The means through which individuals interact with computational technologies define human-computer interface (HCI) (Bologva et al., 2016). Different types of software and hardware play an instrumental role in facilitating and supporting the interaction. Examples of HCI include Electronic Health Records (EHR), drug administration system, electronic thermometers, and defibrillator. HCI in the healthcare impacts the quality of the care and patients’ safety since it influences communication among care providers and between the latter and their clients.
HCI improves accessibility for patients’ health information and delivery of care services. For instance, nurses use EHR to faster get such information as lab data, care providers, progress notes, problems, and medications related to their clients. EHR enhances the care given by healthcare professionals since it facilitates recording of accurate and clear medical information (Schenk et al., 2018). Equally, telehealth allows nurses to frequently and effectively communicate with patients when at home to monitor their progress and vital signs or supervise wound care. Indeed, telehealth and EHR reduce the pressure experienced by nurses when more patients visit a hospital and manual searching of health records.
HCI minimizes the chances of making errors when providing care to the patients. Nurses who work in understaffed healthcare facilities or for long hours have greater risks of making mistakes. However, new technologies installed in hospitals simplify routine procedures, decreasing possibility of human inaccuracies. For example, drug administration systems can automatically measure patient’s medication dosage. Also, EHR lessens possible faults at the bedside since patient’s information is readily available (Schenk et al., 2018). Nevertheless, HCI can negatively impact nursing practice, risking patients’ safety. For instance, the suggestive feature in the EHR systems can lead to wrong entry of patient’s information or prescription of wrong medication and dosage.
References
Bologva, E., Prokusheva, D., Krikunov, A., Zvartau, N., & Kovalchuk, S. (2016). Human-computer interaction in electronic medical records: from the perspectives of physicians and data scientists.Procedia Computer Science, 100, 915-920.
Schenk, E., Schleyer, R., Jones, C., Fincham, S., Daratha, K., & Monsen, K. (2018). Impact of adoption of a comprehensive electronic health record on nursing work and caring efficacy. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 36(7), 331-339.