The Nursing Field Is Evolving As Helpful Technologies Are Embraced Annotated Bibliography PAGES

The Nursing Field Is Evolving As Helpful Technologies Are Embraced Annotated Bibliography PAGES

Nursing Informatics / Annotated Bibliography & Brief Critique Harris, R., Bennett, J., and Ross. F. (2013). Leadership and innovation in nursing seen through a historical lens. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(7. 1629-1638.

Aim of the Article and Main Findings

There was a time when technology was a distant vision in the minds of healthcare professionals, but the values that emerged from nurses nearly a hundred years ago are values that should be alive and well today notwithstanding all the wonderful tools that the healthcare field has today. This peer-reviewed article looks into the past to see how (qualitatively) nurses in the UK responded to the leadership style of Dame / Matron Muriel Powell between the years 1920-1980, well before today's nurses are empowered with the advanced technologies and communication standards of today. The point of the research is to review interviews that were conducted with nurses that worked and trained at St. George's hospital in that time frame. Why were these interviews relevant in 2013, when the article was published? A look at how nursing used to be practiced, juxtaposed with today's cutting edge, patient-centered technologies, is a worthy subject to delve in. The interview transcripts of 132 nurses were "analyzed in depth" (between March 2011 and January 2012) and the themes that emerged from the interviews reflected the very strong leadership that Matron Powell displayed. The findings showed that through Powell's hands-on leadership and open communication, nurses under Powell learned how to innovate when change was needed in the workplace. The interviews showed that Powell actually created a hospital culture resulting in the main from Powell's transformational leadership.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The strength of this article is that the staff morale is far better and the outcomes for patients are more positive when nurses are guided by strong leadership -- a lack of leading edge technology notwithstanding. There are many theories available on the best way to develop nurses, but one thing never changes, according to Harris and colleagues: the exercise of leadership from a position of influence and power is absolutely pivotal when it comes to developing competent nursing practices and building highly capable nurses. Another strength, in my opinion, is that leading nursing figures from the past should be referenced, and the skills that were demonstrated by nursing leaders from previous years can be (and often are) entirely germane to today's nurse. As for weaknesses, there were none. A highlight was passages from the historical transcripts, such as: "I remember Matron Powell saying that it was better for granny to see her grandchildren on the ward than it was to give her a pint of blood" (Harris, et al., 2013).

My Evaluation / Opinion of the Article

This was an excellent piece of research, and should be required reading for all nurses in training, at hospitals or in universities. Looking into the positives of the past is a fine way to make the present and the future stronger for nurses and patients.

Saifan, A., AbuRuz, M.E., and Masa'deh, R. (2015). Theory Practice Gaps in Nursing

Education: A Qualitative Perspective. Journal of Social Sciences, 11(1), 20-29.

Aim of the Article and Main Findings

The article in the Journal of Social Sciences takes on the subject of, which is more important in nurse training -- theory (presented in a college or university setting) or clinical training. Of course both aspects of nurse training are vital to a person going into the field, and without nursing informatics presented in clinical environments, would-be nurses today are missing out on the technology revolution -- and not giving patients the cutting edge care they deserve. But the main finding of the article is that nursing instructors are starting to adapt to the idea that the theoretical part of training is gaining speed and there is less emphasis on the clinical part of nurses training. At some point in the recent past it is believed there has been a lack of good communication between instructors from the theory school and the clinical school, which the authors suggest is part of the problem. Nursing students, the authors assert, have become frustrated and dissatisfied because of the lack of reported support in the clinical training milieu. The upshot of the article is that when 500 nursing students were interviewed in their final year of training, the majority reported a lack of emphasis given to "practice education"; the majority also reported that the clinical portion of their training was "complicated and continuously changed" (Saifan, 2015, p. 21).

Strengths and Weaknesses

One weakness that is evident in thi