FUTURISTIC NURSING

Introduction:-
Many new trends in nursing are likely to develop in the near future. Some
can predicted with certainly while others may be unexpected these trends of the
future will result from very rapid changes take place in all areas of life. You will
have to make a constant effort to keep informed through all available sources. It is
the only way which will help you to know what is happening at present and what
may come in the near future.

Modern Nursing:-
The art of using the latest technology and science to promote quality of life
as defined by patients and families through out their life experiences from birth to
the end of life.

Aspects of future of Nursing

· Nursing Education
· Nursing Services
· Nursing administration

NURSING EDUCATION

Future directions for nursing Education

In 1993, three major organizations issued statements and reports about nursing
education for the twenty first century. Their reports addressed the new directions of
nursing education needed to take in the future. Although the three organizations
advocated somewhat different approaches and strategies, several common themes
emerged in their reports common emphasis included the following eight points.
These eight areas of emphasis remain as important today as they were first
identified in 1993.
1. Schools should recruit diverse students and facilities that reflect the
multicultural nature of society.
2. Curricula and learning activities should develop student’s critical
thinking skills.
3. Curricula should emphasize student’s abilities to communicate from
interpersonal families and inter disciplinary colleagues.
4. The number of advanced practice nurses should be increased and
curricula should emphasize health promotion and health maintenance skills
for all nurses.
5. Emphasis should be placed on community–based care increased
accountability state of the art clinical skills and increased information
management skills.
6. Cost effectiveness of care should be focus in nursing curricula.
7. Faculty should develop programme that facilitate programme
articulation and career mobility.
8. Continuing faulty development activities should support excellence in
practice teaching and research.
Future direction for medical education
The University of Queensland hosted the first Australian National Medical
Education Colloquium in August 2005. The priority directions for medical
education identified by plenary speaker were:
1 Student centered learning
· Adaptive curriculum
 · Teaching Innovations
· System approach
· Fitness to practice
· Medical Education

Student centered learning

Harden highlighted the importance of student centered learning as being
pivotal to thinking about learning and teaching the suggested that medical
institutions includes a bank of learning objects (e.g. x-ray images, videos) curricula
maps, virtual patients and guided learning that is responsive to the learning needs
of individual students.

Adaptive Curriculum
An adaptive curriculum modifies and personalizes learning by designing
teaching and learning experiences in response to the specific needs of the
individual students. Harden explained that concepts of “just for me learning” and
“just in time learning” are accommodated by technology when the learner is ready
the teacher will appear via technology.

Teaching Innovations
Innovations in medical education extend to curriculum technology
assessment and professionalism. The curriculum model of the future should be
student – centered problem or task based, inter professional, community based and
elective driven with core and student selected components.

System Approach
 Aretz stressed the need for medical education programs to prepare gradates
who are responsible to both the needs to the health system in which they will
function and needs of patients they will treat currently medical students spend most
time in teaching hospitals but they will eventually work in the community, where
most patients present and are treated.

Fitness to practice
According to Walton, fitness to practice is an issue with which all medical
schools are currently grappling overall we are probably handling the issues of
knowledge and clinical skills quite well. There is still debate about what it really
means what its components are and what we need to do much better.

Medical Education Research

In order to validate the effectiveness of new teaching approaches medical
education research must emphasis appropriate methodology. Parideaux said that
very little research is undertaken of our teaching programs in medical schools. He
challenged to make medical education research in integral part of their school
service.

Nursing Services

By the year 2020- less than 15 years from now a study from occupational Health
and Safety Administration predicts that the need for registered nurses in nursing
homes will increase 66% for licensed practical and vocational nurses by 72% and
the need for certified nursing assistants will increase by 69%. For nurses working
in home health settings which include ‘managed care’ nursing home settings- those
numbers are even higher will above 250% increase at every level of licensing.

• Change in views on end of life and palliative care . promotion of

advanced directives , organ donation and comfort measures for the
terminally ill will lead to elevation in hospice care providers
• Nurses will spend more time as health teachers.most patients will act
as intelligent collaborators in their health care instead of passive recipients
of attention.

