- Response Postings: Respond to one of your peer’s postings following the above guidelines.
- Formatting: All references are to be formatted using APA 7th ed. style. (Links to an external site.)
- Grading: Total discussion points = 100 (initial and response) – see grading rubric
Discussion Questions
Please post a response to your assigned question:
- In Chapter 10 of the Weberg & Davidson (2021) text, the concept of sociomateriality is introduced. This concept seeks to highlight how many social elements of humans are shaped, modified, and influenced by various material (e.g. technology, objects) entities in the environment (Weberg & Davidson, 2021). The authors of your course text suggest that due to the anticipated, significant scaling of emergent digital health technologies, more and more humans are becoming interlinked with technology in an almost seamless, unseen fashion. With the growing use of many of the technologies you have explored in this course as well as this chapter (AI, robotics/automation, personalized medicine, wearables/biometrics), the blurring between what is social and what is material will become even more subtle in the future. The authors further recommend that in order to recognize this new and quickly approaching reality, advanced practice nurses/nurse leaders should start viewing the clinical practice environment a bit differently through a conceptual lens such as sociomateriality in order to 1) recognize how the increased merger and blurring of social and material entities within healthcare practice is becoming amplified through the adoption of these emergent digital technologies, and 2) use this conceptual lens to generate new roles for the nursing profession.
- Question: Review Reflection Scenario 1 (page 266-267) and Reflection Scenario 3 (page 280-281). Reflect on an environment in a clinical context that could benefit from the generation of new insights for future planning and resource allocation (it might be helpful to consider the types of care or clinical scenarios that are being shifted to non-traditional settings). How could this be accomplished by deconstructing/unpacking the environment and viewing the situation through the lens of sociomateriality (social elements / material elements)? Share any new insights gained from this exercise related to how this might change the role or generate a new role for an advanced practice clinical nurse or an advanced practice nurse leader?
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction: The concept of sociomateriality in healthcare practice suggests that emerging digital technologies are blurring the boundaries between social and material entities, making them almost seamless. Reflecting on clinical contexts through the lens of sociomateriality can generate new insights and roles for advanced practice nurses.
Question: Review Reflection Scenario 1 (page 266-267) and Reflection Scenario 3 (page 280-281). Reflect on an environment in a clinical context that could benefit from the generation of new insights for future planning and resource allocation (it might be helpful to consider the types of care or clinical scenarios that are being shifted to non-traditional settings). How could this be accomplished by deconstructing/unpacking the environment and viewing the situation through the lens of sociomateriality (social elements / material elements)? Share any new insights gained from this exercise related to how this might change the role or generate a new role for an advanced practice clinical nurse or an advanced practice nurse leader?
Reflection Scenario 1 discusses the use of telehealth in a rural community. By deconstructing the environment and viewing it through the lens of sociomateriality, we can identify the social elements that impact the delivery of care in this community, such as access to healthcare services, and the material elements, such as the technologies used to deliver care remotely. With this understanding, advanced practice nurses can develop new roles that integrate the use of technology to improve access to care for rural communities. For example, advanced practice nurses can act as telehealth coordinators, facilitating the use of telehealth technologies to deliver care to remote areas.
Reflection Scenario 3 discusses the use of a virtual ICU to manage critical care patients. By unpacking the environment through sociomateriality, we can identify the social elements, such as the need for critical care expertise, and the material elements, such as monitoring technologies and decision support systems. Advanced practice clinical nurses can use this understanding to develop new roles, such as virtual ICU nurses, who can manage critical care patients remotely using advanced technologies.
In conclusion, by applying the concept of sociomateriality in healthcare, advanced practice nurses can gain new insights into the delivery of care and develop new roles that integrate emerging digital technologies to improve access, efficiency and quality of care.
