NURS 4006 Nursing Informatics Unit 5: Telehealth

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NURS 4006Nursing InformaticsUnit 5 Telehealth
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Terminology

• Definitions of telehealth
• Telehealth or telepractice has been defined in
  several ways.
• It is often associated with a discipline such as
  Telenursing, Telemedicine, Telepsychiatry and
  Telerobotics.
• It is also often characterized by the type of
  service delivered such as Tele-triage,
  Tele-pharmacy, Tele-homecare.

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The role of the nurse in telepractice

• According to Picot (as cited by National
  Initiative for Telehealth Guidelines, 2003),
  telehealth or telepractice, is defined as
• the use of information and communications
  technology to deliver health and healthcare
  services and information over large and small
  distances.
• Nurses play a vital role in telepractice.

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The role of the nurse

• The Canadian Nurses Association (2001) supports
  the role of the nurse in telepractice and affirms
  the following position,
• nursing telepractice is a nursing-specific
  application of telehealth that includes all
  client centered forms of nursing practice and the
  provision of information, conferences and courses
  for health care professionals occurring through
  or facilitated by, the use of telecommunications
  or electronic means (p.1).

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Application of nursing process

• Nurses in telepractice use the nursing process to
  identify client needs, to provide care and to
  evaluate interventions and outcomes.
• (College of Nurses, 2004 Wheeler Windt, 1993)

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Critical thinking skills

• Critical thinking skills are an important part of
  problem solving and decision making in nursing.
• Telepractice nurses respond to unpredictable and
  complex situations.

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Communication skills

• Without face-to-face interaction, communication
  skills are paramount in delivering safe and
  effective nursing care.
• The ability to communicate effectively is central
  to establishing a nurse-client relationship over
  the telephone.

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Medico-legal issues in nursing telepractice

• Quality assurance in nursing telepractice
• Standards of nursing practice, clinical
  guidelines and quality monitoring activities are
  paramount to quality care.
• Technology is rapidly changing our world.
• Medico-legal issues are raised because the care
  is delivered over distance via technology.
• Awareness of privacy and confidentiality
  considerations, legal implications that can arise
  from the assessment and the practice as a whole
  is essential.

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Avoiding the legal pitfalls
Quality Improvements
Clinical Guidelines Policies Procedures
Scope of Practice Standards of Practice
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References

• Canadian Nurses Association. (2001). The role of
  the nurse in telepractice. Ottawa CNA.
• Canadian Nurses Association. (2003). Privacy and
  health information challenges for nurses and for
  the nursing profession. Ethics in Practice for
  Registered Nurses. Ottawa CNA. Retrieved on June
  22, 2004, http//www.cna-aiic.ca/_frames/issuestre
  nds/issuestrendsframe.htm
• College of Nurses of Ontario. (2004). Practice
  guidelines Telephone practice. Toronto ON.
  Retrieved on June 22, 2004, http//www.cno.org/doc
  s/prac/41041_telephone.pdf

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References

• Mitchell, S. Brown, A. (2002). Performance
  measurement data Is it fit for use? Data Quality
  Initiatives at CIHI. Canadian Institute for
  Health Information, Retrieved on June 19, 2004,
  http//secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/en/downloads/quality
  _perforamancepaper_e.pdf.
• National Initiative for Telehealth Guidelines.
  (2003). National Initiative for Telehealth
  (NIFTE) framework of guidelines. Ottawa ON.
• Wheeler, S.Q. Windt, J.H. (1993). Telephone
  triage Theory, practice and protocol
  development. Albany NY Delmar Publishers