Yasith Weerasuriya of Stanbridge University Talks About the Future of Healthcare
Yasith Weerasuriya, President of Stanbridge University, discusses the future of healthcare. Weerasuriya outlines how technology makes a difference in medicine and what that means for nurses and nursing students going forward. He also shares his vision about the value of Stanbridge University’s mission for the greater good.
Weerasuriya: Well, the future is–the future looks really bright in terms of technology being able to create solutions close to home. Many people think of technology as something that’s happening very far away in terms of experiments or things that are happening. But now, with the amount of connectivity that we have with everything around us and how close it is to make our lives better. And healthcare, no different than anything else, is also becoming more connected to the various elements that are happening.
I think what that means for nurses is that it’s going to be a fascinating time ahead because technologies are coming into place to help them do their jobs better, which ultimately will allow them to take care of patients better. And you see this with the infusion pump and these kinds of things that are coming into the market, changing how nurses can give their patients what they need.
For example, instead of having nurses work eight hours a day, you’re able to have them work four or five hours because technology can do some of these things that humans usually do. So, ultimately, hopefully reducing a lot of the tedious work they have to do and allowing them to spend more time with their patients.
So, I think it’s going to be a very exciting time ahead because you will see new technologies coming into place that will allow nurses to do things differently or better than what our current system provides for us.
The thing about being a nurse is that you have to be willing to work hard and work smart in terms of being able to take care of patients in a better way. Because ultimately, that’s what they’re there for, which is to help the patient get better.
That means that nurses will have to be very forward-thinking and open-minded about what’s happening with technology and how it’s going to change their lives positively.
So, I think it’s going to be an exciting time ahead for nurses because they’re going to see technology coming in place, which is really going to help them do their job better and hopefully get patients out of the hospital or out of the nursing homes up and moving again, thereby making everybody healthier. And that’s what we’re here for. Everybody wants to be healthy, and nurses can help us get there.
I’m proud of the work we do at Stanbridge University in terms of educating nurses and other healthcare professionals to do things better. Because everyone, at the end of the day, is trying to help each other get healthier. And it’s through education that we’re able to provide people with this.