‘nurses must be heard as going digital in healthcare gains pace’ | nursing times

Even just the word ‘technology’ sounds like progress. It is often seen as a panacea for many of society’s problems – which is also true of the health and care sector. I receive several

marketing emails a week talking about some form of technology that, its developers argue, will make nurses’ lives easier, improve patient care in some way, or both. They range from surgical

robots to vital signs monitors, to online health records, to barcodes on equipment, to telehealth consultations, to apps for almost anything you can think of. When it works well, it really

can improve the working lives of nurses and lead to care improvements. When it doesn’t… well, we tend not to hear of it again or of the cost incurred. > "I hope ministers are ready 

and willing to listen to the health and > social care sector’s largest workforce" Events often drive technological leaps. For example, telehealth consultations once felt largely

confined to discussions on improving support for patients living on remote islands. Then, the Covid-19 pandemic arrived and suddenly telehealth consultations were added to the range of

everyday ways for patients to engage with staff in primary care and other settings. This month’s issue is dedicated to digital technology, and looks at how, whether and why the profession is

engaging with it, while also highlighting nurse-led initiatives and great examples of innovation. We have interviewed national nurse leaders from England and Wales about their plans to

expand and standardise digital technology roles and standards for the profession. We have spoken with members of a new network of chief nursing information officers who aim to raise

awareness of nurses working in the area and ensure the profession’s voice is heard. We have also looked back at some challenges of implementing new technology and the lessons to be learnt

from previous projects that have foundered. But, we focus too on what good looks like, with nurses describing their work on using QR codes to empower self-management and coproducing online

mental health resources. Central to the success of virtually any programme or roll-out is ensuring those you want to adopt or implement it are engaged and involved in its development, and

want it to work. The government has just announced ambitions for a digital health plan in England, so I hope ministers are ready and willing to listen to the health and social care sector’s

largest workforce.