If any field should adapt an interdisciplinary approach to education,
it’s nursing. Hands down. Not only because nurses already wear the hats of so
many other likened professionals, but because it’s obviously essential to
ultimately improving patient outcomes.
The field of nursing has changes
drastically over the past decades and currently continues to follow the trends
of advancing technology, political involvement and patient advocacy (Turale,
2011). I believe nursing is becoming an individual medical entity that is
independent from, but equal to physicians in that each profession has specific
characteristics that cannot be done by the other, but that cannot be done
WITHOUT the other. IOM (2010) recommends allowing nurses to lead and manage
collaborations between physicians and other disciplines, strengthening the
argument of nurses having abilities to do more than just bedside tasks.
We are quick to departmentalize education as a way to keep things
specialized. Nursing is nursing and pharmacology is pharmacology, right? Sure,
but can we nurse with out a pharmacist, I bet not.
This being said, we can see where
having a specialty in nursing is essential, but because of nurse collaboration
with and management of other disciplines, nurses should have an understanding
of these other disciplines.
So what role does technology play
in interdisciplinary education? Well, for one, it’s essential to incorporate a
technology discipline to the interdisciplinary team in the workplace. Whether it’s an IT specialist, or EMR
coordinator, technology is basically the glue that holds the whole health
system together. From an education standpoint, technology plays a role in the
form of simulations, grades and student dashboards, library cataloguing systems
and tons of others. Nurse educators need to embrace these technology
disciplines and work to educate students on this necessity as well.
Institute of Medicine. (2010). The
future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Retrieved from
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12956&page=R1
Turale, S. (2011). Preparing
nurses for the 21st century: Reflecting on nursing shortages and other challenges
in practice and education. Nursing & Health Sciences, 13(3),
229-231 3p. doi:10.1111/j.1442-2018.2011.00638.x
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