Impact of Educational Technology
The ever-increasing demands for improved and better healthcare and patient care services have led to the development and use of various strategies to achieve the goals related to better patient care. Strategies have been applied to help improve healthcare organizations’ capacity to offer better care. These strategies range from those targeting the organization’s leaders to the nurses who are involved in daily patient care (Bombard et al.,2018). One such is the use of educational technology. Such technology can be used to enhance the professional’s capacity to undertake various functions and responsibilities in the care environment. In the previous week, it was proposed that virtual reality be incorporated into the operations at St. Anthony Medical Center. The technology is expected to improve the skills of nurses working in the surgical unit so that they undertake their duties more accurately and effectively. As such, the purpose of this current assignment is to explore the potential impacts of technology on learners, the organization, and the patients.
The new educational technology is the inclusion of augmented virtual reality in the surgical unit. As such, the nurses are to be trained on its use so as to equip them with international standards of care delivery. The proposed change also supports St. Anthony Medical Center’s mission, vision, goals, and values. For example, the facility’s mission is to offer improved quality of care delivery, and the use of virtual reality in the surgical units is likely to support the same (Sattar et al.,2018).
The proposed changes may have various impacts on the organization. For example, the day-to-day operations in the surgical units will incorporate the use of virtual reality as part of normal practice. Therefore, the nurses and physicians will be expected to be conversant with using the new technology. As such, it is expected that the quality of patient care will improve, especially the accuracy and precision of performing surgical operations. It is also expected that with the incorporation of virtual reality, surgical operations will be performed much faster and smoother (Sattar et al.,2018). The organization will have to measure the impact of the new technology to help evaluate how effective it is. One way of measurement is checking the competency of the surgical team upon the use of the technology. The impact will also be measured by measuring the time taken to perform the operation with the incorporation of virtual reality.
In some cases, proposed changes may fail to deliver what has been projected or predicted. As such, in case the technology does to deliver as promised, then the organization can implement various strategies. One of them is revision, which implies looking at the implementation process to find out what went wrong for better results. The organization can also continue using the old system as it modifies the new intervention to fit the setup appropriately (Hospodková et al.,2021). Nurse educators play a critical role in change implementation. Therefore, in this project, the nurse educators will be tasked with educating the nurses on the use of the new technology and the roles expected of them. The nurse educator’s primary responsibility is to sensitize other nurses and educate them on the use of the new technology in patient care.
The critical role played by the nurse educators in the change implementation means that they need to engage in various actions to ensure the project’s success. One of them is educating every nurse by taking into consideration the individual learning difference and modifying their instruction to ensure maximum uptake. They also need to help the staff to buy into the proposed ideas to ensure that they take part in training (Hospodková et al.,2021). Nurse educators also need to act as a connection between the nurses and the administration and ensure that the right materials for educating the nurses on the new technology are procured and appropriately used.
The proposed changes focus on improving the nurses’ competence in the operating room. The implication is that the curriculum or educational material used in teaching the nurses about virtual reality should be designed in such a way that it’s easy to understand and use (Chen et al.,2020). Such a principle can also be applied when designing current and future nursing education programs. Such design can also be used in other nursing departments apart from the surgical unit to ensure that the nursing education programs are aligned to the organization’s goals, mission, and vision and that such materials are easy to use.
In nursing education programs, it is important to consider the potential impact of proposed changes on learning and performance. The use of virtual reality will enhance learning since the nurses will be capable of fulfilling their surgical responsibility more efficiently through the use of virtual reality and three-dimensional aspects of the technology (Chen et al.,2020). In addition, such implementation will also impact performance. For example, it is expected that the educational sessions will enhance nurses’ skills in the operating rooms leading to a reduction in medical and medication errors. The ultimate result is that the patients will develop more confidence in the surgical team hence more satisfaction.
Overview
Write a 2–4-page impact statement delineating the possible effects on learners, the organization, and patients of the new or upgraded educational technology, or changes in current technology use, that you proposed in Assessment 1.
