This was the first time I had an entire semester of strictly online courses and one of the things I thought was great about it was the fact that you could be anywhere in the world and still have access to the content and work of the course. Also, I really liked how you could schedule things around vacation times. I also really appreciated how quickly you receive feedback from professors and T.A's in general in asynchronous online courses. I also really liked the fact that you could work on assignments anytime of the day or night, so it really worked well into a busy schedule.
The main downside was not being able to meet any of my classmates face to face. I really enjoy "in person" interaction with others. Although, the discussion board and blog features of this course at least helped us all to be able to share our opinions. One other thing that was kind of hard was that sometimes it's helpful for me to receive feedback in person if there's a concept I'm not quite understanding, and this can't be done in an online course. The only other thing I can think of is that you have to be a very disciplined student in online courses and not procrastinate getting your work turned in, which is something I still need to improve on.
I really knew hardly anything about informatics and information technology until this course and although I still only have a very basic knowledge of things, it has helped me realize the importance of understanding how to use technology in healthcare. One of the most important things I learned about was learning more about different clinical decision support systems so that I can utilize them to help improve my care of patients as an APRN. This class also taught me to not be so afraid of technology. Although I still have a long way to go as far as getting comfortable with using certain types of data software in helping advance my skills as an APRN (i.e., electronic health records for example).
Will we utilize some of the data software programs we learned about in this class in our practicums in order to further develop our technical skills in providing better care for our patients? I also wanted to say thanks to Sue and Kathy for all of their help throughout the semester. I especially learned a lot more about Endnote that I plan to utilize in future writing.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Module 5 Blog
Quite frankly, I had a hard time thinking that a patient would want to create a blog being as that so many patients feel that their own personal health information should remain private and confidential. Although, after reading a couple other classmates postings, I realized there may be other reasons patients desire to create a blog. Also, since advances in technology are changing the relationship between doctors and patients (Rehm, 2008), I decided I needed to have an open mind in regards to my relationship with my patients in the future.
Thus, I think a patient might want to create a blog in order to "vent" their frustrations in regards to a certain illness or disease process they are experiencing. As already suggested by some of my classmates, they also may also like to keep family members and friends up to date on their most recent status of their health condition, rather than have to answer lots of phone calls. By receiving feedback from others, patients may feel they are not alone in the process. They also may receive suggestions on other treatment options available to them that someone they know has tried and liked for the specific disease.
I think the main reason why a health care provider (HCP) might create a blog would be to share general health information on a list of diseases/disease processes related to his/her area of expertise for his/her patients. In order to refrain from patient confidentiality issues, an HCP should not discuss specific problems to a certain condition an individual patient may have. This would be more appropriate with person e-mail communication.
Ethical considerations to keep in mind when blogging on a public website would be to never use a patient's real/full name. Never discuss specifics with a patient over a blog, keep things on a general level. I also think you need to have a good understanding of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's laws regarding patient confidentiality before blogging.
Rehm, D. (Producer). (2008, December 2). Ehealth on the Diane Rehm show [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2008-12-02
Thus, I think a patient might want to create a blog in order to "vent" their frustrations in regards to a certain illness or disease process they are experiencing. As already suggested by some of my classmates, they also may also like to keep family members and friends up to date on their most recent status of their health condition, rather than have to answer lots of phone calls. By receiving feedback from others, patients may feel they are not alone in the process. They also may receive suggestions on other treatment options available to them that someone they know has tried and liked for the specific disease.
I think the main reason why a health care provider (HCP) might create a blog would be to share general health information on a list of diseases/disease processes related to his/her area of expertise for his/her patients. In order to refrain from patient confidentiality issues, an HCP should not discuss specific problems to a certain condition an individual patient may have. This would be more appropriate with person e-mail communication.
Ethical considerations to keep in mind when blogging on a public website would be to never use a patient's real/full name. Never discuss specifics with a patient over a blog, keep things on a general level. I also think you need to have a good understanding of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's laws regarding patient confidentiality before blogging.
Rehm, D. (Producer). (2008, December 2). Ehealth on the Diane Rehm show [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2008-12-02
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