Evaluate technologies used to gather patient data; inform diagnoses; and enhance care quality, safety, and outcomes

Professional Context Nurse leaders play a key role in the decision-making processes associated with the purchase of a health information technology and any subsequent technology upgrades and improvements. A thorough and accurate needs assessment establishes a foundation for evaluating the overall value to an organization of the various technologies that can be used to support nursing and improve patient care. The needs assessment you will conduct in this unit enables you to take a systematic approach to developing knowledge about a new or upgraded telehealth technology that would impact nursing practice. The needs assessment also identifies assessment work that may already have been completed and any gaps that still exist and must be addressed. The goals of completing the needs assessment are to: Identify gaps in practice that must be addressed to improve patient care. Understand the nature and scope of needed changes and identify associated opportunities and challenges. Enable a thoughtful and systematic approach to change implementation and management. This assignment provides an opportunity for you to work through the needs assessment process and present your findings in a way that will help you gain the support of executive leaders. By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assignment criteria: Competency 1: Evaluate technologies used to gather patient data; inform diagnoses; and enhance care quality, safety, and outcomes. Explain the relevance and importance of a needs assessment. Identify the safety requirements and regulatory considerations when using a new or upgraded telehealth technology. Competency 2: Develop a collaborative technology integration strategy. Describe the potential impact of internal and external stakeholders and end users on the acquisition of a new or upgraded telehealth technology. Competency 3: Develop a strategy for managing technology use that enhances patient care and organizational effectiveness. Identify the key issues in nursing care affecting patient outcomes that a new or upgraded telehealth technology will address. Competency 4: Promote effective technology use policies that protect patient confidentiality and privacy. Identify the patient confidentiality and privacy protections that a new or upgraded telehealth technology must address. Competency 5: Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with applicable organizational, professional, and scholarly standards. Support assertions, arguments, conclusions, and recommendations with relevant and credible evidence. Write clearly and concisely in a logically coherent and appropriate form and style. Scenario Telehealth technology can be representative of many different scenarios. For example, the technology could be designed to assist nurses with providing care, such as chronic disease management, to rural patients. It could also be designed to enable physicians to access enhanced care strategies from other providers in another part of the U.S. or internationally. Such care strategies might include radiology readings or assistance in an operating room with a new procedure.