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Alexa Smiley

ENC 1102

24 March 2019

Final Draft

Rhetorical Analysis: “Communication and Technology: Ida Orlando’s Theory Applied”

Over the years, there have been continuous advancements in the medical field that

contribute to how health care providers communicate for patient success. Due to the improved

technology, it has led nurses in particular, to take on their role differently and connect with

patients in an altered manner. For this research topic, I have decided to investigate how these

technological advances have influenced communication in nursing, specifically with their

patients. This topic is important not only for current nurses or nursing students, but also the

patients who are affected as a result. In order to pursue this profession, it’s crucial to have a

better understanding of where it all started and how times have changed to more efficient

methods of practice in the workplace. Especially with such a highly demanded career, it can be

interesting to uncover what attributes to patient success in medical care. It can also contribute to

the teaching curriculum of nursing students so they are more aware of how to improve

communication in their individual career. As a patient, it may be very rewarding to know what

goes on during your stay and may ease any apprehensions you may have with the process. Hand

in hand with the patients, is their families, who too would benefit from this research because any

medical dilemma can be alarming and by having a deeper knowledge of the medical field, it will

put them more at ease during recovery.

The source in particular that stood out to me was the online article, "Communication and

Technology: Ida Orlando's Theory Applied", by Cynthia Gaudet and Maeve Howett. These
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authors are both credible in the field of nursing, because they are both registered nurses. The text

was published in the Nursing Science Quarterly Journal in 2018; a peer-reviewed academic

journal established in 1988 and published by Sage Publications. This also demonstrates that the

source is up to date with recent technological advances in the medical field and has been

reviewed by a notable publication for its accountability. Especially with a field that's constantly

evolving, it's important to investigate the most recent sources in order to ensure that it's what's

current and most accurate for the time being.

The motivation or exigence behind this text is to examine the communication in nursing

and how Ida Orlando's theory of the dynamic nurse-patient relationship can help understand it.

This source will aid my research topic because not only does it provide specific studies done to

test the theory, but it also breaks down the components of communication to analyze how it's

being affected from technology. This can be useful to refer to in my final research because it

shows multiple instances where communication by nurses has been affected and therefore has

impacted the patients as a result. The overall format is outlined in a way that sections off the

historical background of nursing communication, nurse-patient communication and technology,

the nurse-patient relationship and how it can be applied as a teaching tool for nursing students.

The article also provides a flow chart to showcase the nurses' thought process when taking-action

to care for patients and how the need for help is satisfied. There's also a table included to give

insight on samples of nurse-patient interactions during simulation, which helps nursing students

understand the expected ways to communicate in the workplace-despite any technology.

The Rogerian argument is evident in this article because the authors touch on several

studies of the past revolving around how nurses communicate, and they make sure to give each

side a fair chance before forming a common consensus. According to Toulmin's Modes of
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Argumentation, the authors’ claim was that technology has affected nursing communication. The

grounds to support this were the previously mentioned studies made in past years that all

centered around this same subject. The warrant that connects the grounds and claim is that

the studies show technology causing an increase in nurse efficiency, yet a decrease in nurse

involvement and therefore communication. The backing is the use of personal observations and

statements from those included in these studies that support the warrant. The qualifier in this

article would be that each nurses approach to the use of technology in the workplace differs and

their communication skills differ as a result.

Within the article, the authors include a literature review of the works of Tejero's 2011

study, Kharasch and Du's 2010 study, Kongsuwan and Locsin's 2011 study, as well as a 2010

study by Pillemer and colleagues. By including multiple viewpoints, it helps form a consensus on

how nursing communication has been affected from technology. Tejero's study described how

nursing interventions don't necessarily affect patient outcomes but the "interactions have a direct

effect on patient satisfaction and learning" throughout their stay (370). For Kharasch and Du,

their study showed that when nurses were performing interviews in simulation, they ended up

spending more time focused on the computer screen than with forming actual face to face

interactions. According to Kongsuwan and Locsin's study they began by examining the

perspectives of eight nurses. The result of this being that "technology decreased the nurse's

involvement with the patient and that there was a reduction of the physical space as a result of

the technology" (Kongsuwan & Locsin, 371). Another important study to highlight was with

Pillemer and his colleagues in which they observed the electronic health information system. The

findings from this were that although patients were satisfied, a quarter of them admitted that the

electronic system significantly lessened the amount of interpersonal communication they shared
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with the nurses. These cases also add to the element of ethos because the topic has been

examined by people of authority in the medical field who have a greater understanding of how

the hospital and those within it operate. This makes the audience more inclined to agree with the

authors of the article and reason with their point of view like so many others of the past have.

Furthermore, by adding this literature review to the article, it allows for Gaudet and Howett's

theme to be evident in which although technology increases efficiency in healthcare, "nursing

must approach the use of technology cautiously and train student nurses in the importance of

communication" (371).

All the viewpoints form a web of ideas that interconnect and enhance the argument of the

authors- that technology has altered nursing communication in some way or another. In the

source, the authors had the drive to combine all their research findings on nursing

communication in order to result in a final consensus that was based off of the studies of

colleagues in the field. This allowed them to make sense of their argument and in turn create a

greater voice in their article. These additions help make the authors' argument successful because

not only does it highlight their own opinions, but it also gives light to those of the past who have

tested the theory and come to a similar conclusion. The authors’ also do so in a manner where

it’s easy to distinguish the breakdown between the background of communication and

technology in nursing, and how they come together for the role of the nurse. The important take

home points for the reader are that although improvements in technology have benefited health

care in nursing, it doesn't necessarily mean that they haven't negatively affected the role of the

nurse and the nurse-patient relationship. The authors make sure it's heard that in order to

continue advancing for the future, nursing students should learn from the mistakes of the past

like with the decreased communication. Since nursing is such a serious field, they emphasize the
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importance of interpersonal communication and how even more human connection can affect the

patient's recovery and stability throughout the recovery process.

I will definitely be able to use this source in my research study because it outlines the

major components of nursing technology and communication, giving a useful background to

base my research. The main use of this article will be to support the general idea of technology in

nursing communication and the effects it has as a whole. This source provides a lot of useful

historical information on both sides of communication and technology in nursing, which is

especially crucial for those unaware of the field and all that it may entail. Although I won’t be

able to utilize it with one of my three perspectives, it still showcases my thesis for the research

paper-that nursing technology has led to increased efficiency as well as hindered communication.

I intend on starting off my research paper with a short analysis of “Communication and

Technology: Ida Orlando’s Theory Applied”, and following up with the three technologies of

information technology, hands-free communication devices, and video conferencing, so that it

provides a smoother transition into my research.

Works Cited

Gaudet, C., Howett, M. (2018). Communication and Technology: Ida Orlando’s Theory Applied.

Retrieved February 13, 2019, from

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0894318418792891