Prior to this class I didn’t realize that there was a difference between telehealth and telemedicine. And as a whole, I did not know very much information about the subject all together. My preconceived thoughts were that telehealth/medicine was at a much smaller scale and less capabilities that there actually are out there. I figured that telehealth was responsible for small things such as sending patients vital signs from an at home device for the hospital to receive the data and review them to keep a closer look at the patient. Other things that I was aware of, would be the ability to zoom or video conference, this can happen in many ways, it can be patient to provider, nurse to provider, nurse to case manager, and many other options.

The history of telehealth/medicine has come a long way in the last decade and specifically in the last few years during and/or after the pandemic that we have faced. It has gone from simple video conference calls to robots going around the hospital. I was really impressed by the telemedicine nurses and physicians, who would actually be digitally monitoring many patients from a remote/control room. This has a huge impact on the nursing profession because as said in class, they are consistently be monitored. Therefore, if a nurse was preoccupied with another patient the person watching their vitals, and potentially has video surveillance of the patient in the room, can tell the nurse at a higher speed that something may be going on with the patient. Since the pandemic, there has been a shortage of healthcare personnel, so having robots go around and do simple tasks such as restocking room, taking care of laundry, etc. can be a major help.

I will take what I learned from this class and use it to my advantage in the future as a new grad. As stated in class, some of the ICUs would have the telemedicine for the night shift where there are normally mostly new grads. It is great to know that someone with much greater experience, can be a video conference away right at the bedside and they can help to ensure proper care to the patient. I would say do not take it for granted, but definitely know that that can be a potential resource. As the world of technology progresses, I am sure that you will see more robot style in the healthcare setting. Keep in mind that nurses will never be replaced, but it doesn’t hurt to use what you have as a resource or for physical help with simple time-consuming tasks.