HealthIT

HealthIT
I selected virtual care as my health IT topic. I picked the topic because the use of information technology to surmount the barriers to the delivery of timely and effective care to patients at a distance is critical. Virtual care provides a reliable alternative to patients with difficulties accessing formal healthcare facilities. It provides a new avenue for expanding access to palliative care, improving symptoms management, ensuring comfort for the patient and coping and satisfaction by family members (Worster & Swartz, 2017). A significant number of terminally ill patients die at home. Habitually, the patients’ spouse or children assume the caregiver role. However, the caregivers lack the knowledge and experience needed to provide quality and comprehensive end-of-life care for the patient. Consequently, many terminally ill patients at home die in pain. Witnessing a loved one in constant pain is distressing for the family members.
Telemedicine provides a great way for palliative care nurses to support the informal caregivers in delivering comfortable and dignified care for the end-of-life patients. The caregivers and nurses can exchange crucial patient information in real-time and implement evidence-based interventions and coping strategies for the patient and the family. Furthermore, the nurse can use the telemedicine tools to collaborate with other palliative care professionals in caring for patients with complex issues (Tieman et al., 2016). The use of telemedicine in palliative care will become the routine in the near future as the number of elderly and terminally ill patients continues to increase. Therefore, palliative care nurses must develop the skills and experience needed to adapt the different telemedicine tools and systems to the delivery of quality care to patients in palliative care centers and own homes.

References
Tieman, J. J., Swetenham, K., Morgan, D. D., To, T. H., & Currow, D. C. (2016). Using
telehealth to support end of life care in the community: A feasibility study. BMC
Palliative Care, 15(1). doi:10.1186/s12904-016-0167-7.
Worster, B., & Swartz, K. (2017). Telemedicine and Palliative Care: An Increasing Role in
Supportive Oncology. Current Oncology Reports, 19(6). doi:10.1007/s11912-017-0600-y