{"id":600,"date":"2020-02-27T12:36:19","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T19:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/touchpoints\/?p=600"},"modified":"2021-01-14T12:30:35","modified_gmt":"2021-01-14T19:30:35","slug":"600-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/touchpoints\/600-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future is Now – A Digital Sampler for Patient-Centered Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Future is Now – A Digital Sampler for Patient-Centered Care<\/h1>\n

Keynote Speaker Dr Richard Booth of Western University, in his presentation at the Marion Woodward Lecture on November 14th, began with some background, taking his audience through the rapid changes in technology over the past 30 years. He showed how our perceptions of what is ordinary\u2014our \u201cbaselines\u201d\u2014have been shifted step-by-step. Some people marvel at a telephone that takes pictures and tells us where we left our car, but for the next generation, asking a robot to<\/p>\n

turn on the coffee maker or unlock the front door is just another Tuesday. Humanity passively normalizes giant leaps in technology because the rate of change is so rapid we cannot keep pace. We either go with the flow or we become overwhelmed. Thus we are surrounded by technology that we rely on but do not understand and we place ourselves in danger of being mastered by it.<\/p>\n

Booth\u2019s main thesis point is: \u201conly by reconceptualizing our relationship with emerging technology, can we actively engage in the discourse related to how these forms of technology could or should be used to evolve the modern-day nursing role.\u201d In Booth\u2019s opinion, nursing is not doing enough of that, and probably is not moving fast enough. Asked what their relationship to advanced technology is, one nurse\u2019s response was angry, stating that nothing takes the place of an experienced RN\u2019s instincts and thought processes. Meanwhile, Booth\u2019s questionnaires for nursing students reveal they live in a state of ambivalence. They fear being augmented or replaced but they acknowledge that \u201cSome day we may be advocating for robots & technology.\u201d If 19-year-olds haven\u2019t evolved their relationship with technology, Booth points out, where is the rest of our profession?<\/p>\n

Booth offers these suggestions for staying relevant:<\/p>\n