Healthcare Technology and Patient Care, Exams of Nursing

Download Healthcare Technology and Patient Care and more Exams Nursing in PDF only on Docsity! NGR6820 Healthcare Technology LATEST EXAM w/ RATIONALES 2024 1. Case Study: Mr. Johnson, a 65-year-old patient with congestive heart failure, has been discharged and is using a telemonitoring system to monitor his health at home. Discuss the benefits of telemonitoring in managing chronic conditions such as congestive heart failure. Answer: Telemonitoring allows healthcare professionals to remotely monitor patients' vital signs, medication adherence, and symptoms. This enables early detection of deterioration, timely intervention, reduced hospital readmissions, and improved patient outcomes. 2. Case Study: A healthcare facility is implementing a barcode medication administration (BCMA) system. Explain how BCMA technology reduces medication errors and improves patient safety. Answer: BCMA requires nurses to scan both the barcode on the medication and the patient's identification before administering any medication. This ensures accurate medication administration and prevents medication errors due to incorrect dosage, wrong patient, or wrong medication. 3. Case Study: The hospital's IT department is implementing a picture archiving and communication system (PACS). Describe the advantages of PACS in radiology departments. Answer: PACS allows healthcare providers to store, access, health services from the comfort of their own homes, promotes accessibility, and ensures privacy. Challenges include technological barriers, limitations in non-verbal communication cues, potential breaches of confidentiality, and the need for ensuring a secure and stable internet connection. 9. Case Study: A hospital is implementing a computerized provider order entry (CPOE) system. How does CPOE improve medication prescribing and reduce medication errors? Answer: CPOE eliminates the need for handwritten prescriptions, reducing the potential for illegible or incorrect dosage instructions. It includes built-in decision support systems, alerts for potential drug-drug interactions or allergies, and ensures standardized medication ordering processes, reducing the likelihood of medication errors. 10. Case Study: A nursing home is utilizing wearable health monitoring devices for their residents. Discuss how wearable technology improves elderly care and enhances patient outcomes. Answer: Wearable health monitoring devices enable continuous remote monitoring of vital signs, physical activity levels, and sleep patterns of elderly residents. This technology supports early detection of health deterioration, fall prevention, medication management, and facilitates prompt intervention by healthcare providers, enhancing patient outcomes and overall care quality. 11. Case Study: A rehabilitation facility has introduced virtual reality (VR) therapy for patients with mobility limitations. Explain the rationale behind using VR in rehabilitation and its potential benefits. Answer: VR therapy immerses patients in a virtual environment that simulates real-life scenarios. It can provide motivation, sensory inputs, and facilitate neuroplasticity through repetitive movements. VR therapy can enhance balance, coordination, motor skills, and cognitive functions, improving overall rehabilitation outcomes and engagement in therapy. 12. Case Study: A community clinic is implementing a teletriage system to manage patient triage remotely. Discuss the advantages and limitations of teletriage in a primary care setting. Answer: Teletriage enables healthcare professionals to assess patients' symptoms remotely, determine the urgency of their condition, and provide appropriate guidance or referral. It improves access to care, reduces waiting times, prevents unnecessary emergency room visits, and increases efficiency. However, teletriage may not capture all clinical aspects of an in-person evaluation, and there may be limitations in assessing certain conditions without physical examination. 13. Case Study: A hospital is adopting a mobile health (mHealth) application for diabetic patients to track their glucose levels and receive personalized education. Evaluate the potential benefits and drawbacks of mHealth applications in diabetes management. Answer: mHealth applications allow patients to monitor their glucose levels, track dietary intake, and receive educational materials tailored to their needs. These applications promote self-management, medication adherence, and provide real-time feedback. Drawbacks include limited technological literacy, potential data security breaches, and the need for healthcare provider oversight to ensure the accuracy and appropriateness of app recommendations. 14. Case Study: A long-term care facility is implementing a smart medication dispensing system. Explain how this system helps enhance medication adherence and resident safety. Answer: Smart medication dispensing systems utilize electronic reminders, barcode scanning, and automated alerts to ensure timely administration of medications. They reduce medication errors, prevent missed doses, and offer safety features such as facial recognition to prevent unauthorized access. These systems also capture adherence data, facilitating medication reconciliation and patient monitoring. - Answer: An insulin pump is a small device that delivers insulin through a thin tube inserted under the skin. It can provide more flexibility and convenience for the patient, as it can mimic the normal physiological pattern of insulin secretion by delivering a basal rate of insulin throughout the day and bolus doses before meals or snacks. It can also allow the patient to adjust the insulin dose according to blood glucose levels, carbohydrate intake, physical activity, and other factors. However, using an insulin pump also has some potential complications and challenges, such as infection, inflammation, or occlusion at the insertion site, mechanical malfunction or battery failure of the pump, incorrect programming or delivery of insulin, or detachment or dislodgement of the tubing or cannula. These problems can lead to hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia, which can be life-threatening if not detected and treated promptly. Therefore, the patient should follow some safety precautions when using the pump, such as checking blood glucose levels frequently (at least four times a day), changing the infusion set every two to three days, rotating the insertion site regularly, carrying a backup supply of insulin and syringes in case of pump failure, wearing