Note: Each assessment in this course builds upon the work you have completed in previous assessments. Therefore, complete the assessments in the order in which they are presented.
Change has both positive and negative effects on how a health care organization operates, and ultimately, on the quality of patient care. As a nurse educator, you must understand how a technology change not only benefits learner success, but also its relevance to the strategic plan, mission, and future viability of the organization.
This assessment provides an opportunity for you to determine the impact on nursing processes, staff performance, and patient outcomes of new or upgraded technology or changes in how current technology is being used.
REQUIRED RESOURCES
The following resources are required to complete the assessment.
Templates
Use this template for your technology impact statement:
APA Style Paper Template [DOCX].
Media
Vila Health: The Impact of Educational Technology.Vila Health is a virtual environment that simulates a real-world health care system. In the various Vila Health challenges, you will apply professional strategies, practice skills, and build competencies that you can apply to your coursework and in your career. The information you gather in this challenge will help you to complete the assessment.Assessment InstructionsNote: Complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.PREPARATIONExecutive leaders agree with your assessment of educational technology needs and, as the next step, they have asked you to submit a technology impact statement. They would like to know how the prospective change in the use of existing educational technologies or the acquisition of new tools, technology, or upgrades will affect current nursing processes, staff performance, and patient outcomes.To prepare for the assessment, you are encouraged to begin thinking about how recommended changes in educational technology, based on your needs assessment in Assessment 1, support your organization’s mission, vision, values, and goals. In addition, consider your role as a nurse educator in implementing these changes and their effect on the organization. You may wish to review the assessment requirements and scoring guide to ensure you understand the work you will be asked to complete.Note: Remember that you can submit all, or a portion of, your draft impact statement to Smarthinking Tutoring for feedback, before you submit the final version for this assessment. If you plan on using this free service, be mindful of the turnaround time of 24–48 hours for receiving feedback.REQUIREMENTSWrite a 2–4-page impact statement delineating the possible effects on learners, the organization, and patients of the new or upgraded educational technology, or changes in current technology use, that you proposed in Assessment 1.Note: If you have not already done so, complete the Vila Health: The Impact of Educational Technology challenge, linked in the Required Resources.The technology impact statement requirements, outlined below, correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide, so be sure to address each point. Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed. In addition, be sure to note the requirements below for document format and length and for citing supporting evidence.Describe the new educational technology, upgrades to existing technology, or changes in current technology use that are under consideration.Explain how the proposed changes support the organization’s mission, vision, values, and goals.Analyze the impact on the organization of the proposed changes.How might these changes affect day-to-day nursing operations or educational activities?What is the expected impact of these changes on patient care?How will the organization measure the impact?How should the organization be prepared if the new or upgraded technology, or changes in current technology use, do not deliver as promised?Describe the nurse educator’s role in implementing the proposed changes.What are the nurse educator’s primary responsibilities?What actions can the nurse educator reasonably be expected to take to facilitate the change?Explain how the proposed changes will be incorporated into the design of current or future nursing education programs.How will implementation of these changes affect learning and performance?Support assertions, arguments, propositions, and conclusions with relevant and credible evidence.Is your supporting evidence clear and explicit?How or why does particular evidence support a claim?Will your reader see the connection?Did you summarize, paraphrase, and quote your sources appropriately?Write clearly and concisely in a logically coherent and appropriate form and style.Write with a specific purpose and audience in mind.Adhere to scholarly and disciplinary writing standards and APA formatting requirements.Document Format and LengthFormat your impact statement using current APA style.Use the APA Style Paper Template, linked in the Required Resources. An APA Style Paper Tutorial is also provided (linked in the Suggested Resources) to help you in writing and formatting your impact statement. Be sure to include:A title page and references page. An abstract is not required.A running head on all pages.Appropriate section headings.Your impact statement should be 2–4 pages in length, not including the title page and references page.SUPPORTING EVIDENCECite 3–5 credible sources from peer-reviewed journals or professional industry publications to support your impact statement.ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTSProofread your change proposal, before you submit it, to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult for them to focus on the substance of your analysis.
