Emerging technologies will have a profound effect on how the nursing education curriculum is delivered, how nursing students are taught, and how tomorrow's nurses will practice in an ever-changing, technology-driven health care delivery system. My question to you is: As a nurse educator, can you rise to the challenge of embracing all types of technology to prepare our future practicing nurses to deliver safe, quality, patient-centered care? The answer is: Yes, I can, and I will.
Huston (2013) identifies technologies that are already contributing to significant change in the practice of nursing, for example, genetics and genomics, less invasive tools for diagnosing and treating patients, robotics, electronic health records, and clinical decision support. Nursing students, Huston states, need to develop skills for using technology to enhance communication and relationship building, developing expertise in evidence-based practice, and using genomics in nursing practice and understanding its influence when educating patients.
The NLN has long recognized the importance of emerging technologies and their impact on nursing education and practice. As part of our membership engagement system, we formed a strategic action group consisting of experts in technology and innovation and supported by Dr. Elaine Tagliareni, NLN chief program officer, and Dr. Susan Forneris, NLN simulation scholar in residence. As president of the NLN, I was honored to facilitate this group with the following charge:
* Investigate current trends in technology-enhanced learning, telehealth, and consumer engagement with health technology that inform nursing education now and for the future.
* Explore the role of the nurse educator in preparing nurses to deliver quality, patient-centered, evidence-based nursing care in a technology-driven health care system.
* Discuss the key considerations necessary to frame new thinking about the changing faculty role.
* Make recommendations to the NLN to develop and disseminate to the nursing community important information about faculty development with emerging technology.
A new vision statement evolved from the contributions of the group: "A Vision for the Changing Faculty Role: Preparing Students for the Technological World of Health Care." This living document, online in its entirely at http://www.nln.org/aboutnln/livingdocuments/pdf/nlnvision_8.pdf and summarized in Headlines from the NLN in this issue of Nursing Education Perspectives, addresses the need for competence when using technology and makes recommendations for administrators, nursing faculty, and the NLN.
As nurse educators, we need to view emerging technologies as opportunities to expand our knowledge base and expertise. It is my hope that this vision statement will serve to guide faculty and administrators to move forward in their thinking about technology and put mechanisms in place to support faculty in their pursuit of technology fluency and competence. While most faculty today were not raised in the "computer age," it is certain that with the appropriate resources, administrative support, and faculty development opportunities, nurse educators will rise to the challenge. The NLN will do its part to provide our members with the needed resources for success.
Upcoming NLN Faculty Development Webinars and Conferences
http://www.nln.org/facultyprograms/workshopsandconf.htm
* "Telehealth: Teaching Strategies to Meet the Health Care Needs of the 21st Century," NLN webinar, April 22, 2015. Speaker: Michael Ackerman, National Library of Medicine
* NLN Education Summit 2015: "Bridging Practice and Education: A New World of Innovation and Technology," September 30-October 2 in Las Vegas.
* 10th Annual NLN/Elsevier Technology Conference. October 22-24, 2015, Tampa, FL. Explore the latest developments in simulation, e-learning, informatics, and telehealth.
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