Access to healthcare has become even more critical than ever. The COVID-19 surge did not stop healthcare workers from fulfilling their oath and addressing medical concerns quickly and appropriately.
Telehealth is not a novel idea; it has been around since the 1960s when the military in war-torn places and astronauts in space needed medical guidance for their afflictions. At the beginning of COVID-19, telehealth had a value of $50 billion and is forecasted to balloon to $460 billion by 2030.
With the uncertainty of the current situation and the health risk of exposure to the virus, many medical professionals prefer to perform patient assessments and evaluations remotely.
As COVID-19 reshaped American healthcare, interoperability showed real progress with care providers using shared health intelligence more than ever to make care better, safer and more cost-effective, according to the Surescripts 2021 National Progress Report. The report shows how the Surescripts network helped inform billions of healthcare decisions—making prescriptions more affordable, boosting medication adherence, simplifying the specialty medication experience, and fortifying care management processes.
Tom Skelton
“This year’s National Progress Report demonstrates nationwide momentum toward interoperable, digital health intelligence sharing,” explained Tom Skelton, chief executive officer of Surescripts. “By leveraging the Surescripts network, healthcare professionals of all kinds are getting clinical intelligence at the right time, in the right place, so that they have the trusted insights they need to serve patients.”
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) announced that Intermountain Healthcare has become the first organization in the world to earn Triple Stage 7 designation under new requirements, the highest level of achievement on how health systems are improving care using digital tools.
HIMSS is a global nonprofit organization that measures and validates healthcare organizations based on how they use electronic medical records to improve patient outcomes.
Diego Ize-Ludlow, MD
“The Triple Stage 7 recognition from HIMSS validates the hard work our teams have put into using technology to make it easier to improve care and scale best practices,” said Diego Ize-Ludlow, MD, chief health information officer for Intermountain Healthcare. “We continue to push the envelope of technology to deliver the highest value and to develop the future models of care.”
This groundbreaking work was utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic when Intermountain came up with a self-testing system which didn’t require patient interaction. Patients could book an appointment online, find a testing site, and receive digital results for a self-collect saliva test. Caregivers also designed an automated testing letter patients could share with their employer.
Nursing is a profession dedicated to caring for people to restore their health and improve their quality of life. The world realized the need for nursing as a profession during times of wars, sickness and famine. Due to numerous injuries and diseases, more attention was needed to nursing the afflicted.
Nursing grew rapidly in 20th and the 21st centuries. The causes were the two world wars, greater appreciation of nursing globally, and the pandemics: Spanish influenza and currently ongoing covid-19 pandemic.
The following are likely to be the trends in nursing in 2022.
1. Greater demand for nurses
There might be greater demand for nurses in 2022 because of many factors. These include:
COVID-19
This pandemic has resulted in an overflooding of hospitals and other medical facilities in the worst affected areas. Many patients were rushed to hospitals or had to self-isolate in their homes. Nurses cared for them in hospital wards and performed PCR tests at homes. Additionally, some nurses quit during these stressful times because of burnout. Hence, the demand for nurses has increased substantially.
Ageing Population
The population of developed countries is aging because the old, on average, live longer due to more and more healthcare facilities. This phenomenon causes the nursing demand to grow annually. More nurses are needed to attend to the elderly in hospitals and old homes.
Retiring Nurses
Many nurses will also retire, propelling demand even further, causing a shortage of nurses. Nurses have been leaving hospital jobs for outpatient clinics and employment in the insurance sector.
These trends show that nursing will be in high demand throughout 2022 and the subsequent years. If you are looking for a career in specialized nursing, check programs such as an AGACNP master’s degree.
Nursing burnout has been called a pandemic second to COVID-19, and it’s co-terrorizing society with its consequences for healthcare. Exhausted, overburdened medical professionals cannot be expected to do their best work. Yet pandemic conditions have often forced untenable hours on medical staff. Fortunately, however, innovations in technology and healthcare support are changing the playing field.
By allowing for remote work options in the medical field, opening up automation potential, and streamlining communication across healthcare, tech is relieving stress and labor. This acts as a buffer against burnout at a time when it is most needed.
Technology and other healthcare supports make working in healthcare a better experience. As a result, medical professionals are getting much-needed disruptions in their work processes that translate to reduced rates of burnout. Explore these technologies and what they offer healthcare workers.
