When thinking about the difference between telehealth vs. telemedicine I am not very knowledgeable in them or what their differences are. I think that telemedicine is specific health care services via zoom or other outside sources without going to a facility, specifically telecommunication. Whereas telehealth is telemedicine but is seen as healthcare that is under a wider scope of care and services. Telehealth providing more education and other supports outside of medical care. Personally prior to this presentation I combined the two and viewed them under the same umbrella. When I view the history of both telehealth and telemedicine in the past 3 years since covid began I think it has been a great resource during such a needed time. March of 2019 the world went into lock down and with increasing numbers of individual’s with covid and deaths, I believe we forgot about all the other healthcare concerns that seemed to not be in the news but still occurring daily. 

Telehealth and telemedicine gave individuals access to care in all areas of need. It opened a new pathway of healthcare services to everyone without limitations. Specifically, when looking at the United States healthcare system we know that for a place of such power we lack in many areas, including our healthcare. With individuals who have limitations around money, resources, insurance, and accessibility, it wasn’t addressed until we were in a pandemic, and we had to make a change. I believe for how terrible the pandemic was and has continued to be we grew and changed in a direction around healthcare that benefited so many. We made access to care more available and reliable, having less limitations and restrictions on who needs care. 

As a future nurse who will be a part of this change in healthcare, I want to continue the change in access and availability in healthcare. There is a large cycle of poverty and healthcare that needs to be broken. We make it very difficult for people who may be struggling to get the care they have a right to, as well as make them not feel as though anyone is there for them in times of bad health. We need to make a large change in health care and I believe telehealth and telemedicine is a step in the right direction.