Sadly, the writer fears that future generations will work in frustration as corporate institutions such as the local department stores develop and market digital health records systems, none of which communicate with each other, as the national goal has become. The writer also fears that without federal government intervention, a standardized documentation system will not be possible and with federal government intervention, individual autonomy will be compromised.

Summary

  It seems apparent that the United States will adopt an electronic health recording system as a desperate solution to the rising cost of health care and with the hopes of improved quality of care. The immergence of change brings with it challenges that must be identified and planned for. The discipline of nursing must work as never before to remain an integral part of the health care industry. To become proficient with technology, recommendations from the NLN must be considered. Point-of-care technology must be carefully designed to reflect nursing’s role in healthcare. Educators must come together and work to develop consistent charting guidelines that reflect, good sound charting techniques as well as adaptability to the many electronic technologies that exist in the health care arena. This information technology cannot be allowed to become destructive elements to the nursing profession, but instead become avenues for its betterment.

 
References

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Nursing Informatics Awareness Task Force (2007). An emerging giant. Retrieved March 23, 2009 from: http://www.himiss.org

Kaminski, J. (2005). Nursing-informatices.com. Retrieved March 23, 2009 from: http://www.nursing-informatics.com

Langowski, C. (2005). The times they are a changing: effects of online nursing documentation systems. Quality Management in Health Care, 14(2), 121-125. Mosquera, M. (2009). IT, health care would get more under budget. FederalComputerWeek. Retrieved March 2, 2009 from: http://fcw.com/Articles/2009/02/2010-budget-health-care.aspx

National League for Nursing (2008). Position Statement. Preparing the next generation of nurses to practice in a technology-rich environment: an informatics agenda. Retrieved February, 2009 from: http://www.nln.org/aboutnln/PositionStatements/Informatics_052808

Stein, M. and Deese, D. (2004). Addressing the next decade of nursing challenges. Nursing Economics, 22(5), 273-279.

Thede, L. (2008). Informatics: the electronic health record: will nursing be on board when the ship leaves? Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 13 (3). Retrieved February, 2009 from: www.cinahl.com/cgi-bin/refsvc?jid=1331&accno=2010054364

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2009). Health information technology. Retrieved march 23, 2009 from: http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/

 
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