Making Remote Care Possible
One of the most groundbreaking tech trends of the COVID-era has been telehealth. These virtual care options connect doctors to patients from wherever they can safely and privately conduct a screening. From here, all kinds of positive disruptions are emerging. Paired with point-of-care (POC) tech, remote patient monitoring is more accessible than it has ever been. But how does this prevent burnout in healthcare workers?
Telehealth options for care professionals have been vital in keeping a reserve staff safe from COVID exposure while others fight on the front lines. Additionally, it can work as a means of allowing workers distance from the job without sacrificing their time and talents. That’s because technology currently supports all manner of virtual services. These include:
By Milica Vojnic, business development associate, Wisetek.
Cybercrimes are on the rise across the Internet and the healthcare sector is certainly no different in terms of the risks. This is why storing patient data in a confidential manner is extremely important. Let us take a look at some effective practices as well as what benefits such methods entail.
Make Employees Aware of Potential Threats
In-house training is arguably one of the most important steps. Medical staff should be properly educated in regard to how data should be stored, collated and shared. Even simple mistakes can lead to serious security concerns, so this ground-up strategy will be quite effective.
Implement Access Control Points
Who will be provided with proprietary access to private patient data? Management needs to create layered access control points so that only specific individuals can retrieve sensitive information. While SSL encryption is a powerful tool, other methods such as two-factor authentication are equally valuable to employ.
Have you finally decided to advance your career? If so, this is the right place for you to be. After being in a profession for some time, it is natural to feel stagnant and bored with the same routine and job responsibilities.
A career direction rejuvenates your career and makes you more energetic and excited to perform your new roles and responsibilities. Bedside care nurses perform recurring activities every day, so excelling in your career is an excellent way to offload the monotony of your job. When you advance in nursing, meeting new people and performing meaningful roles comes with it.
Evolving your nursing career through educational advancement
For growing in your profession, taking an interest in new educational avenues might suit you the most. Besides, the nursing field is quite different from others. There are more career opportunities for skilled individuals than in any other career. If you have spent some time exploring new educational degrees in nursing, you will know there is a long list of degrees that you can pursue. But the most frequently recommended degree is a BSN qualification which corresponds to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
Why go for a BSN degree?
Most RNs go for a BSN degree after their diploma qualification. According to 2018 estimates, 57% of the nurses have BSN or higher education. Getting higher education in nursing has been rising for a few years, but it showed an upsurge due to the recent pandemic. But if you ask why earning a bachelor’s in nursing is worth it, the answer is straightforward. A BSN nurse has more theoretical and practical knowledge of the nursing field. Their curriculum is designed to impart students with the most recent trends and information in nursing.
BSN students are better prepared to analyze patient data, forecast patient outcomes, understand evidence-based practices, and promote patient safety. In addition, they learn to work around patients with novel infections and administer innovative treatments and procedures.
As a BSN student, you are viewed as more qualified and respected than other medical professionals. Other benefits include:
Many people with hearing loss benefit from wearing hearing aids and using other technology. Permanent hearing loss can’t be cured but it can be treated with the right tools and aids. Hearing aids have come a long way as different technologies have developed and they can now do a lot more than they used to do. There are also much smaller hearing aids available than there used to be, with some of them being practically invisible. People who wear hearing aids are benefitting from a range of technological advancements that give them a better hearing experience and improve their quality of life.
Improved Sound Processing
The way that hearing aids process sound and respond to different frequencies has improved over time. When hearing aids process sound, they need to separate sounds into different bands of frequency and digitize them so that the sound can be amplified for the wearer. Hearing aids that use more advanced technology are more capable of separating sound into specific bands for the hearing aid wearer. This helps to ensure that the most important frequencies are amplified, compensating for the wearer’s exact hearing loss by matching their prescription.
AI
Artificial intelligence is used in some top-of-the-line hearing aids. The AI technology helps with sound processing by tapping into a neural network. The processing of sound can then be optimized and customized for different situations and environments. The user can set their preferences for volume and use different programs to get the best experience from their hearing aids. For example, they might have specific settings for a crowded environment with a lot of background noise. The hearing aids can start to recognize this type of environment automatically and adjust the settings of the hearing aids as needed. They can process sound in a way that’s similar to the brain.
Access to healthcare has become even more critical than ever. The COVID-19 surge did not stop healthcare workers from fulfilling their oath and addressing medical concerns quickly and appropriately. 
Have you finally decided to advance your career? If so, this is the right place for you to be. After being in a profession for some time, it is natural to feel stagnant and bored with the same routine and job responsibilities.