Telehealth is one of the emerging innovations that have improved how healthcare providers are delivering healthcare to patients. Telehealth is a form of technology that allows healthcare providers to engage with their patients electronically or virtually when they are at different locations (Reference). The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) made healthcare organizations understand the need to integrate telehealth due to the increased need to reduce contact between healthcare providers and patients (Reference). The rapid rate of telehealth integration by health systems also calls for the need to train nurses who can effectively use the technology to deliver health care to patients. Nurse educators need to understand the importance of telehealth and strive to help nursing students understand the same. They should also know the important teaching points to focus on during training to ensure that they instill the right knowledge and skills in the learners (Reference). It is highly imperative that nurse educators understand changes in technological trends in the healthcare industry to be able to teach relevant concepts to nursing students.
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Important Points for Nurse Educators
Nurse educators who are aspiring to teach future nurses about telehealth should receive adequate training to prepare themselves for the role. They must first learn how to use the technology before applying their knowledge to the learners to provide them with the best educational experience (Reference). According to Health Recovery Solutions, the initial step towards teaching students how to use telehealth entails developing a curriculum that encourages learning. Nurse educators must understand that the types of exchanges that telehealth offers are quite different from those that occur during face-to-face interaction (Reference). For example, as opposed to meeting one another in the same physical environment during face-to-face interaction, telehealth utilizes a digital screen, separating the patient from the provider in a virtual platform. Therefore, the nurse educator is charged with the responsibility of designing telehealth training programs in a manner that will teach students how to effectively utilize technology to improve patient engagement and outcomes in the digital environment (Reference). Additionally, registered nurses who want to become nurse educators should ensure that they receive telehealth training during their educational advancement journey.