Why a smartphone is a valuable tool for every nurse or midwife

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OPINION

By Lilian Nuwabaine Luyima

While scrawling through one of the trending professional platforms, I noted that I was tagged in a mind-blowing post by a Gen Z and innovative emergency care graduate nurse.

The young nurse had shared how her stethoscope met a tripod. She went ahead to share how, for a long time, as midwives and nurses, we have majorly been trained to master clinical skills.

Noting that mastering clinical skills is a great asset, she went ahead to further share how nurses and midwives can have their voices heard through embracing the use of digital platforms rightfully, relevant content creation and storytelling, among others. She noted that the voices of nurses and midwives matter too just as much as their clinical skills.

She concluded by challenging us to choose one extra tool (besides the stethoscope) to represent our nursing or midwifery journey and why. Such a caption caught my attention. It was my time to reflect.

Throughout my social and professional journey, I have learnt that for one to differentiate themselves from any other professionals or community members, following your passion, being intentional, persistent, consistent and above all being innovative in your work is a game changer, while creating impact.

Additionally, I have learnt that no one can tell your story better, other than yourself. Sadly, I have also learnt that if you can’t tell your own story, someone else will, and they may definitely not capture the depth of your story nor give it justice.

To be honest, there is no tool/device that has worked for me better than my Mobile Smartphone, a tool that I use 24/7 to execute my work, keep updated and advocate for the profession locally, nationally and internationally, keeping me relevant in the 21^st century, which requires digital skills.

Why choose a smartphone?

Available evidence shows that the last device one touches before they sleep or the first device one touches once they wake up early morning is their mobile smartphone.

A mobile smartphone is an essential tool for modern healthcare practice, education and training (continuous professional development), research, leadership and I can leverage it anytime to drive innovation and excellence in my work.

For example, through my innovations such as “Your Nurse and Midwife on air”, which focuses on challenging the common public understanding of nurses and midwives, create, discover and empower the community with health-related information and inspiring nurses and midwives to become champions of health advocacy, health promotion, health education and disease prevention using the media approach”.

This is an initiative which is purely run on my mobile smart phone serving >10,000 nurses and midwives working in various health facilities across the whole of Uganda, East Africa, Africa, and the world at-large. Using commonly accessed and used virtual platforms like WhatsApp can be magical. Other virtual platforms accessed and run via my Mobile Smartphone include; LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly twitter), etc.

Moreso, there are other innovations run via my Mobile smart phone like “The Nurses and Midwives Virtual Community platform, The Nutrition and Wellness Hub” which also serve >10,000 and 5,000 community members respectively.

Furthermore, a mobile smartphone enables me to have access to evidence-based health information, facilitates my communication with colleagues, various stakeholders and patients and enhances patient care through telehealth services.

My mobile smartphone also provides me opportunities for continuous professional development, online learning, and staying updated on the latest nursing and midwifery trends, and overall healthcare trends.

With my mobile smartphone, I always stay connected, informed, and able to provide educative, insightful and informative health information and tips to the community, fellow nurses and midwives and other health workers thus inspiring the younger generation of nurses and midwives and others plus improving the community’s health-seeking behaviours.

I also conclude by challenging people out there to choose one extra tool to represent their professional journey with justification/rationale.

The writer is World’s Best Nurse Finalist 2024; Multi-Award-Winning Researcher 2023; Heroes in Health Award Winning Midwife 2021 & Outstanding Woman of 2021)