Technology is updating all the time, especially in fields like healthcare where it pays to stay on the cutting edge of lifesaving tech! To keep you up to speed, we’ve created our own forecast of nursing technology trends to watch in 2022.

Remote healthcare and telehealth

Decentralised healthcare became an essential service during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it looks like it isn’t going anywhere. In fact, remote healthcare and telehealth (consultations which happen via telecommunication instead of in-person) might radically alter how we practise healthcare forever! With these technologies in place, patients in remote locations such as rural areas and islands can receive the healthcare that they need, when they need it. It also suits most on-site employees who would otherwise have to take time off work or schedule an in-person appointment during their lunch break to see a healthcare professional. Remote healthcare and telehealth have radically improved the accessibility of healthcare, which is a wonderful thing!

Electronic medical records

The move to digitise medical records has significantly improved communication and access to information, which ultimately improves healthcare! Not only does this optimise filing systems, but it also allows anyone from the healthcare team from a surgeon to a nurse to access a patient’s information any time, anywhere. The faster nurses can connect to their patients and to the rest of their care team, the more efficiently they can deliver quality, holistic healthcare.

Wearable technologies

During the peaks of the ongoing pandemic, it was not at all uncommon to see patients using pulse oximeters themselves while they were isolating in their homes. In the same way, technology trends indicate that similar wearable devices could be equipped with heart rate, stress, and blood oxygen detectors, allowing nurses and other healthcare professionals to accurately monitor vital signs in real-time, meaning that they can monitor their patients’ recovery no matter where they are.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is increasingly being used in medicine to improve the delivery of healthcare to patients, such as the provision of follow-up care to those recovering from operations and major illnesses. Robots and smart technology are integral to the application of AI to healthcare. For example, sensors on smart beds can detect when a patient has fallen, and will automatically alert a nurse to assist them. This technology functions outside of a hospital setting, too. Cameras can detect, for example, when an elderly person has suffered a fall in their home, and healthcare workers can intervene almost immediately.

Technology is advancing all the time in medicine but, the truth is, nurses are simply irreplaceable! Nothing can substitute the constant care and compassion that nurses demonstrate to their patients, and technology is only going to make it easier to deliver that care.

For more updates on what you can expect in the world of nursing, read our other blog articles at the link below: