The Effectiveness of Mobile-Health Technologies, Capstone Project Example

Introduction

Evidence-based practice plays a critical role in many areas of the nursing profession and provides additional guidance in shaping how nurses respond to change and the needs of their patients. This involves a strict learning curve for nurses so that they become familiar with the requirements of evidence-based practice and are able to apply it to a variety of situations, such as conducting health assessments. It is the responsibility of nurses to be proactive in learning evidence-based practice strategies to support patient health and to be cognizant of how these strategies will impact patient health. The process of developing evidence-based solutions to conduct patient assessments is critical to the development of a framework that will facilitate patient assessments at a high level and support wellbeing. The best practices that are available to conduct health assessments require an examination of the different principles that have generated positive results for patients and which reflect a need to further recognize how to preserve patient health over time. Health assessments require a timely and organized approach to managing health concerns that occur among individuals, families, and communities so that patients are treated with their most critical priorities in mind.

Body

Patient health and wellbeing requires an examination of the different perspectives that contribute to this end result. It is believed that nurses must be knowledgeable of the issues that impact their patients at a high level and may compromise their health, such as chronic and infectious diseases. Education regarding evidence-based practice is a key priority for nurse leaders and must convey the realities of improving patient health under the appropriate conditions (Melnyk, Fineout-Overholt, Gallagher-Ford, & Kaplan, 2012). From this perspective, nurse leaders must be able to recognize the importance of adapting to new approaches to accommodate patients and support their care and treatment (Melnyk et.al, 2012). Nurses must be apprised of the most important tools and resources that are available to support patient assessments and to promote accuracy in all diagnoses so that treatment may begin in a timely manner if necessary.

The use of tools that include mobile technologies will support the ability of nurses to evaluate and treat patients in a mobile environment, and this reflects a need to further examine how to integrate these tools into nursing practice to offer the best possible value to patients (Free et.al, 2013). This process requires nurses to be educated regarding the use of mobile technologies in conducting assessments and to use prior evidence to improve diagnostic assessments (Free et.al, 2013). The delivery of healthcare services is of critical importance; therefore, it must be addressed with the technologies that are available to support improvements in quality of care that occur at all levels of nursing practice (Free et.al, 2013). Mobile technologies are available on a widespread basis and are relatively simple to use; therefore, they provide an additional layer of support to patients during assessments to ensure that they are properly conducted and all diagnoses are appropriate (Free et.al, 2013).

Patient assessments also require an examination of the different tools and resources that are required to influence nursing practice to improve overall performance and diagnostic capabilities. Evaluating available technologies is critical to the success of the practice environment and supports a dynamic where patient care is optimized and is highly valued by nurses (Henshall & Schuller, 2013). Health assessments are complex in many ways and require a number of layers of support and knowledge to facilitate their accuracy; therefore, technology-based tools play a role in shaping this dynamic and in evaluating the conditions under which nurses are able to make a difference through the assessment process (Henshall & Schuller, 2013). It is important to identify the specific areas whereby nurses will gather evidence regarding these tools and technologies and adapt them to their current patient population to facilitate improved quality of care for patients (Henshall & Schuller, 2013).

Prior evidence must also be examined for its value in supporting health assessments through the use of tools and resources that impact diagnostic accuracy (Kelly & Moore, 2012). A significant emphasis must be placed upon the value of conducting assessments and their benefits for patient health, while also supporting new knowledge generation and its application to the practice environment (Kelly & Moore, 2012). Most importantly, nurses must be properly trained and prepared to manage their responsibilities with respect to patient health and assessments, as this will enable them to achieve greater diagnostic accuracy in their efforts to identify patient concerns and treat them as best as possible (Kelly & Moore, 2012). From this perspective, it is likely that nurses will significantly benefit from greater knowledge of evidence-based assessment methods and the overall development of strategies that will utilize the resources that are available (Kelly & Moore, 2012).

Conclusion

Positive patient health and wellbeing is contingent upon the ability of nurses to conduct proper assessments and achieve greater diagnostic accuracy on a consistent basis. This process requires nurses to acquire additional knowledge regarding patient needs and in supporting a dynamic of care and treatment that will have positive and lasting benefits for patients. It is important for nurses to receive adequate education and resources to adopt evidence-based practice methods in conducting patient assessments, and this is an ongoing learning process that will support improved assessment methods and diagnostic accuracy for patients across different population groups.

References

Free, C., Phillips, G., Watson, L., Galli, L., Felix, L., Edwards, P., … & Haines, A. (2013). The effectiveness of mobile-health technologies to improve health care service delivery processes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med, 10(1), e1001363.

Henshall, C., & Schuller, T. (2013). Health technology assessment, value-based decision making, and innovation. International journal of technology assessment in health care, 29(04), 353-359.

Kelly, M. P., & Moore, T. A. (2012). The judgement process in evidence-based medicine and health technology assessment. Social Theory & Health, 10(1), 1-19.

Melnyk, B. M., Fineout-Overholt, E., Gallagher-Ford, L., & Kaplan, L. (2012). The state of evidence-based practice in US nurses: critical implications for nurse leaders and educators. Journal of Nursing Administration, 42(9), 410-417