科技與護理專業發展之反思

Reflections on Technology and Nursing Profession Development

現代科技發展對護理實務影響之討論，著眼於科技引入有助於護理專業的發展，提昇護理服務品質，還是窄化了護理工作的藝術面，失去了護理的人文關懷，這樣的爭議使護理與科技之整合陷入兩難。然而，護理專業與科技之相互作用不會在真空中發生，必定與其所處之政治、社會文化脈絡緊緊相扣；捨棄以浪漫主義與樂觀主義論點檢視間之爭議，代之以科技的社會歷史視野(The Perspective of Social History of Technology)為分析架構，探索科技發展、實務操作及使用與社會脈絡之相互生成與型塑的過程，指出科技不能隔離於社會之外，是現代社會中型塑性別、階級與自我認同的權力中心，同時科技之樣貌也為這些社會力量所型塑。本文將醫療科技放在護理實務脈絡下討論，企圖理解科技與護理實務間之相互型塑，進一步闡述四個面向包括護士使用的科技“變簡單”了、護理專業認同之轉化、醫護關係之轉化、護理勞動過程的轉化，建議護理實務應用及未來研究方向。

Discussions of the impact of technological innovation on nursing practices have focused on how technology enhances nursing professional abilities to deliver quality nursing care, on one hand, and the sacrifice of artistic and humanistic aspects of nursing on the other. The debate highlights the fundamental incompatibilities between technology and nursing. Instead of examining the interplay of technology and nursing with the view of technological optimism and romanaticism, the authors apply a social history of technology perspective and emphasize that technology is socially constructed and historically contingent. The technological system and its dissemination produce and reproduce the enduring patterns of power relations in areas such as gender, class and self-identity. This article discusses medical technology in the context of the nursing practice in an attempt to reveal the interplay between technology and nursing with four major themes including the transformation of the owership of technology, the transformation of nurses' professional identity, the transformation of the relationship between physicians and nurses, and the transformation of the nursing labor process. Implications for nursing practice and directions for future research are suggested.