Give Second Life a Second Chance?

As I mentioned in my first post, I'm taking a class called The Internet and the Future of Patient Care. It's taught by a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Davis (UCD).  He is very interested in exploring creative and innovative ways to connect with patients and improve their access to health care.  Some feel that one path to this goal is a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) called Second Life (SL), launched in June, 2003 by Linden Lab.  SL is a user designed and modified 3D virtual "experience" that is free at a basic level, but to buy or sell goods, services and "land" requires an account which will cost you. Participation in SL requires that you create an avitar, which is the virtual you who will walk (or fly!) around in SL.

My assignment for the class was to create a basic account and an avitar and to start exploring Second Life and its possible use in doctor-patient relationships.  Maybe it's my age or that I'm a girl (apparently most users are young men), or that I don't have experience playing online games, but I had a difficult time even getting started in SL. I found myself actually becoming anxious because I couldn't figure out how to create my avitar, let alone clothe her. But I forged ahead. I solicited the assistance of my 20 something son.

I utilized several of the tutorial guides available on the web site to learn how to navigate this strange and unfamiliar world. I have spent many hours exploring SL hoping to discover the potential that others, including my teacher, see in this form of social media as a communication tool between doctors and patients. Unfortunately, I have not found it yet.

Admittedly, I was not able to participate in the class seminar that I think was designed to get the class participants together in SL to explore its possibilities. I am going to try to do that this week.  And since I have developed doubts about SL’s utility for anything other than just another social networking site, I decided to see what others were saying about it. Unfortunately, I found several blogs or articles that described SL as creepy and freaky. And apparently there is quite a bit of virtual sex going on there. I’m glad I didn’t run into anything like that. I couldn’t find any reference to using SL in a more professional manner, or for any educational purpose. Most of these comments about SL were made a few years ago, so perhaps it has changed.  This perception of SL would need to change in order for it to become something else.

All of this said, I’m willing to concede that SL could have the potential to be a more useful, professional tool. This virtual world is still very young, and the possibilities are endless. Since all content is user designed, the user could create whatever environment is desired. The drawback is the complexity of the tool which really requires a fairly advanced ability to navigate it. I think it deserves an opportunity to prove itself. I’m willing to give Second Life a second chance.

Quality Care Happens at the Bedside

      The 1999 publishing of the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) landmark report, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System spawned a great deal of work toward improving patient safety. It was estimated in that report that up to 98,000 people die in hospitals every year due to medical errors (Wikipedia, 2010). Reports from around the world during the late 1990's also were estimating large numbers of patients harmed by errors. Based on the data, the World Health Organization has concluded that 1 in 10 patients worldwide experience preventable harm while hospitalized (WHO, 2008).  National milestones in the patient safety improvement movement in the United States are as follows (Milestones, 2009):

2001        IOM Report: “Crossing the Quality Chasm” here
2003        The Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals
2004        IHI 100,000 Lives Campaign
2005        Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act
2007        IHI 5 Million Lives Campaign
2009        CMS Statement of Work

     So, what do we do with all of this information? Hospitals work together and independently to make changes consistent with recommendations from the IHI, IOM, The Joint Commission, the WHO and a myriad of other patient safety advocacy groups. Leaders develop safety plans, agencies monitor progress, and legislators introduce laws. Has all of this action made a difference?

     The Hearst Corporation undertook an investigation and estimated that 200,000 people would die in the year 2009, about half from medical mistakes and the other half from hospital acquired infections. Read about the project here. That's not progress.

     I have been an acute care Registered Nurse for 13 years. Six of those years have been spent as a unit based educator in interventional cardiology at a large urban medical center. Our quality is better than the national average in many indicators.  This is to the credit of the extremely hard working Registered Nurses and support staff. Sometimes I don't know how they manage to take such good care of the patients when practically on a daily basis, someone is asking them to learn a new process, fill out a new form (we do not have EHR yet), attend a new class or in-service, perform a new audit, or train new staff.  Oh, and also spend more time at the patient's bedside.  Really?

    Registered Nurses are highly trained to be the coordinators of care for their patients. As patient advocates, Registered Nurses work for the care and recovery of the sick and maintenance of their health.  Registered Nurses want to provide the best possible care for all patients at all times.  They are devastated when they make an error, especially when it leads to permanent harm or death.  But the "system" often contributes to conditions that lead to such errors.

     Effective nursing leadership is essential to promoting quality care.  Change is inevitable. We live in a world that is changing very rapidly.  Technology and the body of knowledge are expanding faster than we can keep up with it.  Poorly implemented new processes will not lead to sustainable changes. As well, diligent follow-up and process modification is perhaps more important than the initial implementation, yet there is often no time for follow-up as the next change is rolling down the pike.

It is my passion and my goal to study the issues surrounding the support that bedside Registered Nurses need to be able to provide the best care to their patients at all times.  I will be posting articles related to this topic and exploring methods to accomplish this goal.  Please join me in this endeavor!



References

1. To Err is Human. (2010, September 1). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 24, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=To_Err_is_Human&oldid=382362903

2. World Health Organization: 10 facts on patient safety (2008, November 6). Retrieved October 24, 2010.

3. Milestones in the Patient Safety Movement. (2009). Retrieved October 24, 2010, from Missouri Center for Patient Safety: http://www.mocps.org/docs/2009_10_IOM_Descriptions.pdf

Welcome to my BLOG!

This is my first experience with blogging! I am enrolled in a Master's degree program studying Nursing Science and Health-Care Leadership. In order to gain a better understanding of how the Internet is and can be used in today's world to gain health care information and to communicate with health care providers, I am taking an online course, The Internet and the Future of Patient Care. This blog is part of our first assignment.

I hope to use this blog not only to fulfill the class requirements, but to explore how I might use this type of tool to supplement my possible thesis as stated in the title of this blog.  I hope you will visit often and offer your comments.