a medical alert bracelet or necklace that indicates diabetes and pump use, and seeking medical attention immediately if signs or symptoms of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia occur. - Rationale: This question tests the nurse's knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of using an insulin pump for diabetes management, as well as the education and monitoring that the patient requires when using the pump. 3. A patient with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is undergoing hemodialysis three times a week at a dialysis center. The nurse is responsible for setting up and operating the dialysis machine and monitoring the patient during the dialysis session. What are some of the functions and components of a dialysis machine? How does it work to remove waste products and excess fluid from the patient's blood? What are some of the potential complications or adverse effects of hemodialysis that the nurse should watch out for? - Answer: A dialysis machine is a device that performs hemodialysis, which is a process of filtering and cleansing the blood of waste products and excess fluid when the kidneys are unable to do so. The main components of a dialysis machine are a blood pump, a dialyzer (also known as an artificial kidney), a dialysate (a fluid that contains electrolytes and bicarbonate), and a system of monitors and alarms. The blood pump circulates the patient's blood through one side of the dialyzer, while the dialysate flows through the other side in the opposite direction. The dialyzer has a semipermeable membrane that allows the exchange of substances between the blood and the dialysate. The waste products and excess fluid in the blood diffuse across the membrane into the dialysate, while the electrolytes and bicarbonate in the dialysate diffuse into the blood to maintain the acid-base and electrolyte balance. The monitors and alarms on the dialysis machine measure and regulate the blood pressure, blood flow, dialysate flow, temperature, and composition, and alert the nurse of any abnormal or unsafe conditions. Hemodialysis can have some potential complications or adverse effects, such as hypotension, muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting, headache, fatigue, infection, clotting, bleeding, air embolism, dialysis disequilibrium syndrome, or hemolysis. The nurse should monitor the patient's vital signs, fluid status, laboratory values, and symptoms during the dialysis session and intervene as needed to prevent or treat these problems. - Rationale: This question tests the nurse's knowledge of the principles and procedures of hemodialysis, as well as the complications and nursing care that the patient may experience during the dialysis session. trackers and smartwatches, empowers patients to monitor their health, track physical activity, and manage chronic conditions. These devices promote patient engagement by providing real-time data, encouraging healthy behaviors, and facilitating communication between patients and healthcare providers. Question: Evaluate the impact of electronic medication administration records (eMARs) on medication safety in healthcare settings. Answer: Electronic medication administration records (eMARs) streamline the medication administration process by digitizing medication orders, documentation, and administration records. They contribute to medication safety by reducing errors related to transcription, dosage, and administration timing, as well as improving medication reconciliation and monitoring. Question: Discuss the ethical considerations associated with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. Answer: The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare raises ethical considerations related to patient privacy, transparency of algorithms, accountability for decision-making, and potential biases in AI systems. It is essential to ensure that AI technologies are used ethically, with a focus on patient safety, equity, and the preservation of human involvement in clinical decision-making. Question: Explain the concept of interoperability in the context of healthcare information technology. Answer: Interoperability refers to the ability of different healthcare information systems and devices to exchange, interpret, and use data seamlessly. It is crucial for enabling comprehensive patient care, care coordination, and the integration of diverse health information sources, including EHRs, laboratory systems, and medical devices. Question: Describe the role of telehealth in managing chronic diseases and improving patient outcomes. Answer: Telehealth encompasses a broad range of remote healthcare services, including telemonitoring, teleconsultations, and teletherapy, which play a crucial role in managing chronic diseases. Telehealth interventions can improve patient outcomes by facilitating regular monitoring, enhancing self-management skills, and reducing the need for in-person visits, particularly for patients with complex care needs. Question: Evaluate the impact of health informatics on nursing practice and patient care delivery. Answer: Health informatics encompasses the use of technology and information systems to manage and analyze healthcare data. In nursing practice, health informatics contributes to improved documentation, streamlined workflows, evidence-based decision-making, and the delivery of personalized care, ultimately enhancing patient safety and outcomes. Question: Discuss the potential of blockchain technology in securing healthcare data and enhancing data integrity. Answer: Blockchain technology has the potential to secure healthcare data by establishing a decentralized and tamper-resistant system for recording and sharing information. It can enhance data integrity by providing a secure and transparent method for storing and managing health records, ensuring the authenticity and provenance of healthcare data. Question: Explain the role of health information technology in disaster preparedness and response. Answer: Health information technology plays a critical role in disaster preparedness and response by supporting communication, data exchange, and resource coordination among healthcare organizations. It facilitates the rapid assessment of population health needs, the tracking of displaced patients, and the continuity of care during and after disasters. Question: Analyze the challenges and opportunities of implementing electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) systems in healthcare. Answer: Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) systems