|
The Healing Impact of Palliative Care Gerontology
by Sallie Guthrie, RN
Palliative care, the phrase associated with terminal illness and death, the choice
when all hope is gone. Physicians and nurses often treat this option of care with distaste and
suspicion, as if palliative care is the same as an execution order. The reality is palliative
care is a philosophy and treatment to give an improved quality of life to those near the end of
life and those with life-limiting conditions. Our society is removed from the natural process
of death; it is feared, a foe to be beaten by technology for if a patient dies it is because
medicine failed. So the question remains, is death and dying unnatural, do we stop treatment
and abandon patients because we can’t cure them? No, it is time to understand and incorporate
the truth and value of palliative care into our healthcare and treatment of patients. It is
vital that healthcare professionals are educated about what palliative care can do for this
increasing group of patients. Cont'd
How Personal Digital Assistants Can Increase the Quality of Nursing Care Provided in the
Hospital Setting
Jennifer Predhomme BScN
University of Windsor
Abstract
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) are pocket-sized computers that are capable of accessing
the Internet, sending and receiving data, and storing textbooks worth of information. These
tools have the potential to help nurses increase the quality of care that they provide in the
hospital setting. PDAs have been shown to increase evidence-based practice and decrease
medication errors by making relevant information available right at the point-of-care. PDAs
have also been shown to save nurses’ time by increasing the efficiency and accuracy of
electronic patient charting, and by decreasing the time that it takes nurses to research
medication information. The integration of PDAs into nursing practice pose individual,
technical, and financial challenges, as well as patient confidentiality and infection control
concerns. However, as nurses and organizations begin to recognize the potential for PDAs, and
as more nursing-focused software and resources continue to be developed, PDAs truly have the
potential to revolutionize the way that nurses provide and record care. Cont'd
|
