Uses of Computers in Nursing Education

When speaking about uses of computers in nursing education, I co-relate it with the need of advanced healthcare technology. Gone are the days when patients had to repeatedly tell the nursing staff about their illness and history of medical reports. This has happened because of adapting the uses of computers in hospitals for keeping the record of the same. Among the uses of computers in the medical field, this article will emphasize more on the contribution of computers in nursing field.

Computer Uses in Nursing Education

When it comes to importance of computers in nursing education, it is undoubtedly an important aspect to keep in the pace of the technologically advanced world. Healthcare is again a field where technology has made things lot better and increased the efficiency in patient care. Below are some of the points which highlight the uses of computers in nursing education:

•     Systematic Storage of Information: Be it any education sector, proper and systematic storage of information is a mandate requirement. Nurses can use computers to take down and store notes of the patients, as they observe their condition while on rounds. As the supervised rounds involve a lot of patients and a lot of information, using a computerized personal digital assistant makes it easier to access the right medical information at the right time instead of carrying a bunch of paperwork and then take time to search the piece of paper to access information when you need to be quick, efficient and accurate. These advantages of computers definitely help making the storage part a lot easier!
•     Computerized Presentations: We all would agree that computerized powerpoint presentations are much more efficient and has more impact on the receiver when it comes to presenting data. Even in the field of nursing education, computers help the nursing tutors/educators to present the large and complicated detailed form of data, which of course is a part of the medical study, in a very simplified and effective form. When speaking of uses of computers in medicine, features like powerpoint presentations, slide shows, videos are used to present medical procedures and techniques for better understanding of complex medical procedures and their treatments.
•     Simulations: The field of medicine involves the concept of "hands-on work". I mean be it a doctor or a nurse, countless procedures are done on patients regularly. Nursing education therefore, must involve a lot of practice programs to make the students efficient to face the real life scenario. Computer programs which enable simulate such procedures therefore are of great use.
•     Gives You a Wider Horizon for Research: Nursing education assignments do include a lot of materials and research topics in nursing. Computers can help you properly present and format your research, using the internet will also give you a wider horizon to find relevant study materials. The internet has many reliable and trusted website in reference to medical journals. A lot of in depth knowledge and understanding can be gained through the uses of computers in nursing education.
•     Computerized Self Evaluation: Computers also contribute and help the students know their strengths and weaknesses. There are many computerized quiz and medical tests with immediate feedback that can help you brush and develop your medical facts and requirements without any delay. Your queries are solved, you know the answers and you know where you stand. A regular use of such computer applications definitely makes you more equipped and well researched for your field.
•     Interactive Learning: The most appealing and outstanding feature of computer based education is that it gives boost to interactive learning. Unlike traditional method of learning where everything was done based on papers and individual understanding, computer insisted learning encourage more interaction and communication among the instructor and the students increasing the scope to learn and understand better. Another aspect to interacting is that it also gives you a chance to enhance the communication techniques in nursing.

The above mentioned uses of computers in nursing education clearly highlight the importance of technology in the field of medicine. Uses of computers in healthcare education has also made sure that the new generation of medical practitioners will be more well equipped with the advanced technology of medicine. When I say medical practitioners, it's obvious that the nursing students learning through the advanced and updated resources of computerized technology will certainly know and show the qualities of a good nurse. If you are or dream of becoming a nurse, then I hope this article has encouraged you to be a part of the computerized and advanced medical field, giving you the opportunity of being the best in the nursing field. All the best!

By Shalu Bhatti