Nursing Essay -- Health Care, Medical Technology

In this era of increasing medical technology, changing modes of communication and the expansion of nursing professional roles, ethical, legal and social issues in nursing are increasing. Nurses operate in situations that put them under ethical, legal and social challenges on a daily basis. These issues are linked to legislative changes and ethics of medical technologies geared towards helping nurses to provide better healthcare, for patients. They govern issues of confidentiality, practice, medical issues and the expectations the society has put on nurses. The nursing profession has had radical development and change since its inception. Technology has contributed much to the development of nursing as a profession Changing societal population demographics, the increase of complex knowledge in healthcare and increasing gaps in the nursing profession have made healthcare professionals and managers to call for an overhaul of the healthcare system (Cowen & Moorhead, 2006). Most recommendations advocating for change in nursing profession propose an increased use of technology that can make nursing practice more efficient. Information technology has the capacity to perform more than simple efficiency increase. Information technology is viewed as a part of the change in healthcare delivery as opposed to the automation of existing processes. This means that it has the potential to change nursing processes within institutions and create a favorable care relationship between nurses and patients. The adoption of technology in the nursing profession, specifically, within the workplace has been possible because of the interactions between technical skills, workplace culture and social support. Nursing requ ires information technology to prom... ...se of information technology, in their practice. Information technology issues should apply in nursing practice to help nurses respond appropriately in the betterment of health care. Conclusion Information technology has helped transform nursing profession over years. It has helped develop the professional into a unique and distinct profession. Nursing profession is significant in the society because it deals with the health issues. Therefore, information technology issues help in ensuring that patients get appropriate health care and nurses work in favorable working conditions. The improvements made to information technology issues have contributed to the betterment of the profession, over the years. Therefore, nurses must embrace information technology and make use of future developments in nursing profession because they play an essential role in practice.