Health Care and Electronic Networking Impact

Electronic Networking Impact on Health Care

hat is Electronic Network,Goal Of Networking In Health Care,Mean of Communication,Nursing Essence And Networking ,Case Study In Nursing And Electronic Means ,Impact Of Information Technology On Health care.

What is Electronic Network

    In general, a network is composed of a minimum of two connected points. For example, one person talking to another, face to face, can constitute a network. Telephone networks connect at least two people using transceivers, wire, switches, and computers. Television networks connect large numbers of people. 

    An electronic network is considered to be the connection or linking of two or more computers to allow data and information exchange. Electronic computer networks may be as small as two computers or as large as the Internet, considered to be a network of networks.

Goal Of Networking In Health Care 

    The goal of networks is information exchange and may or may not be bidirectional. Person-to-person conversations, even if using some sort of intermediary like the telephone, are usually bidirectional. 

    Television and some computer network applications may be unidirectional; however, bidirectional computer networks are the most common. Examples include local area networks (LAN), which may serve a department, larger networks called wide area networks (WAN); and the Internet. 

    Intranets, which are the internal deployment of Internet technologies, are becoming more and more common.

Mean of Communication

    Electronic networks are exciting tools for nursing and will be increasingly important in information acquisition and dispersion, electronic networks, such as the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW), not only provide a means of communicating but also facilitate collaborative research, promote education regardless of geographic limitations, and allow access and acquisition of needed resources. 

    Electronic networks will continue to affect areas integral to nursing, such as a lifetime electronic health record, nursing research, increased interdisciplinary collaborative research, education without walls for patients and nurses, and nursing knowledge acquisition and information exchange.

Nursing Essence And Networking 

    Although the essence of nursing has been a network, that is, the nurse-patient relationship-ship, there is limited nursing research on electronic networks. 

    Brennan, Moore, and Smyth (1991) and Ripich, Moore, and Brennan (1992) investigated the use of electronic networks to facilitate nursing support of home care clients and their caregivers. 

    They that concluded a computer network is an excellent tool to facilitate support and information exchange among caregivers and between nurses and caregivers for patients with AIDS and Alzheimer's disease.

Case Study In Nursing And Electronic Means 

    There are anecdotal reports and case studies to support nurses use of electronic networks. Sparks (1993) has been instrumental in her advocacy and promotion of electronic networks and resource availability for nurses. 

    In the early 1990s she championed the Educational Technology Network (ETNet). ET Net promoted the exchange of information and ideas for nurses, nurse educators, and nursing students. 

    It was the first international electronic network managed by a nurse. 

    Barnsteiner's (1993) and Graves's (1993) work with nursing resource availability (Online Journal of Nursing Knowledge Synthesis and the Virginia Henderson STTI Electronic Library, respectively) and DuBois and Rizzolo's (1994) in the American Journal of Nursing's AJN.

    Network to promote Continuing education for nurses are additional examples of nursing use of electronic networks.

Impact Of Information Technology On Health care 

    As information technology increases in use and health care requires increased efficiency, nurses will rely more and more on information technology as one tool for providing the best possible patient care. 

    Local electronic networks, such as clinical information systems, will include other larger networks so that nurses will have the best information resources to assist nursing care. 

    Research concerning the effects of electronic networking on nurses and other health care professionals, as well as on patients and their families, is needed. Electronic networking should be examined as an independent variable through the inclusion of electronic networks in all stages of the research process. 

    This research will promote the advancement of health and patient care by providing the scientific foundation for the appropriate application of electronic networking technologies.