Impact On Professional Nursing Practice
The healthcare technology is changing each and every time hence nurses should be in a position to keep up with the latest trends. 3-D printing is one of the main recent technologies that has gained popularity in the modern day medical technology. There are numerous ways in which 3-D printing has impacted nursing practice such as reproducing organs, generating personalized medical implants and producing highly detailed models (Huston, 2013).
3-D printing nurses are able to use a biological gelatin ink to produce three-dimensional replicas of biological organs. The nurses can use the 3-D printer to produce a flexible gelatin version of the organ. The base structure that is produced includes very fine details such as pores. The real tissue is then applied to the structure formed hence creating a viable organ. After transplantation blood vessels usually fix themselves to this organ hence it is integrated fully into the body. The nurses who work regularly with the organ transplant patients have seen a drastic change in their workload since through 3-D printing patients who could not find a viable option now have a chance to have transplants (Conner et al. 2014).
The production of viable and functional implants is a very delicate process in which the nurse is expected to consider all the characteristic needs of each and every patient. Through 3-D printing, it is possible to produce medical implants that suit an individual patient’s needs. Using a CT scan, a nurse can get the exact image of the needs of the patient and then use a 3-D printer to build and produce an item that suits the needs of the patient. Nurse practitioners that are given transplant patients have more innovative procedures coming to their career pathway as new implant solutions become available. Nurses have a high level of contact with the patients who use implanted ports of draining fluids as well as medicine administration (Huston, 2013). Therefore, 3-D printing provides comfortable and personalized solutions for the ports used which nurses are able to interact with closely on daily basis. 3-D printers are used to transform a scan of an organ to a scale model that nursing students can hold in their hands hence making the learning process easier.
Through the use of 3-D printing technology, there are more personalized solutions that exactly or almost exactly fit the patient’s needs hence ensuring the patient’s safety and makes the recovery faster and smoother. Statistics show that the 3-D models can also be used by nurses to teach the patients hence expanding their understanding of the medical condition that they have hence improved their safety as they will know what is being done to them (Ventola, 2014).
3-D printing has impacted significantly on patient care delivery in terms of provision of high-quality healthcare, effective monitoring processes, and risk management by enabling patient’s confidentiality, privacy, and security.
Although 3D printing has many benefits, there are both legal and ethical concerns. Ethical concerns include the question if the treatments are safe and effective before they are taken up for clinical use hence safety, privacy and security of the patient are not guaranteed (Dotz, 2015). Therefore, before 3-D printed therapies can be considered safe and secure for patients, researches need to develop models for testing the treatments that they come up with for safety and effectiveness. For the legal considerations, regulatory bodies that approve new treatments should set new standards to test 3-D printed treatments before they are given to the patients and also set requirements that help in upholding patient’s confidentiality and privacy when testing 3-D bioprinting for humans. There is no set limit on what should be bio printed in the health sector hence many claims that this is an attempt of human enhancement (Cornwall, 2016).
The use of 3-D printing has made healthcare affordable since printing is cost-efficient and has lowered the cost of various medical procedures. There are speculations that in the new future, the prices and operational costs of various medical procedures and biomedicines will reduce due to the competition because of 3-D printers. In addition to the decreased costs of the medical procedures, the 3-D printers will simplify treatments due to the improvement and development of new medical infrastructure that is effective. For example, the Forbes magazine state that the current operational cost for a kidney transplant is over three hundred thousand dollars which will be reduced to almost ten thousand dollars (Berman, 2012).
The population that will benefit most are the elderly, the poor and those that need a transplant. The elderly in the society usually have conditions that are associated with old age which normally leads to organ failure (Dodziuk, 2016). Therefore, due to poverty and the high costs of transplants, these senior citizens may not be able to receive the organ that they need. However, through the use of 3-D printing technology, these services can be available to this population at a lower cost.
- Patient Vantage Point Or Perspective
Advantages
- 3-D printing brings about improved patient outcomes
- Due to the success of the procedures where 3-D printing technology has been applied, there is patient and family satisfaction with the results.
- 3-D printing is affordable hence the patient will be able to access treatment at an affordable cost (Choonara, du Toit, Kumar, Kondiah & Pillay, 2016)
Disadvantages
- There are no safety regulations that have been formulated to guide 3D printing in the sensitive healthcare sector.
- The procedure that is carried out in 3D printing in the healthcare sector may be expensive to the patient.
- The 3D printers are not all that user-friendly hence the patient may not be able to fully benefit from them.
Advantages
- The use of 3D printers makes the work of the nurse easier since the procedures that are carried out are faster.
- The output of the nurse is also improved since 3D printers ensure job efficiency.
- The procedures carried out are safe hence this ensures the safety of the nurse and other healthcare personnel.
Disadvantages
- 3D printers generate potentially toxic emissions that may contain carcinogenic particles that can be harmful to the nurse.
- 3D printing technology eliminates a lot of stages hence the role of the nurse can be undergone hence leading to loss of jobs.
- The materials to be used by the nurse in undertaking 3D procedures are limited.
Advantages
- The healthcare organization is able to offer faster and affordable services to the patients.
- 3D printing enables these organizations to cut down the operational costs as 3D printing uses few resources (Choonara et al. 2016).
- Offers a chance for professionals to work together and better the outcomes and performance of the organization.
Disadvantages
- Healthcare organizations are faced with regulatory compliance since the set standards are high.
- Some of the equipment and also materials used in 3D printing are expensive hence becomes a burden to the healthcare organization.
- The healthcare organizations are also faced with legal and ethical issues that arise in 3D printing.
References
Berman, B. (2012). 3-D printing: The new industrial revolution. Business horizons, 55(2), 155-162.
Choonara, Y. E., du Toit, L. C., Kumar, P., Kondiah, P. P., & Pillay, V. (2016). 3D-printing and the effect on medical costs: a new era?. Expert review of pharmacoeconomics & outcomes research, 16(1), 23-32.
Conner, B. P., Manogharan, G. P., Martof, A. N., Rodomsky, L. M., Rodomsky, C. M., Jordan, D. C., & Limperos, J. W. (2014). Making sense of 3-D printing: Creating a map of additive manufacturing products and services. Additive Manufacturing, 1, 64-76.
Cornwall, J. (2016). The ethics of 3D printing copies of bodies donated for medical education and research: What is there to worry about?. The Australasian medical journal, 9(1), 8.
Dodziuk, H. (2016). Applications of 3D printing in healthcare. Kardiochirurgia i torakochirurgia polska= Polish journal of cardio-thoracic surgery, 13(3), 283.
Dotz, A. D. (2015). A pilot of 3D printing of medical devices in Haiti. In Technologies for development (pp. 33-44). Springer, Cham.
Huston, C. (2013). The impact of emerging technology on nursing care: warp speed ahead. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 18(2).
Ventola, C. L. (2014). Medical applications for 3D printing: current and projected uses. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 39(10), 704.
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