• As nurses become better educated the knowledge gap between

nurses and physicians will decrease .As a result , nurses will be capable of
working as close collaborators with the physicians on the clinical designs of
patient care.
• All nurses will be expected to have clinical investigative ability.
relatively few nurses will be full time researchers ,but application of
scientific method to problems of practice will be common place.
Nursing administration
• Role in planning-planning of healthcare delivery
• Nurse manager is well prepared to assume leadership and take
responsibility for making key decisions in groups.
• Transitions of illness to health
• Focus on preventing illness ,maintaining health and changing life
condition contributed to illness.

On site Nurse in Senior Housing

Many senior don’t need round the clock nursing care, but do need some nursing
supervision. Senior housing communities often have an on site nurse who is
available in case of an emergency. The nurse on site will also often consult with
doctors to help and manage any medical care that they need.

Regents Blue Ribbon Task Force on the future of Nursing

In April 2001, New York State Board of Regents named a Blue Ribbon Task
Force on Future of the Nursing, chaired by Regent Diane. The Regents Blue
Ribbon Task Force has a critical role in addressing the current nursing shortage,
solutions to the problem and the long term future of nursing. The leaders from
education, health care government were the members of the Task Force.
The task force has released their findings and recommendations for
resolving those looming health care crises. The task force recommends the
following solutions to the nursing shortage.

Recruitment
Expand the nursing workforce by recruiting additional numbers of men, non-
practicing nurses and recent high school graduates.

Education
Provide additional academic and financial support systems to increase and
pool of nursing school graduates and creates career leaders.

Technology
Increase the application of labor saving technology to eliminate unnecessary,
duplicative paper work and communication of patient information, thereby
improving workplace conditions.
Data Collection
Develop a reliable central source of data on the future need for nurses in the
workforce upon which employers, policy makers, researchers and legislators may
base public policy and recourse allocations.

Clarify existing laws and regulations

Scope of practice for Nurses
Issue practice guidelines to clarify the legal scope of practice of nursing
including those tasks which do not require licensure. These guidelines will reaffirm
the individual practitioner’s responsibility for patient care.

Future of Nursing Career

Predictions are that in 10 or 20 years it will look nothing like it does today!
with new technologies and drugs, changes in insurance and health care policies and
the shortage in nurses, the profession will have to reinvest itself. Many nursing
functions will be automated such as documentation and updating patient records,
smart beds to monitor vital signs and voice activated technology. This would give
nurses more time to provide a human touch to their patients.

As results of nursing shortages

Health care facilities will be forced to use their nurses judiciously nurses
will spend more time at the bedside as educators and care coordinators to refocus
on the patient. They will need to know how to access knowledge and transfer it to
the patient and their loved ones.
The changes in technology will possibly attract more men and minorities
into the profession. Greater emphasis must be placed on supporting teaching
careers and recruiting educators to relieve the serious shortage of nursing school
faculty. More loans and scholarships for master’s and PhD’s would have to be in
place.
As technology and research progresses nurses would focus more on
preventing the illness rather than treatment. The nursing shortage and rising health
care costs will also put pressure on the health care system to change from an illness
model to a wellness and prevention model.

If the nursing shortage continues

Hospitals may have to be reserved only for the very sickest. They will also
serve more prominent roles in clinics, consulting firms, insurance companies.
Nurses would probably to much more population based or community Health care.
They will provide community education and work with employers and insurance
payers to develop programs that save money as well as promote health.

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT
TECHNOLOGY CHANGED THE NURSING
Technology has facilitated change and improvements in health care at a
more rapid pace than ever before with each passing year, the pace of that change
and accumulation of knowledge increase exponentially. Nurse now tends to be
specialists rather than generalists because the equipment they use is so specialized.
In addition, computers have helped tremendously because they have taken away
the need for nurses to remember so much information. They also allow nurses to
check information against orders, which makes providing health care safer
advanced monitoring tools have improved efficiency.
Technology can make it more challenging to make sure the art of nursing in
not over-shadowed by science. If we merely take care of the physical person and
miss the target in the spirit of the person we fail as a profession.

