TECHNOLOGICAL COMPETENCY AS CARING IN NURSING

Introduction To Nursing and Technology

"The practice of knowing persons as whole, frequently with the use of varying technology." (Locsin, 2001)

Nursing started in the intuitive way of caring for the sick in the family. Traditionally, women were the ones who stayed at home and took care of the members of the family. Different ways of caring of the sick transpired as each woman developed various practices in taking care of the family.

History also reveals that in ancient civilization, providing care revolves around the use of magical thinking, superstitions and religious beliefs. In Egypt, people believed that their gods and goddesses manipulate the dreams of the sick. The Code of Hammurabi in Babylonia in 1900 B.C. was said to be the earliest documented practice of medicine. However, nursing practice was not clearly defined. In Roman time, care for the sick revolved around mythology. Religion greatly influenced the practice of caring for the sick. The progression of Christian orders paved the way to the development of early specialized institutions.

In the early 20th century, scientist and philosophers urged the use of empiricism and rationalism. During this period, nurses strived to base their roles and interventions based on evidence, experiment and scientific data. This resulted in the growth of new scientific knowledge.

Technology as defined by business dictionary.com(2016) is the purposeful application of information in the design, production, and utilization of goods and services, and in the organization of human activities. With the advancement of technology, medical practice and health care also improved. And as front liners of healthcare, it is deemed necessary for us to be updated with the medical and technological advancement in healthcare. The Locsin’s Theory of Technological Competency of Caring in Nursing is one of the theories that integrates technology and nursing in the expression of caring for our patients.

Technology in healthcare moves as fast as the bullet train – from papers to electronic medical records, from assisting the surgeon in performing exploratory – laparotomy to being an assistant in a minimally invasive procedure, from BP  monitoring to cardiac monitoring and supporting in other medical breakthroughs.  Technology promotes efficiency in the health sector, and we nurses are the end-users; technology without us will not work, and as nurses who are not trained to operate these breakthroughs make them useless.  Nurses and Technology will work hand-in-hand, towards health for all.