in the worth of educated nurses.
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For centuries, most nursing of the sick had taken place at home and had been the responsibility of families, friends, and

respected community members with reputations as effective healers. As urbanization and industrialization spread, those without

families to care for them found themselves in hospitals where the quality of nursing care varied enormously. Hospitals established

their own training schools for nurses. In exchange for lectures and clinical instructions, students provided the hospital with two or

three years of skilled free nursing care. This hospital-based educational model had significant long-term implications. Nurses

transformed hospitals. In addition to the skilled, compassionate care they gave to patients, they established an orderly, routine, and

systemized environment within which patients healed. They administered increasingly complicated treatments and experimented with

different models of nursing interventions that humanized increasingly technical and impersonal medical procedures.

In the early 20th century, the newly discovered “germ theory” of disease (the knowledge that many illnesses were caused

by bacteria) caused considerable alarm in countries around the world. Nurses cared for infected patients in the patients’ homes and

taught families and communities the measures necessary to prevent spreading the infection. More important, they successfully sought

licensing protection for the practice of registered nursing.

Nursing’s educational structure also changed. Dependence on hospital-based training schools declined, and those schools were

replaced with collegiate programs either in community or technical colleges or in universities. In addition, more systematic and

widespread programs of graduate education began to emerge. These programs prepare nurses not only for roles in management and

education but also for roles as clinical specialists and nurse practitioners.
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During the second half of the 20th century, nurses responded to rising numbers of sick patients with innovative reorganizations

of their patterns of care. For example, critical care units in hospitals began when nurses started grouping their most critically ill

patients together to provide more effective use of modern technology.

Globally, there are fundamental shifts in science and technological advancements in response to the rapidly changing and

increasingly crowded world where the public demands for effective and responsive health care system in the 21st century. As more of

the population ages, as life expectancy increases, and as the nursing shortage continues, these new medical technologies are crucial for

continued patient care, and the health care system at large.

Healthcare and nursing education have been affected by such changes. The Nursing faculty must design a dynamic curriculum

that deals with the explosion of information, the complexity of the healthcare system, and optimal patient outcomes while addressing

the diverse expectations of learners. Information management and interactive technology facilitates learner engagement, promoting

critical thinking and improving clinical judgment. Fundamental to inclusion of technology in nursing education is information literacy

and informatics. To prepare nurses for the challenge of the complex, dynamic healthcare environment, the faculty envisioned curricula

infused with technological innovations.

Nurses have become capable of adapting to these changes; utilizing and familiarizing with the wide complexity of technology

over the years. Technology has many benefits, but there are huge gaps in technology accessibility and training in nurse education and

health settings, and challenges. All these changes and challenges must include understandings about how technology will impact the
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well-being of patients, clinicians, learners, and educators. The nursing profession finds many of these new medical technologies help

them with routine processes, and can decrease human mistakes and errors that can come from too few nurses, working long hours,

with too many patients. While nurses agree that new healthcare technology and innovative medical devices can help them, they are

also largely in agreement that technology shouldn’t replace day-to-day human interactions. There are stand out technologies

transforming medical care, and as nurses are educated about new medical technologies and practices, patients and providers benefit

such as: Automated IV Pumps, Portable Monitor Equipment, Smart Beds, Wearable Devices and Mobile Apps, Electronic Health

Records (EHR), Centralized Command Centers and Telehealth. 

Working directly with patients is a huge element of healthcare, and nurses provide a crucial element of interaction that allows

patients to feel at ease. Working with families, explaining procedures, and helping to take a patient’s mind off of their sickness are all

part of nursing jobs. Many healthcare professionals worry that increased healthcare technology could try to remove that human

element. Unlike other sectors, the human interaction in healthcare is crucial for patient success. It’s critical to find the right balance

between technology and the human nuances that make nursing and healthcare successful. Professionals also largely agree there

shouldn’t be an over-reliance on healthcare software and technology, and that human eyes on symptoms and needs should be as

important as what healthcare technology is saying. While technological advancements aren’t a cure-all as healthcare solutions, new

technology is changing the way nurses work in positive ways.

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In the online journal of Huston, C., (May 31, 2013) "The Impact of Emerging Technology on Nursing Care: Warp Speed

Ahead" OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 18, No. 2, Manuscript 1., seven emerging technologies that will change

the practice of nursing were discussed such as genetics and genomics; less invasive and more accurate tools for diagnosis and

treatment; 3-D printing; robotics; biometrics; electronic health records; and computerized physician/provider order entry and clinical

decision support.

Benefits discussed were the following: a) Genetics and Genomics: The majority of disease risk, health conditions and the

therapies used to treat those conditions have a genetic and/or genomic element influenced by environmental, lifestyle, and other

factors therefore impacting the entire nursing profession; b) Less Invasive and More Accurate Tools for Diagnostics and Treatment:

Non-invasive and minimally invasive tools for diagnostics and treatment generally result in lower patient risk and cost; c) 3-D

Printing: Bioprinters, using a "bio- ink" made of living cell mixtures can build a 3D structure of cells, layer by layer, to form human

tissue and eventually human organs for replacement; d) Robotics: Robotics can provide improved diagnostic abilities; a less invasive

and more comfortable experience for the patient; and the ability to do smaller and more precise interventions. In addition, robots can

be used as adjunct care providers for some physical and mental health care provision; e) Biometrics: Biometrics increase the security

of confidential healthcare information and eliminate the costs of managing lost passwords; f) Electronic Healthcare Records (EHR):

Healthcare providers have access to critical patient information from multiple providers, literally 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,

allowing for better coordinated care; g) Computerized Physician/Provider Order; Entry (CPOE) and Clinical Decision Support: CPOE
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and clinical decision support fundamentally change the ordering process resulting in lower costs, reduced medical errors, and more

interventions based on evidence and best practices.

The advances in information technology and new devices have improved the quality of life for patients and healthcare

professionals. With emerging technologies in telehealth and electronic recordkeeping, patients have more accessibility to their data

than ever before. In the nursing field, technology allows RNs to improve efficiency and communicate more effectively.

The nursing profession also has been strengthened by its increasing emphasis on national and international work in developing

countries and by its advocacy of healthy and safe environments. The international scope of nursing is supported by the World Health

Organization (WHO), which recognizes nursing as the backbone of most health care systems around the world.

Indeed, technology is changing the world at warp speed and nowhere is this more evident than in healthcare settings.
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References

Langley, G.J., Moen, R.D., Nolan, K.M., Nolan, T.W., Norman, C.L., & Provost, L.P. The
improvement guide: A practical approach to enhancing organization performance, 2nd
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WHO guidelines on hand hygiene in health care: a summary. (2015, April 5). Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/gpsc/information_centre/hand-hygiene-summary/en/.

Patterson, C.E. (May/June 2015) Basic Principles of Infection control. Nursing Made Incredibly
Easy. Volume 13(Number 13), 28–37. Retrieved from
https://www.nursingcenter.com/cearticle?an=00152258-201505000-00007

Guide to Infection Prevention for Outpatient Settings: Minimum Expectations for Safe Care.
(2014, September 9). Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/hai/settings/outpatient/outpatient-care-guidelines.html.