Gone are the days in which patients must come to a healthcare facility to monitor and track all follow-up or routine care. Whether it is tracking blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, blood sugar levels, activity levels, or even oxygen levels, technology has advanced the way in which healthcare is delivered, tracked, and monitored. Additionally, patients may even find themselves in front of a computer screen or mobile device to speak with a provider, versus sitting in an office.

These advancements have addressed a practice gap and improve patient care by enhancing accessibility and availability. However, might these advancements also hinder patient care or healthcare delivery? What are the implications of these advancements, and what barriers might they present to nursing practice?

This week, you will explore and analyze digital medicine. You will consider potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on digital medicine, as well as explore potential  implementation barriers with digital medicine, while suggesting strategies to overcome these barriers.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Evaluate impact of COVID-19 on digital medicine
• Analyze how wearables, devices, and telehealth contribute to Big Data
• Analyze implementation barriers for digital medicine in healthcare organizations and nursing practice
• Recommend strategies for addressing implementation barriers for digital medicine
• Justify implementation strategies to a nursing informatics project*
• Analyze implementation and progress tracking of a nursing informatics project*
• Synthesize lessons learned from implementing a nursing informatics project*

* Assigned in Week 6 of Module 3 and submitted in Week 9 of Module 4

Learning Resources

Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)

Optional Resources (click to expand/reduce)

Discussion: Digital Medicine: Mobile Devices, Wearables, Telehealth, Telemedicine – The Impact of COVID-19 on Technology Advances

• Preparing for her run, Susan tightened her fitness watch on her wrist. After experiencing and having received treatment for a heart arrhythmia, Susan was encouraged to wear the watch that not only would alert her if she experienced an irregular heartbeat, but the device would also report the findings to her medical team. Susan felt comfortable going on her run, knowing her device would monitor her heart.

• Photo Credit: Getty Images/Westend61

Digital medicine has changed how patients monitor their health. These advancements have allowed patients to take an active role with increased control and agency over their healthcare and well-being. Digital medicine has also allowed patients to communicate with healthcare providers in different ways that help to facilitate ongoing, continuous, and real-time conversations that lead to data-informed treatment approaches and healthcare plans. Thus, these advancements have shifted and changed how healthcare is offered and practiced both for the patient and healthcare provider.

For this Discussion, you will explore the use of digital medicine in healthcare organizations and nursing practice. Reflect on the use, implementation, and the barriers for digital medicine and consider how these devices have changed, or will continue to change, healthcare organizations and nursing practice.

To Prepare

• Review the Learning Resources associated with digital medicine.
• Consider the use, implementation, and barriers of digital medicine for healthcare organizations and nursing practice.

By Day 3 of Week 6

Post a cohesive response to the following:

• Explain whether COVID-19 has impacted the use or non-use of digital medicine. Be specific.
• Explain how wearables, devices, and telehealth may contribute to Big Data.
• What are some of the challenges you might have faced during implementation of digital medicine in your healthcare organization or nursing practice?
• What are some of the challenges identified in the “Turning the Body Into a Wire” article by Sen, Maity, & Das (2020)?
• Recommend at least two strategies for overcoming these challenges/barriers now and in the future. Be specific and provide examples.

By Day 5 of Week 6

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses and respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days. Expand upon your colleague’s posting or offer an alternative perspective on the use of digital medicine.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 6 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 3 of Week 6 and Respond by Day 5 of Week 6

To Participate in this Discussion:

Week 6 Discussion

Assignment: Developing a Small Nursing Informatics Project for Your Organization, Part 2: Implementation (Continued)

• In these next 2 weeks—Weeks 6 and 7—you might implement your small nursing informatics project or propose how you might implement your small nursing informatics project for your healthcare organization or nursing practice. Specifically, you will examine how to apply the 10 tracking documents developed in Part 1. Remember, the goal of this project is to demonstrate, through the project, your understanding of nursing informatics. Track your project to make sure the implementation is going as planned. Activities to track with application of tools:

• Photo Credit: auremar / Adobe Stock

• Is the project staying within scope? (Scope)
• Were all of the gaps identified? (Gap Analysis)
• Is the project following the timeline? (Project timeline)
• If you had a budget, is it on track?
• Were all of the work activities correctly assigned? (WBS)
• Are team members responsible? (RACI)
• Did the project start on time, inline to meet due date? (Gantt)
• Are you holding weekly status meetings and documented all activities? Are all team members in attendance and communicated with? (Communication Plan)
• Are all changes approved and documented? (Change Management Plan)
• Are all risks identified, prioritized, and assigned an owner and mitigation plan developed? (Risk Management Plan)

Using these activities, begin to develop and compile the final paper, discussing the plan for implementation and tracking project progress with your manager who will provide oversight for your project. If you do not have time to fully implement your project due to constraints discussed with your manager and Instructor, continue to write it up and submit it as if you were implementing. Be sure to document and justify why you could not actually implement your project and discuss the constraints.

Part 2 is due by Day 7 of Week 9.

You are not required to submit this assignment this week.

What’s Coming Up in Module 4?

Next module, you will continue your exploration of nursing informatics and focus on computer science methodologies and the social determinants of health data. You will also explore innovative tools and consider the future of healthcare.

Next Module