Assess the healthcare technology and organizational readiness of your site for implementing a new or improved piece of healthcare technology. Then, present a 46 page executive summary of your findings and recommendations regarding a new or upgraded telehealth technology for your organization or practice setting.
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.
The nurse leader is a key player in the decision-making processes associated with the purchase and practice application of health information technology and any subsequent upgrades and system improvements. It is therefore essential that the nurse leader be familiar with what kinds of technologies are needed to support nursing and improved patient care. Additionally, it is vital that the nurse leader knows what to expect in all decision-making processes and how to organize the use of all available resources, including human resources, when it is time to implement an innovative technology and engender a smooth transition for the nursing staff.
Assessing technology needs and organizational readiness will help you determine the information needed to make the right decisions about which technology will help an organization meet its goals and examine the organization’s readiness to implement a new health information technology.
Nurse leaders must be able to evaluate the needs of various aspects of their organization, department, and team. By evaluating needs, nurse leaders can identify opportunities to drive improvements that have positive impacts on patients and practitioners. Also, this type of evaluation or needs analysis is a critical step in strategic planning, which is a critical skill for nurse leaders to develop.
For this assessment, use your site as the basis to begin your research for this assessment.
Conduct a needs assessment and evaluation of the technology used. This assessment can be at the organizational or department level. The goal of the evaluation is to identify an area where improving an existing technology or implementing a new technology tool could drive improvements in outcomes for practitioners and patients. To accomplish this, consider reviewing the technology already in use, interviewing relevant roles within the organization or department, and reviewing any relevant available data about the performance or use of the technology.
Once you have completed your research, you will assemble a 46 page report that assesses the technology and organization infrastructures and begins to apply aspects of strategic planning for recommending an improved or new technology to be implemented.
Note: For the purposes of this assessment, you cannot choose electronic health records or patient fall alarms as the technology.
Some potential ideas of technologies to look into within the context of your site are:
- Smart assessment technology.
- Virtual exam rooms.
- Web-based or mobile apps for uploading data to your provider or healthcare team.
- For example, if you have diabetes, you may upload food logs, blood sugar levels, and drugs that a nurse checks.
- Devices that measure and wirelessly send data, such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and oxygen levels.
- Wearable devices that automatically record and send data.
- For example, the devices may record data such as heart rate, blood sugar, how you walk, your posture, tremors, physical activity, or your sleep.
Your assessment submission will be assessed on the following criteria in the rubric:
- Explain the relevance and importance of a needs assessment.
- How do nurse leaders use needs assessments to identify gaps and opportunities related to technology within their department or team?
- Why is it important for nurse leaders to understand effective processes for conducting needs assessments, as well as how the findings of needs assessments can be used to inform decision making?
- What assumptions did you make prior to conducting your needs assessment that suggested a needs assessment was necessary?
- Assess the technology infrastructure within the context of a specific department or healthcare organization.
- What are the current technology resources and practices at your site within the context of a specific department or the organization as a whole?
- Are the available technology resources sufficient to provide efficient, effective, and equitable healthcare for diverse patients? Why or why not?
- Are the current technology practices sufficient for providing efficient, effective, and equitable healthcare for diverse patients? Why or why not?
- What area(s) for the technology infrastructure is most in need of an improved or new technology?
- Identify how an improved or new implementation of technology would address key issues impacting patient outcomes and the effectiveness of nursing care within the context of a department or healthcare organization.
- Identify new or improved technology that is available.
- If this is an improvement upon a currently used technology at the practicum site, how will the improvement need to be implemented so that it seamlessly replaces the current technology?
- Identify how this technology will improve patient healthcare outcomes, department/organizational outcomes, and the effectiveness of nursing care.
- Identify new or improved technology that is available.
- Explain how the chosen technology will improve collaboration across department or organizational structures, support patient safety, and efficiency.
- Explain how the identified tech will improve collaboration and other benefits it may provide.
- If this technology is replacing a currently used technology, what are the specific benefits when compared to what the practicum site is currently using?
- How does this technology support patient safety?
- If this technology is replacing a currently used technology, what are the specific benefits when compared to what the practicum site is currently using?
- How does this technology support efficiency?
- If this technology is replacing a currently used technology, what are the specific benefits when compared to what the practicum site is currently using?
- Explain how the identified tech will improve collaboration and other benefits it may provide.
- Explain how the chosen technology aids the department or healthcare organization in providing equitable healthcare, care outcomes, and access to care resources for diverse patient population.
- How does this technology aid in providing equitable care?
- If this technology is replacing a currently used technology, what are the specific benefits when compared to what the practicum site is currently using?
- How does this technology help ensure equitable care outcomes?
- If this technology is replacing a currently used technology, what are the specific benefits when compared to what the practicum site is currently using?
- How does this technology help ensure equitable access to healthcare resources?
- If this technology is replacing a currently used technology, what are the specific benefits when compared to what the practicum site is currently using?
- How does this technology aid in providing equitable care?
- Address all components of the prompt and use the assignment description to structure text.
- Apply APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.
- References: In addition to the weekly readings, include references from at least two peer-reviewed journal articles that are less than five years old or any interviews you may have conducted, cited in proper APA format. Visit for help with this research.
- Length of paper: The paper should be 46 pages in length, not including the title page and the reference page, and it must follow proper APA style and formatting. Use for guidance in citing sources and formatting your paper in proper APA style. See the for more APA resources specific to your degree level.
- Font and font size: Any APA-approved font, 12 point.
View the rubric to ensure you fulfill all grading criteria and understand how you will be evaluated.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:
- Competency 1: Evaluate technologies used to gather patient data; inform diagnoses; and enhance care quality, safety, and outcomes.
- Explain the relevance and importance of a needs assessment.
- Assess the technology infrastructure within the context of a specific department or healthcare organization.
- Identify how an improved or new implementation of technology would address key issues impacting patient outcomes and the effectiveness of nursing care within the context of a department or healthcare organization.
- Explain how the chosen technology will improve collaboration across department or organizational structures, support patient safety, and improve efficiency.
- Competency 3: Develop a strategy for managing technology use that protects patient confidentiality and privacy as well as enhances patient care and organizational effectiveness.
- Explain how the chosen technology aids the department or healthcare organization in providing equitable healthcare, care outcomes, and access to care resources for a diverse patient population.
- Competency 4: Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with applicable organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
- Address all components of the prompt and use the assignment description to structure text.
- Apply APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.
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