Application of Theory to Nursing Practice, Administration, Education and Research
As our world evolves rapidly especially in the aspect of technology, the nursing practice adapts to this evolution as well with the innovation of different machines, equipment and processes that are being used in the clinical settings nowadays. These advancements in technology play a vital role in the care, diagnosis and management of our patients. But how can our nursing practice, administration, education and research adapt to these advancements? Can we still make our patients feel the care that they need from us while having these technologies available?
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Technology is defined as something that makes things efficient. In the clinical setting, nurses are faced with various technological innovations. Year by year, more machines are being introduced and it gets more complex than the last. These advances are meant to help nurses to monitor and deliver nursing care to their patients. In the light of these developments, can these machines take the place of the nurse?
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As R. Locsin’s Theory of Technological Competency as Caring in Nursing emphasizes that a human being is more than just the sum of its parts, nurses should not look only on a specific symptom or manage a patient based on a pathology, but rather look more closely into the integrity of the patient as a whole. One physician I know of would always say, “Treat the patient, not the laboratory results”. This strengthens the fact that nurses should not only focus on what they see from the monitors, but examine the patient themselves. We nurses should learn how to enter the world of our patients to know them very well with the intent to care and authentic presence. We have to understood very well what is meaningful to them. With this, technologies is our aid to help us know our patients more fully.
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All these advancements we have nowadays are indispensable. Technology is our aid, a tool we can use to enhance the nursing care we deliver. It enables nurses to establish a ‘greater sense of knowing’, a thorough and in-depth understanding of the patient. This equipment should be our bridge to link us closer to our patients and allow them to take part in their care. For instance, taking vital signs is a basic nursing function, but why do we hook patients to cardiac monitors? This is so that nurses may educate their patients thus leading to doing care ‘with’ the patient, instead of ‘for’ the patient.
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Nursing schools have become so advanced as well, with the availability of nursing mannequins that the students can practice nursing skills on. But regardless the number of times the student nurse had practiced, it can never replace the actual bedside exposure. As we always say that each patient is unique, therefore no two situations will ever be alike. Students still should learn how to establish rapport with the patient and look at him holistically, and not just some set of procedures to be accomplished.
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Moving forward, with the development of artificial intelligence or maybe a ‘robonurse’ in the years to come, these machines can help nurses, but never replace them. Since the core of Nursing is caring, there shall always be that demand for emotional connection and empathy for the patient. These are still, I may say are human functions. Locsin stresses in this theory that Caring and Technology shall coexist. He amplifies the importance of the co-existence of these technologies and caring in nursing and how us nurses remain relevant amidst the rapid technological advancement. Machines cannot exist without nurses that control them, and nurses need these machines to care for the patient. It is important that as we care for our patient, we must not just know how to use the available technologies but we need to be competent in using it. Care and technologies goes hand in hand in achieving the purpose of nursing which is patient satisfaction in our care. That being said, evaluation of nurses on their technological competency should be explored.
