Informatics

Initial Post 

Healthcare systems have varying policies regarding the use of smartphones and mobile computing devices in the clinical setting. Do you believe that smartphones have a place in the clinical setting? What guidelines, if any, should be put in place? Are the guidelines in place enforced in your clinical setting (work or school clinicals)? Please provide support for your response.

Respond to Peers 

Please post a response to the below peer who has a different viewpoint than the one you will post. Does their post change your point of view at all?  

I do believe that smartphones and mobile computing devices have a place in the clinical setting but only with strict guidelines and rules of use. Smartphones, however, are strictly prohibited for school clinicals for me as a student. This rule is enforced by our instructors, and I understand the necessity of it. I think it is necessary to prohibit smartphones for students as some may not be cognizant of the rules and regulations necessary for HIPPA compliance. On the other hand, the convenience of looking up a medication or lab values would be much more convenient if phone use was allowed. 

In fact, 79% of advanced practice nurses utilize smartphones to answer questions regarding drug therapy (Greer et al., 2019). Using smartphones in healthcare definitely comes with risk but could the benefit outweigh the risk? The study that I reviewed claims that using smartphones at the bedside can improve efficiency, patient outcomes, and satisfaction of both nurses and doctors (Greer et al., 2019). Additionally, patients can benefit from being taught how to use specific applications on their phones that help with various ailments. For example, there are applications available through smartphones that help people with sleeping disorders track their quality of sleep (Giddens, 2021). I personally believe if the devices are strictly used for research and education then problems can be prevented. It is when social media comes into play that violations begin to occur. 

References:

Giddens, J. (2021). Concepts for Nursing Practice (3rd. ed). Elsevier Inc.

Greer, D., Hermanns, M., Abel, W., & Njoki, T. (2019). Exploring Nursing Students Smartphone Use in the Clinicla Setting. CNE Series.