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Alexa Smiley
ENC 1102
24 March 2019
Final Draft
Over the years, there have been continuous advancements in the medical field that
contribute to how health care providers communicate for patient success. Due to the improved
technology, it has led nurses in particular, to take on their role differently and connect with
patients in an altered manner. For this research topic, I have decided to investigate how these
patients. This topic is important not only for current nurses or nursing students, but also the
patients who are affected as a result. In order to pursue this profession, it’s crucial to have a
better understanding of where it all started and how times have changed to more efficient
methods of practice in the workplace. Especially with such a highly demanded career, it can be
interesting to uncover what attributes to patient success in medical care. It can also contribute to
the teaching curriculum of nursing students so they are more aware of how to improve
communication in their individual career. As a patient, it may be very rewarding to know what
goes on during your stay and may ease any apprehensions you may have with the process. Hand
in hand with the patients, is their families, who too would benefit from this research because any
medical dilemma can be alarming and by having a deeper knowledge of the medical field, it will
The source in particular that stood out to me was the online article, "Communication and
Technology: Ida Orlando's Theory Applied", by Cynthia Gaudet and Maeve Howett. These
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authors are both credible in the field of nursing, because they are both registered nurses. The text
was published in the Nursing Science Quarterly Journal in 2018; a peer-reviewed academic
journal established in 1988 and published by Sage Publications. This also demonstrates that the
source is up to date with recent technological advances in the medical field and has been
reviewed by a notable publication for its accountability. Especially with a field that's constantly
evolving, it's important to investigate the most recent sources in order to ensure that it's what's
The motivation or exigence behind this text is to examine the communication in nursing
and how Ida Orlando's theory of the dynamic nurse-patient relationship can help understand it.
This source will aid my research topic because not only does it provide specific studies done to
test the theory, but it also breaks down the components of communication to analyze how it's
being affected from technology. This can be useful to refer to in my final research because it
shows multiple instances where communication by nurses has been affected and therefore has
impacted the patients as a result. The overall format is outlined in a way that sections off the
the nurse-patient relationship and how it can be applied as a teaching tool for nursing students.
The article also provides a flow chart to showcase the nurses' thought process when taking-action
to care for patients and how the need for help is satisfied. There's also a table included to give
insight on samples of nurse-patient interactions during simulation, which helps nursing students
The Rogerian argument is evident in this article because the authors touch on several
studies of the past revolving around how nurses communicate, and they make sure to give each
side a fair chance before forming a common consensus. According to Toulmin's Modes of
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Argumentation, the authors’ claim was that technology has affected nursing communication. The
grounds to support this were the previously mentioned studies made in past years that all
centered around this same subject. The warrant that connects the grounds and claim is that
the studies show technology causing an increase in nurse efficiency, yet a decrease in nurse
involvement and therefore communication. The backing is the use of personal observations and
statements from those included in these studies that support the warrant. The qualifier in this
article would be that each nurses approach to the use of technology in the workplace differs and
Within the article, the authors include a literature review of the works of Tejero's 2011
study, Kharasch and Du's 2010 study, Kongsuwan and Locsin's 2011 study, as well as a 2010
study by Pillemer and colleagues. By including multiple viewpoints, it helps form a consensus on
how nursing communication has been affected from technology. Tejero's study described how
nursing interventions don't necessarily affect patient outcomes but the "interactions have a direct
effect on patient satisfaction and learning" throughout their stay (370). For Kharasch and Du,
their study showed that when nurses were performing interviews in simulation, they ended up
spending more time focused on the computer screen than with forming actual face to face
interactions. According to Kongsuwan and Locsin's study they began by examining the
perspectives of eight nurses. The result of this being that "technology decreased the nurse's
involvement with the patient and that there was a reduction of the physical space as a result of
the technology" (Kongsuwan & Locsin, 371). Another important study to highlight was with
Pillemer and his colleagues in which they observed the electronic health information system. The
findings from this were that although patients were satisfied, a quarter of them admitted that the
electronic system significantly lessened the amount of interpersonal communication they shared
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with the nurses. These cases also add to the element of ethos because the topic has been
examined by people of authority in the medical field who have a greater understanding of how
the hospital and those within it operate. This makes the audience more inclined to agree with the
authors of the article and reason with their point of view like so many others of the past have.
Furthermore, by adding this literature review to the article, it allows for Gaudet and Howett's
must approach the use of technology cautiously and train student nurses in the importance of
communication" (371).
All the viewpoints form a web of ideas that interconnect and enhance the argument of the
authors- that technology has altered nursing communication in some way or another. In the
source, the authors had the drive to combine all their research findings on nursing
communication in order to result in a final consensus that was based off of the studies of
colleagues in the field. This allowed them to make sense of their argument and in turn create a
greater voice in their article. These additions help make the authors' argument successful because
not only does it highlight their own opinions, but it also gives light to those of the past who have
tested the theory and come to a similar conclusion. The authors’ also do so in a manner where
it’s easy to distinguish the breakdown between the background of communication and
technology in nursing, and how they come together for the role of the nurse. The important take
home points for the reader are that although improvements in technology have benefited health
care in nursing, it doesn't necessarily mean that they haven't negatively affected the role of the
nurse and the nurse-patient relationship. The authors make sure it's heard that in order to
continue advancing for the future, nursing students should learn from the mistakes of the past
like with the decreased communication. Since nursing is such a serious field, they emphasize the
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importance of interpersonal communication and how even more human connection can affect the
I will definitely be able to use this source in my research study because it outlines the
base my research. The main use of this article will be to support the general idea of technology in
nursing communication and the effects it has as a whole. This source provides a lot of useful
especially crucial for those unaware of the field and all that it may entail. Although I won’t be
able to utilize it with one of my three perspectives, it still showcases my thesis for the research
paper-that nursing technology has led to increased efficiency as well as hindered communication.
I intend on starting off my research paper with a short analysis of “Communication and
Technology: Ida Orlando’s Theory Applied”, and following up with the three technologies of
Works Cited
Gaudet, C., Howett, M. (2018). Communication and Technology: Ida Orlando’s Theory Applied.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0894318418792891