E-Smart Nursing Evolution: a Quality Health Care Obligation

by
Bassam Adlouni

As Canada pursues to keep its leadership situation in the health-care field, and to always
progress the efficacy of the health-care system, it will be vital for nurses to improve their abilities
and their use of ICT (information and communications technology) in their own practice (CAN,
2006). The result will be safer patient care and better health outcomes. Today, e-smart nursing,
a new concept that has not been used before, would be essential to be theorized, to be tested by
researchers, and to trace the effect of this phenomenon on nursing as a profession and the quality
care offered. Due to the increased availability of information and affordability of smartphone
technologies, the concept of e-smart nursing can be utilized for inter-team communication,
nursing professional continuing education, as well as, clinical resources and development
utilization.
On the other hand, nursing practice has been engorged with many technology demands; it
has become a requirement for nurses to use these technologies in order to maintain their
competencies as well as their job. Therefore, the sophisticated and fast paced progression of our
digital world may have overwhelmed some nurses, thus, refraining from utilizing it in their
practice or attending courses to develop their technology knowledge. Some teaching hospitals
like Nebraska Medical Center put plans to use iPhones by Nurses and clinicians to improve their
communication and increase efficiency (healthcare traveler, 2011). In addition, with expanded
functions and greater Internet access smartphones can be used within the nursing curriculum to
engage students and reinforce learning at any time or location (Phillippi, 2011). Downloadable
applications, subscriptions, and reference materials expand the smartphone functions even
further.
Because more nurses are using clinical references and other tools that are now available
on smartphones, it will not be long before hospitals and health systems fully embrace this
technology (Innocent K. 2011). The smartphone means nurses could access information and
share it with colleagues and patients, especially those working in remote clinics, who needed
such back-up to function optimally (Batmann, 2011). There are many applications, some are free,
that help nurses performing their jobs more efficiently such as, medical dictionary, nursing
assessment, nursing pharmacology, nursing procedures, nursing skills scenarios, anatomy and
physiology of the human body, arrhythmias, tracking the skin integrity, and more. According to
(Ardito, 2011), iMedicalapps.com sees a growing trend for new apps allowing medical
professionals to track patients vital signs (such as body temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure,
and other measurements) and to access patient records and radiology images that connect to
hospital computers. Mobile health apps are becoming a substantial business within the market,
and may be the trend of the future WebMD.
There is no doubt that m-health applications are useful, especially in developing
countries and in rural areas within developed countries where resources are scarce (Ardito,
2011). Also, it is useful for patients who find it difficult to attend medical facilities to seek

E-SMART NURSING EVOLUTION

treatment. The question now is how to apply this technology to be useful to all those in nursing,
what kind of devices and applications would be suitable and how to measure these new
approaches in ethical, cultural, and social context in the workplace environment.

E-Smart Syringe

References:
Ardito, S. C. (2011). Mobile Apps for the Health Professional. Searcher, 19(6), 46-50. Retrieved
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Bateman, Chris. "SmartPhones improving clinical outcomes." South African Medical Journal
101.1 (2011): 12+. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 25 Sep. 2011.
Better Health Care, Better Patient Outcomes: An E-Nursing Strategy. (n.d.). Retrieved
September 2011, from www.cna-nurses.ca: http://www.cnanurses.ca/CNA/documents/pdf/publications/Enursing-strategy-brochure-e.pd
Innocent, K. (2011). Tech Talk: Mobile apps for nurses. Nursing Critical Care, 5(5), 45 - 47.
Phillippi, J. C. (2011). Smartphones in Nursing Education. Computers, informatics, nursing,
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Tracking infections left by cell phones. (2011). Healthcare Traveler, 19(1), 18. Retrieved from
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