Nursing education in uncharted waters: Are we successfully navigating the industrial revolutions ahead?

摘要

As technologies continue to revolutionise health care, the nursing industry must examine how effectively we utilise technology to prepare nurses to thrive and lead. The emergence of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) has yielded technologies that have and will continue to revolutionise health care through the use of digital transformative technologies characterised by Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), the cloud, big data and mobile data access. The questions that now arises, in the fifth revolution, where we will see a broader integration of AI into health care, will nurses be prepared to navigate this new environment? Today, the global healthcare ecosystem begs for new processes, models, systems and products that achieve the quadruple aim to better manage not only the populations but to lower cost, and improve patient and clinician experience (Hefner et al., 2021). Industry 4.0 is challenging traditional conceptualisations of health by transforming diagnosis, treatment, monitoring methods, and the relationship between health professionals and their patients, and the greater population. These new methods alter the management and organisation of health systems, including access to health care. Industry 4.0’s impact has been mostly positive using mobile technologies, smart home health care, precision medicine, robotic surgeries, and machine learning and artificial intelligence to predict morbidity and mortality, to accurately diagnose and to execute preventable measures (Phillips et al., 2019). New health technology stakeholders and healthcare delivery models have entered the market with the evolution of Industry 4.0. These new stakeholders are operating either as standalone providers or in partnership with existing suppliers, creating value chains and bringing products from conception directly to intended use and beyond. The use of digital devices (i.e. oxygen saturation devices, blood pressure monitors and electrocardiograph monitors) that can empower patients to self-advocate and control their care allows them to make better decisions related to their health. Changes are also occurring at the policy level where eHealth programs are being implemented to increase access to care. Healthcare professionals are among the least likely to be replaced by computerisation or automation, but we need to make sure that these healthcare professionals are educated appropriately to promote constructive integration between people, processes, products of technologies and economic opportunities (Davenport & Kalakota, 2019). In education, we acknowledge it is time to revisit traditional teaching pedagogies and make thoughtful shifts in teaching-learning in response to the impending changes in higher education (Pears & Konstantinidis, 2021). The American Association of Colleges of Nursing's vision for academic nursing has incorporated the use of informatics and technology within the Essentials to support healthcare processes and clinical thinking to positively impact patient outcomes. Students do not learn optimally by lectures and are seeking choices or options for asynchronous and interactive experiences. Mobile devices and tablets offer students the flexibility to access and control the development and sharing of knowledge. These devices are also motivating students to become self-directed, lifelong learners. The developments during Industry 4.0 allow students to create and apply new knowledge using digital tools. These digital tools have also enabled us to pivot from traditional in-person classes to online classes fostering inclusivity and socially connected learning for all students. Both digital innovation and technology can increase the diversity of educational participation; pedagogy now transcends the limits of time and space (Herodotou et al., 2019). The effects of Industry 4.0 on health education are characterised by the fusion and amplification of emerging technologies such as breakthroughs in AI, aut