NURS 3001 - Issues and Trends in Nursing

NURS 3001 – Issues and Trends in Nursing Case Study Paper

In any healthcare profession, advances in technology, changes in patient population, and current events can have an impact on the job and on patient outcomes. Nurses are often on the front lines of these types of shifts, so it is always worth considering the pervasive healthcare trends that are both internal and external to patients and service providers. Take a look at these ten nursing trends to get a clear picture of where nursing is headed in 2015.

NURS 3001 – Issues and Trends in Nursing Case Study Paper Sample Solution:

A Shift in DemographicsIt should come as no surprise to any nurse that the U.S. population is aging. In fact, by 2020 more than 20% of the population in this country will be over the age of 65 and adults over the age of 85 are the fastest growing age group overall. As people age, they have a greater need for healthcare. For nurses, this means not only familiarizing themselves with the diagnoses and issues that affect older adults at a greater rate, but also learning how best to communicate with older adults and their families about care plans, preventative healthcare, and healthy aging.
Preventative CareSpeaking of preventative care, it is another focal point for the future of healthcare.
Patients as well as health insurance providers and increasingly interested in engaging in preventative measures to live a sustainably healthy life and work to prevent future issues. For nurses, this means an increased demand for services in this area, as well as more interfacing with other healthcare professionals, such as nutritionists, physical therapists, and other professionals that work in careers ancillary to direct care but effective in preventative health.
Consumer EducationBy now, most nurses have likely experienced the impact of increased consumer education. Now more than ever patients are going to their appointments armed with lots of information about the symptoms, conditions, and possible treatments. This information can come from a variety of sources, ranging from the internet to television commercials. While having educated healthcare consumers can certainly be helpful in many ways, the burden also falls to nurses to be able to sort that information into valuable and specious.
Increased Insurance AccessWith the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), millions more Americans have access to health insurance. For working nurses and those studying to enter the field, this means tremendous continuing opportunity. It also means addressing the healthcare challenges that may face individuals who have lived without health insurance for many years and are finally able to bring their concerns to healthcare professionals.
Continued Growth in TechnologyIncreased access to technology has been among the most important nursing trends for many years running, but it continues to be an important aspect of the job. In 2015, nurses can expect to see a continued reliance on portable and mobile technology as well as an emphasis on medicine, particularly in rural and under served areas. Nurses will need to be comfortable with constantly changing technologies so that they can choose the best care options for their patients, and also be able to intelligently interface with medical technologists.

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The Latest Trends and Technology in Nursing 2018

Patient Engagement. As with most industry trends, nurses are on the front lines of patient engagement efforts. If you haven’t already been exposed to the concept, patient engagement is the practice of a patient taking more responsibility for their own health and well-being. When providers and patients work together, health outcomes are improved. New technologies are being developed to support patient engagement, and nurses are finding themselves more involved in helping evolve engagement efforts for their patients.

Precision Medicine. Another newer concept that will ultimately involve nurses providing direct care to patients, Precision Medicine, refers to the advancement of medical research that targets how certain diseases impact people differently based on their genetic makeup. It may include different treatments for certain types of cancers based on the genetics of the tumor. Precision medicine is an acknowledgment that healthcare is never one-size-fits-all and treatments are being adapted to the individual rather than the disease.

Centralized Command Centers. Inspired by NASA, many hospitals are implementing command centers that serve as a “mission control” for all of the services and functions related to patient care. Today’s nurses are finding themselves able to interact with a second set of eyes and also have help in managing daily bottlenecks. These command centers are also being utilized for central monitoring of patients to overcome alarm fatigue from the 90% of hospital alarms that aren’t actionable. The centers utilize complex algorithms and analytics to assist nurses in making real-time decisions to improve quality of care and reduce costs.

Smarter Smartphones? All of us are already using our smartphones for just about everything we track, post, and read lately, so nurses using them for their work is not surprising. One example of ways that nurses are able to use their smartphone is called Steth IO, which turns your phone into a modernized stethoscope. A special case is attached to your iPhone (not yet available for Android) and channels the sounds of a patient’s heart and breathing into the microphone. The Steth IO app then digitizes the heartbeat into a graph on the phone screen to record and enable easier detection of abnormal heart sounds.

NURS 3001 – Issues and Trends in Nursing Case Study Paper

Overcoming Language Barriers. As our nation’s population becomes more diverse, nurses are finding themselves in more frequent situations where patients speak a language other than English. This often leads to another nurse who speaks the language being brought in to translate. By September of this year, a hand-held, two-way voice translator, The Pocket, will be available to translate up to 63 languages in real time. Working via Wi-Fi, mobile data, or a personal hotpot, the translator transfers speech to text on the screen and relays responses verbally. Nurses will also be able to save up to 20 exchanges to assist with post-visit notes and charting.

Nursing Trends to Watch

Nursing is always changing—sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. It’s helpful to step back once in a while and look at of some of the biggest developments in the field to know what’s ahead so you can be prepared to face new challenges and continue to thrive in your nursing career.