nursingforsocialjustice

Is nursing an art or a science? The eternal nursing debate. One thing is clear, until nursing embraces technology fully, welcoming it with full embrace into the heart of our profession it will remain challenging to stay in this evidence-informed space and place. Case in point, the Covid-19 pandemic. What an opportunity for public health nursing to charge ahead and re-claim it’s role in health of the world. But how do we stay abreast with the burgeoning knowledge that is guiding healthcare changes, public understanding and collective decision-making? Technology is pervasive in Canada. We have powerful computers in our pockets that no one would have even dreamed about 20 years ago. How does nursing embrace the use of computer technology the same way that industries like education and engineering have? Is one of the obstacles are dichotomy that may exist between the human relationship at the heart of nursing, and the disconnection that might be associated with a computer? How do we reconcile this? How do we embrace the ability to inform both day to day clinical decision making based on the assessments and data that we compile and the potential benefit of big data (collective large amounts of clean data) to inform healthcare decision-making? How can this extend into informing the interactions and influences of social determinants of health on both the health of an individual and the health of populations? These are questions that keep me up at night.

Find out more about the position of the International Council of Nursing.

Join the Canadian Nursing Informatics Association.

Peace,

Michelle D.