Technology in Healthcare
Technology has impacted healthcare in a significant way, both for consumers and healthcare providers. As a consumer, I have used technology a few times in making my health decisions. One way that I used technology was when I downloaded an app that would help me keep track of my daily activity levels. I realized that as a student nurse, I was hardly getting sufficient time to exercise and keep fit. When the pounds started piling in, I knew I had to do something. I downloaded a steps aerobic app, which helped me keep track of my movement. The app was really helpful and made me conscious of my sedentary life and propelled me to keep moving throughout the day.
As a professional, I have used technology in caring for patients. One example is in entering medication prescriptions. A computerized physician order entry (CPOE) entails using a computer or electronic support to enter physician orders (Atique et al., 2016). These orders include medication orders and can be integrated with a clinical decision support system (CDS). The CDS acts as a tool for error prevention by guiding the prescriber on the drug route, dosages, and administration frequencies (Alotaibi & Federico, 2017). At one time, I remember entering a prescription for a patient, but the patient had not stated that he had a Sulphur allergy. It was not until he was brought back to the healthcare facility with a flare-up that he stated that he had an allergy.
Looking back, I believe the CPOE would have been more efficient with additional CDS features. Some CPOEs possess features that prompt the prescriber to any allergies that the patient has, including drug-lab or drug-drug interactions. Additionally, a CPOE with a sophisticated system could also prompt the prescriber to implement interventions based on the recommended guidelines, such as prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism.
References
Alotaibi, Y. K., & Federico, F. (2017). The impact of health information technology on patient safety. Saudi Medical Journal, 38(12), 1173–1180. https://doi.org/10.15537/smj.2017.12.20631
Antique, S., Lee, Y. L., Hsu, C. Y., Syed-Abdul, S., & Rau, H. H. (2016, February). Organizational benefits of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system in Pakistan. In 2016 International Conference on Platform Technology and Service (PlatCon) (pp. 1-3). IEEE.
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Question 
Technology in Healthcare
Technology has become an important part of healthcare, and it is often utilized to make important decisions. Reflecting on your experiences both as a client and as a student nurse, discuss one instance as a consumer of healthcare and one instance as a healthcare professional where technology has affected a decision you have made and how the outcome was affected.
Recommend an alternative technology that may be used to help in decision-making.