Happy June all!

Over the last few weeks, I have noticed an increase in questions and curiosity around the use of technology in nursing and healthcare. 

Twenty years ago, we were largely on paper and technology was perceived to some extent as a foreign entity that was not necessarily "part" of nursing. We had operated on paper to document, to manage medications, to check orders and more. 

However, today in 2024, the vast majority of health centers, systems, practices, and organizations are using digital tools for patient record management, medication management, labs, radiology and more. 

One can no longer separate nursing and healthcare from the dependency on technology. 

However, I would like to have you reflect on the stethoscope for a moment. Would you consider that to be a technology? 

The stethoscope was invented to standardize the assessment of patient heart, lung and bowel sounds across healthcare professionals. Prior to its invention, one relied...

Today is May 6th and it marks the start of another year of National Nurses Week in the United States!

As I thought about Nurses Week, I wondered, what is the history of this week for our profession? 

As a nurse of now 24 years, I have always had National Nurses Week. However, it was not long before that where there was not such a celebratory week recognizing the efforts and talents of the nurses across the country. 

According to the American Nurses Association's history of Nurses Week, it was in 1993 when the ANA Board of Directors designated May 6th - May 12th as National Nurses Week for 1994 and beyond! 

Thus, 2024 would mark 30 years of continued celebrations. 

As nurses who have an interest, curiosity, or are currently working in health information technology and/or informatics, you may also be interested to know that the first board certification exam for informatics nursing was offered right around that time in 1995 (and recognized as a specialty practice...

Happy Sunday!

Perhaps it is the optimist in me but when we reach February, I know Spring is coming soon. (Now keep in mind that I live in the Northeast where it gets quite cold). However, I am looking ahead into the future while living in the present. 

I see this optimistic and future oriented perspective present in how I've approached professional endeavors in the past as well. Nearly 20 years ago now, I opted for a clinical analyst role in an Information Technology (IT) department to work on an Electronic Health Record (EHR) project. 

I wanted to take on a new role in nursing that would allow me to help other nurses who are caring for patients. While I had limited IT knowledge, I had strong clinical nursing knowledge and experience to support the design of the EHR. 

However, in making that shift away from the bedside, I ran into some resistance from others. I would hear directly and indirectly that I had "gone to the dark side". I also would on occasion hear...