Technological advancements continuously improve our quality of life while allowing for enhanced skill-building. Education is now more effective, convenient, and advanced than ever before, and the field of nursing is no exception.
Through tech-enabled e-learning tools, students enrolled in postgraduate nursing courses can enhance their clinical skills to better prepare for real-life healthcare practice after school. Consequently, universities are embracing online learning to bridge the gap between theory and practice and to increase their student capacities so all qualified applicants can be trained efficiently amidst the nursing shortage.
These innovations allow aspiring nurses to learn interdisciplinary skills so professionals can collaborate to share their knowledge, skills, and expertise in hospitals for effective patient care. Continue reading this article to learn about the emerging technologies that are reshaping nursing education.
1. Virtual Simulations and Virtual Reality
Virtual simulation technology uses highly immersive and 3D visuals to give you a realistic experience of medical procedures and situations. Virtual reality (VR) simulation labs expose students to the complications and risks they might encounter in real-world clinical settings. This hands-on experience helps you build confidence to work in a clinic and develop cognitive and practical skills.
VR facilities provide you with a hybrid learning environment that you can access conveniently anywhere, anytime; this broadens the horizons of learning and practice. It also relieves the burden on learning facilities as more students can gain clinical hands-on training with a combination of on-campus and online activities, even with limited space and resources. Additionally, researchers have conducted studies to explore the effectiveness of VR simulations in training nurses with improved learning outcomes of skill performance, critical thinking, and self-confidence.
2. Electronic Health Records (EHR)
An EHR is a digital patient charting system with the benefits of improved efficiency and reduced risk of medical and human errors. Nursing schools are now introducing electronic records at their campuses to prepare students for advanced clinical experience and capacitate them with the knowledge and skills of informatics when they join the healthcare workforce. Teaching the operation of EHR at the postgraduate level has decreased the training time and expenditure of new nurses at professional clinics.
3. Mobile Health Devices
M-Health technologies are a convenient solution for patients and healthcare workers alike. These wireless devices track, monitor, and manage patients without in-person interactions between the nurses and patients. Examples include:
- Blood pressure monitors
- Blood glucose monitors
- Pulse oximeters
- Temperature monitors
- Smart inhalers
- ECG monitors
- Smart contact lenses
- Sleep trackers
Knowledge of health devices prepares students to work in collaborative, interdisciplinary teams and provide their patients living in remote areas with holistic treatment without frequent hospital visits. Additionally, such gadgets make it possible to efficiently monitor patients with post-surgical symptoms or chronic disease so nurses can intervene timely in case of any complications.
4. Virtual Escape Room
One of the more fun innovations in nursing schools is the introduction of virtual escape rooms. These are alternative study resources to textbooks and help students learn in non-conventional, interactive ways.
Here, students get a game-like scenario of a clinic where they must work with their team, applying their textbook knowledge to gain valuable insights into the clinical settings. This gamification of learning avoids burnout in nursing students.
Endnote
Introducing the technologies listed above in nursing schools will help healthcare facilities provide patients with improved patient-centered care and treatment. Adaptation of the latest systems in our hospitals and having highly trained nurses to operate them will give rise to updated health facilities and effective disease management. It also opens opportunities for nurses to specialize in remote patient monitoring and telemedicine, allowing them to advance in their professional careers.