Telemedicine:-
The concept of telemedicine was introduced more than 30 yrs ago through
the use of telephone and slow-scan games. The term telemedicine in short refers to
the utilization of telecommunication technology for medical diagnosis, treatment
and patient care.
Telemedicine is a rapidly developing application of clinical medicine where
medical information is transferred via telephone, the internet or other networks for
the purpose of consulting and sometimes remote medical procedures or
examinations.
Telemedicine enables a physician or specialist at on one site to deliver health
care, diagnose patients, give intra-operative assistance, provide therapy or consult
with another physician or paramedical personnel at a remote site.
Telemedicine system consists of customized medical software integrated
with computer hardware, along with medical diagnostic instruments. The great
impact of telemedicine may be in fulfilling its promise to improve the quality,
increase the efficiency and expand the access of the health care delivery system to
the rural population and developing countries.

Telehealth Nursing:
Telehealth Nursing is generally not a separate nursing role. Few nurses use
telehealth exclusively in their practices. Nurses have always used the telephone to
communicate with physicians, patients and other health care providers. Today's
technologies have evolved far beyond the telephone to include computers,
interactive audio and video linkages, teleconferencing.
 Telehealth is defined as "the removal of time and distance barriers for the
delivery of health care services and related health care activities through
telecommunication technology".
The goals of healthy people 2010 include eliminating health disparities
among population & improving quality of life and life expectancy. Many health
disparities occur because of barriers such as geographic location e.g. rural
population’s experiences greater health disparities, age that creates health
disparities because of limited health care access, home bound status &
transportation issues.
The use of telehealth expands access to health care for underserved
populations and individuals in both urban and rural areas. It also serves to reduce
the sense of professional isolation experienced by those who work in such areas
and may assist in attracting and retaining health care professionals in remote areas.

Impact of Telehealth on Patient outcomes:

Telehealth use in home health care opens the door for direct communication
between the patient and the provider by integrating information and technology to
facilitate health care delivery. Telehealth essentially removes time and distance
barriers via videophones, video camera and sensory monitoring devices. The
telehealth contributes to positive outcomes in terms of self management and
compliance.

Robot Nursing:
Human nurses can have peace of mind. Their jobs are secure but little helper
has come to rescue to do most of the boring nursing tasks for them.
Robot-Nurse helps nurses in hospitals. Her body is developed by Samsung
and her brain by Robot-Hosting.com. The nursing school and the psychology
departments of the University of Auckland are creating her nurse knowledge base.
She has face recognition (Camera), voice recognition (Microphone), arms and
hands. She talks (Speaker) with the Patients, Doctors and Nurses in 8 human
languages.
Another responsibility is talking with those patients who do not have any visitor
she keeps in their company, just carry the conversation to make them
happy. Therefore they will not feel lonely.

Futuristic Cyber Nursing:

In Future:-
2 When you arrive at work, your I.D. tag is automatically detected and you are
clocked in as you walk through the door.
· The patient is being monitored by automatic vital signs.
· You do your assessment verbally into your hand held device that converts it to
readable notes on the computers' main system.
· At patient’s bed side, you can get chemistry, hematology with a small hand held
device that requires no blood drawn. You just place the sensor on the patient’s
skin and you have auto results.
· You verbalize your order into the hand held which goes directly to pharmacy
which fills the orders automatically directly to patient's room.
· Most diagnosis will have a system for auto care plans upon patient admission.
· Patients have a bedside computer to access educational tools and progress of
their recovery or stay.
· Nurses getting laptops and using intranet to do their jobs. This is a way to spend
more time with patients and less time for doing paperwork.
REFERENCES:
3 Chitty Kay Kittrell “Professional Nursing concepts and challenges”
Ed 4th Pp 53.
4 Zwemer Ann J “Professional Adjustment and Ethics For Nurses in
India” Ed 6th Published by K. V. Mathew Pp 275-277.
5 Official Journal “Nursing Outlook” July-August 2008 Pp152-156.
6 WWW.Google. Com.
7 WWW.Pubmed. Com.