Stress is pretty much a given among medical residents. As opposed to many other professions, the medical field tends to have many triggers that lead to extremely stressful conditions.
There are many reasons why stress is high in the medical industry. Technology or the lack of it can pose a problems and promote stressful situations.
In fact, there are three hidden stress factors that can be linked to technology and prove to be frustrating for medical professionals.
1. Conflicts of knowledge
Many times, residents have come into conflicts with technology. If a situation arises where the computerized system calls for a course of action and the action is not logical, what should you do?
A course of action that may seem too complicated can be solved with a simple solution. But this is not as easy as it may seem. Residents are required to follow a program and can be terminated if they veer from the official course. Asking another resident is not always a good idea, so this causes a stressful situation that isn’t easy to resolve.
2. Misunderstandings
Without the proper avenue of back-and-forth discussion, some instructions can be misunderstood. When instructions are left in a digital format, then there may not be time for questions.
This makes it very difficult when the medical professional wants to decipher muddled instructions and establish what course is to be taken. Technology can sometimes prove to be a hurdle.
3. Converting to new systems
Any time that an employee is being trained in new technology, stress may result. Many clinics and hospitals are used to older methods of record-keeping and procedures.
When training begins, it may seem overwhelming to the medical resident and can create a lot of pressure. As conditions change, it’s not easy to accept the alterations, and this can cause problems for medical staff.
To help with this conversion, medical administrators may find it useful to employ the services of a medical IT consulting service. With this kind of professional assistance, it can be much easier to make the transfer to digital format.
There are many ways that technology can prove to be a stressful element of the medical industry, but its benefits can be huge. With time and patience, many of the bugs can be worked out.
