NURS 4006

Nursing Informatics
Unit 5: Telehealth

c
R

x

 
 
















 



 















 

 




 















 








R







  

£ ºccording to Picot (as cited by National
Initiative for Telehealth Guidelines, 2003),
telehealth or telepractice, is defined as
the use of information and communications
technology to deliver health and healthcare
services and information over large and small
distances.

£ Nurses play a vital role in telepractice.

u
R







The Canadian Nurses ºssociation (2001)

supports the role of the nurse in telepractice
and affirms the following position,
nursing telepractice is a nursing-specific application of
telehealth that includes all client centered forms of
nursing practice and the provision of information,
conferences and courses for health care professionals
occurring through or facilitated by, the use of
telecommunications or electronic means (p.1).

p
º 

   
£Nurses in telepractice use the nursing
process to identify client needs, to
provide care and to evaluate
interventions and outcomes.
(College of Nurses, 2004; Wheeler & Windt, 1993)

@

 

ë Critical thinking skills are an important

part of problem solving and decision
making in nursing.
ë Telepractice nurses respond to
unpredictable and complex situations.

V
 

£ Without face-to-face interaction,
communication skills are paramount in
delivering safe and effective nursing care.
£ The ability to communicate effectively is
central to establishing a nurse-client
relationship over the telephone.

§
 r 
 
 




  

a

 

    



£ Standards of nursing practice, clinical
guidelines and quality monitoring activities
are paramount to quality care.
£ Technology is rapidly changing our world.
£ Medico-legal issues are raised because the
care is delivered over distance via
technology.
£ ºwareness of privacy and confidentiality
considerations, legal implications that can
arise from the assessment and the practice
as a whole is essential.
Õ
º 

 


a

  

 

  


 

|
 



|






6
c


  
Canadian Nurses ºssociation. (2001). R  
   
  
  

Canadian Nurses ºssociation. (2003). Privacy and health

information: challenges for nurses and for the nursing
profession. Ethics in Practice for Registered Nurses.
Ottawa: CNº. Retrieved on June 22, 2004,
http://www.cna-
aiic.ca/_frames/issuestrends/issuestrendsframe.htm

College of Nurses of Ontario. (2004). Practice guidelines:

Telephone practice. Toronto: ON. Retrieved on June 22,
2004, http://www.cno.org/docs/prac/41041_telephone.pdf

cc

  
Mitchell, S. & Brown, º. (2002). Ñ


 
 







 

 
 

.
Canadian Institute for Health Information, Retrieved on
June 19, 2004,
http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/en/downloads/quality_perfor
amancepaper_e.pdf.

National Initiative for Telehealth Guidelines. (2003). 




R  
R

 
!

   .
Ottawa: ON.

Wheeler, S.Q. & Windt, J.H. (1993). R   


 

R 
"





  . ºlbany: NY:
Delmar Publishers

c