Conclusions
When they are as dynamic as healthcare and technology, the challenges multiply exponentially. National Defense University (n.d.) agrees, suggesting that:
As the future is uncertain, the only thing relatively clear is that much of what we will experience in the future will be different from the past. We must understand it is not information or even technology that will produce this unprecedented change, but the impact of technology on all aspects of human life; not computers or even bits and bytes, but the ability to apply and integrate rapid technological change (para. 1).
The (2010) IOM report, The Future of Nursing, suggested that it is nurses who will be called up to fill expanding roles and to master technological tools and information systems while collaborating and Nurse leaders must begin thinking now about how emerging technologies will change the practice of nursing... coordinating care across teams of health professionals. Nurse leaders must begin thinking now about how emerging technologies will change the practice of nursing and proactively create the educational models and leadership development programs necessary to assure that nurses will have the competencies they need to address these emerging technologies. It must be nurses who are at the forefront in planning for and preparing for these challenges. Nursing as a profession must not be reactive and allow others to assume this leadership role.