Respond to the following question based on this week’s lesson and, if it’s relevant, include your own personal experience. Describe at least two ways that telehealth could be used with a particular patient population. How would telehealth improve the quality of patient care, patient outcomes, and/ or patient satisfaction? How would telehealth impact nursing practice?

Discussion – Telehealth and Nursing

Telehealth presents several opportunities to enhance care for patients like those with heart failure. Unlike traditional care that involves periodic in-person hospital visits, telehealth can be applied to provide remote healthcare services to heart failure patients through audio and video telecommunications and other technologies. Through such technologies, telehealth can be used to increase care access for patients in underserved areas, those with physical disabilities or limited access to transportation, who cannot access cardiologists with heart failure expertise (Creber et al., 2023). In addition, telehealth models can be used in the management of outpatients with heart failure. For instance, technologies that support telehealth, such as smartphones and wearable devices, can be used to monitor patient health and alert the concerned clinicians when an emergency is detected.

Moreover, telehealth improves care quality, patient outcomes, and patient satisfaction in several ways. For instance, it facilitates care coordination for diagnostic and management strategies, individualizes management, and increases opportunities for multidisciplinary care (Fedson & Bozkurt, 2022). All these attributes improve care quality and patient outcomes. Telehealth also enhances timely access and follow-up; even patients living in rural or underserved regions can access care and healthcare resources. Additionally, telehealth eliminates the cost and stress associated with the need for traveling and reduces wait times, thus allowing for comparable and improved care quality. Subsequently, improved accessibility, convenience, and reduced stress due to telehealth use increases patient satisfaction (Gajarawala & Pelkowski, 2021).

Telehealth would impact nursing practice in notable ways. Firstly, it introduces a shift in the nature of the patient-nurse relationship. While telehealth offers convenience and better care access, some patients may miss the in-person interactions and physical assessments that traditional nursing care offers. Accordingly, nurses will need to develop strong communication and empathy skills to establish trust and rapport with patients through telehealth technologies. Additionally, providers must be adept at using various telehealth devices and platforms for effective virtual care delivery. This would also require changes in working practices like curating data and ensuring patient data security. Further, integrating telehealth into nursing may require nursing practice to embrace both in-person and virtual care, requiring nurses to be versatile and adaptable in their approach to care delivery. Overall, telehealth presents new opportunities in nursing practice, promising increased accessibility and efficiency, but it also introduces the need for continuous adaptation and a reimagining of nurse-patient relationships.

References

Creber, R. M., Dodson, J. A., Bidwell, J. T., Breathett, K., Lyles, C. R., Still, C. H., Yu, J., Yancy, C. W., & Kitsiou, S. (2023). Telehealth and health equity in older adults with heart failure: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation-cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. https://doi.org/10.1161/hcq.0000000000000123

Gajarawala, S. N., & Pelkowski, J. N. (2021). Telehealth benefits and barriers. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 17(2), 218–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2020.09.013

Fedson, S., & Bozkurt, B. (2022). Telehealth in heart failure. Heart Failure Clinics, 18(2), 213–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hfc.2021.12.001