When Information Technology Fails: A Challenge for Nurses

Abstract

Within the dynamics of technology, it is the increasing complexity of healthcare that inhibits and makes barriers to the transformational reforms of healthcare delivery. The technology nurses encounter in the nursing practice drastically improves patient care and safety. However, nurses’ dependency on technology would mean it would be indispensable, that by losing this resource would mean adversity in the workplace. Information Technology-related failures in health care often are covered up, ignored, or rationalized, so mistakes are repeated. A probable solution would buildup nurses with technological resilience would mean survival in the worst-case scenario, although the notion needs to be grounded and philosophically underpinned. Being technologically resilient does not mean deferring the use of technology but rather an idea that, in the advent of an information technology breakdown, the nurse will be able to deliver positive patient outcomes despite the challenges.