Meeting and listening to people is very much part of a nurse’s job description. But the work is no longer just face-to-face. Digital services and technology can facilitate and accelerate encounters in many ways.
The Finnish Nurses Association supports the role of nurses in developing and carrying out digital services and technologies, as nurses use a wide range of information systems and applications in their work. Increasingly, robotics is also becoming part of the nurse’s working environment. Nurses are also involved in encouraging and advising citizens on self-care.
Ethics and safety are essential in the use and development of digital services. Nurses regularly assess their skills in relation to the services, participate in user training and strengthen their ethical, data protection and security skills.
In a changing workplace, nursing leaders have a key role to play in developing digital health and social services for citizens. The role of nursing managers is to ensure that nurses are sufficiently involved in the planning and development process to ensure that digital services genuinely support citizens’ active self-care and are accessible to all, wherever they live.
The digital skills essential for nurses’ work are divided into six different areas: use of systems, digital environment, security and ethics, digital health services and competences, management of digital health services, and research and development of digital health services. These are described in more detail in the Finnish Nurses Association’s Digital Social and Health Services Strategy 2021.
If you wish to provide feedback on the strategy please give it here.
