Wireless pacemaker allows online monitoring

After relying on a pacemaker for 20 years, Carol Kasyjanski has become the first American recipient of a wireless pacemaker that allows her doctor to monitor her health over the Internet, reports Reuters.

When Kasyjanski heads to St Francis Hospital in Roslyn, New York, for a routine check-up, about 90% of the work has already been done because her doctor has logged into his computer and learned most of what he needs to know about his patient.

Kasyjanski, who has suffered from a severe heart condition for more than 20 years, says the device has given her renewed confidence and a new lease on life.

Healthcare technology is no longer the domain of nursing informatics and IT specialists, according to Susan Newbold, founding member of the Capital Area Roundtable on Informatics in Nursing, states Nurse.com.

Nurses in many areas and specialties are getting involved with developing and implementing cutting-edge technologies and tools that are revolutionising the way they work while improving safety and quality of care for patients.

Sheila Cortes, a nurse educator, has come to rely on her iPhone as an indispensible nursing tool.

The Conservatives firmed up plans to scrap government plans for a central NHS database of records, says Computing.co.uk.

Instead it wants to give patients greater control over their health records by allowing electronic medical records to be stored locally by GPs or accessed online.

Every patient would have a user name and password and could update their records with information such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels.