Digital Nursing. Shaping Practice and Identity in the Age of Informatics

Investigating the ways in which digital technology is transforming the roles of nurses and how they deliver care, this book explores how nurses can optimise patient care, enhance clinical decision-making, and improve healthcare outcomes in the information age.

The first half of the book emphasises the importance of nursing theory in guiding nursing practice and decision-making in the context of digital healthcare. Examining how technology is transforming their responsibilities and skillsets, it showcases the opportunities and challenges that nurses encounter in embracing digital tools to optimise patient care. Some of the thorniest challenges relate to ethical considerations, and an international selection of contributors discuss some of the key dilemmas and provide strategies for navigating the ethical dimensions of digital nursing. The second half of the book focuses on three case studies – using social media, wound care, and infection control. These chapters look at how digital technology is transforming specific aspects of nursing practice, providing concrete examples of the impact of technology on patient care and nursing efficiency. The book concludes with a discussion of emerging technologies and their potential implications for nursing practice, patient care, and healthcare delivery.

This text is a valuable resource for students, practitioners, and educators interested in how new technologies are integrated into nursing theory and practice, and the implications for person-centred humanistic care.

CONTENTS 

Author biographies

Preface.

1: Introduction to digital nursing and nursing theory. 

What is a nurse?.

Nursing as a socio-political assemblage.

Historical overview of nursing theory development

International perspectives.

Theories of nursing and digital technology.

The rise of the digital patient

2: The evolving role of nurses in the digital age. 

Nursing informatics – a short history.

Digital nursing – navigating contemporary changes in digital technologies within nursing practice

Digital health citizenship.

Shaping the future of digital nursing, STS perspectives.

3: Ethical and humanistic dimensions of digital nursing.

What does identity mean in the digital age (for nurses and health care consumers)

Reflection through the lens of a humanising theoretical framework.

Provision of patient-centred care in digital age.

Digital health technologies and the macro-context

Digital health technologies, pre-requisites, and the practice environment

Digital health technologies and person-centred processes.

Digital exclusion.

Digital literacy.

4: The social media nurse. 

Social media is in the room: How social media impacts nurse-patient interactions.

Why do people trust social media health content? Understanding theories of health influence

Nursing in cyber-space: three case studies.

Trust me I’m a nurse: Evidence as an extension of digital professionalism..

The Future of the Social Media Nurse.

5: Case study: Nursing the patient – digital technology in wound care. 

6: Case study: Nursing the environment – digital technology in infection control 

7:  The future of nursing. 

A vision for the future.

What is the future process of nursing?.

The start of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.

Clinical decision support

Personalised care planning.

Health promotion.

Patient empowerment

Robotics.

Remote monitoring