Integrated Experience: Telemedicine In Acute Care
At the time of learning about telehealth and telemedicine in the ICU, I thought it was invasive to continuously monitor patients in the room. Especially so if they were unconscious and unaware that they may be being monitored with a camera. Upon learning about Tele-ICU more and understanding the concept of protecting the patient during times of understaffing, I realized the true reliability of the system and how it may positively impact the care of the patient. I didn’t even know that systems like this existed in the first place, so it was interesting to learn about the benefits of having additional healthcare staff watching over critical patients.
After examining the history of telehealth and telemedicine, I also was unaware that it has existed long enough that some people have about a couple decades of experience at this point in the century. Telehealth, to me, seemed to emerge more during the pandemic. So, I had assumed that telemedicine was a fairly new concept. Though it is new, it is not as new as I had previously thought. I believe that telemedicine and telehealth resources will likely soar in my career as a nurse. I am excited to see how things develop and I am curious to see how I will use telemedical resources to better my patients in the field.
Thank you, Jo, for sharing so honestly about your pre-existing concerns about the use of telehealth & telemedicine technologies – mainly patient privacy. I’m so glad that the more you learned about how these technologies are used, the more you were able to see how the benefits outweigh any disadvantages or concerns. Professor Goran’s comment that telemedicine video, like those used in tele-ICUs, are live-stream only and not recorded surely put you & others in the class with similar concerns at ease.