Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists
Nature offers many examples of specialization and collaboration. Ant colonies and bee hives are but two examples of nature’s sophisticated organizations. Each thrives because their members specialize by tasks, divide labor, and collaborate to ensure food, safety, and general well-being of the colony or hive.
Of course, humans don’t fare too badly in this regard either. And healthcare is a great example. As specialists in the collection, access, and application of data, nurse informaticists collaborate with specialists on a regular basis to ensure that appropriate data is available to make decisions and take actions to ensure the general well-being of patients.
In this Discussion, you will reflect on your own observations of and/or experiences with informaticist collaboration. You will also propose strategies for how these collaborative experiences might be improved.
Resources
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.
WEEKLY RESOURCES
To Prepare:
Review the Resources and reflect on the evolution of nursing informatics from a science to a nursing specialty.
Consider your experiences with nurse Informaticists or technology specialists within your healthcare organization.
By Day 3 of Week 3
Post
a description of experiences or observations about how nurse informaticists and/or data or technology specialists interact with other professionals within your healthcare organization. Suggest at least one strategy on how these interactions might be improved. Be specific and provide examples. Then, explain the impact you believe the continued evolution of nursing informatics as a specialty and/or the continued emergence of new technologies might have on professional interactions.
By Day 6 of Week 3
Respond
to at least
two
of your colleagues
* on two different days
, offering one or more additional interaction strategies in support of the examples/observations shared or by offering further insight to the thoughts shared about the future of these interactions.
*Note:
Throughout this program, your fellow students are referred to as colleagues.
Informaticist interactions with health professionals
Nurse informaticists assumed pivotal roles as technology instruments in healthcare settings. They oversee the general picture of healthcare in the organizational hierarchy and the core of the organization’s information management infrastructure and support (Nagle, L., Sermeus, W., & Junger, A., 2017). The initial encounter with a nurse informaticist begins with an orientation, which involves learning the healthcare software that serves as a clinical platform for electronic health records utilized by the organization’s interdisciplinary professionals. Classroom training, in-person teaching guidance, and surveys of post-in-service education are being conducted to determine the effectiveness of new updates and modifications to the current electronic healthcare platform. Since informatics shapes the integration of technology and healthcare, continuous transformation through updates and education is mandatory for every organization member to achieve a positive health outcome (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022).
Strategy to improve interactions
Due to the complexity of the technology-laden healthcare system in the current era, significant numbers of clinicians have polar acceptance of evidence-based health recommendations leading to the failure of the outcome-oriented health design system. The results-driven professionals utilized the system to improve health outcomes; however, some refused to adopt and adapt to the updated protocols due to the poor usability of the system and unwillingness to learn because of doubt about the effectiveness of health informatics in nursing practice. Alert systems prompting end-users about clinical data integrated with clinical decision support systems are overwhelming. Still, they create awareness of the patient’s clinical status as being evaluated by predictive models supporting increased safety (Nibbelink et al., 2018). Therefore, education programs that improve compliance using the health design significantly contribute to the practical evaluation of the software protocol leading to positive health outcomes (Sipes, C., 2016). Frequent email updates and prompts with guidance on using the EHR design through webinars and online educational resources are paramount to improving usage and interactions among clinicians and nurse informaticists to achieve patient safety (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022).
Impact of nursing informatics on technologies and professional interactions.
The evolution of nursing informatics in technologies and professional interactions has significantly improved outcomes through interdisciplinary clinical assessment, formulation of care plans, application of interventions, and data analysis to formulate predictive progress by the healthcare design system. Nursing practice integrated with information science creates a highly specific plan of care that will improve the quality of care outcomes (Darvish et al., 2014). Individualized interventions based on problems are generated, while alert systems prompt clinicians to consult physicians to address life-threatening conditions (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022). Health informatics also enhances post-discharge monitoring due to its revolutionary ways of healthcare delivery through a mobile device use with a health app or any wearable surveillance devices (Ng, Y., Alexander, S. & Frith, K., 2018).
References:
Nagle, L., Sermeus, W., & Junger, A. (2017). In J. Murphy, W. Goosen, & P. Weber (Eds.),
Forecasting Competencies for Nurses in the Future of Connected Health
(212–221). Clifton, VA: IMIA and IOS Press. Retrieved on March 15, 2023, from
https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_4A0FEA56B8CB.P001/REF
Links to an external site.
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. (2022). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Nibbelink, C. W., Young, J. R., Carrington, J. M., & Brewer, B. B. (2018). Informatics Solutions for Application of Decision-Making Skills.
Critical care nursing clinics of North America
,
30
(2), 237–246. Retrieved on March 15, 2023, from
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnc.2018.02.006
Links to an external site.
Sipes, C. (2016). Project Management: Essential Skill of Nurse Informaticists.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 225, 252–256.
Retrieved on March 15, 2023, from
https://eds.s.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=ed21dc7e-c2d2-4b5d-98d8-24a8e3238854%40redis
Links to an external site.
Darvish, A., Bahramnezhad, F., Keyhanian, S., & Navidhamidi, M. (2014). The role of nursing informatics in promoting quality of health care and the need for appropriate education.
Global journal of health science
,
6
(6), 11–18. Retrieved on March 15, 2023, from
https://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v6n6p11
Links to an external site.
Ng, Y., Alexander, S. & Frith, K. (2018). Integration of Mobile Health Applications in Health Information Technology Initiatives. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 36 (5), 209–213. Retrieved on March 16, 2023, from
https://doi:10.1097/CIN.0000000000000445
Nursing Informatics Interactions
Nursing informaticists and/or data technology specialists interact with other healthcare professionals on a daily basis. The first hospital that I was employed with had nursing informaticists teach new hires about the charting system that was used. This allowed for staff to experience the charting system prior to starting their first shift. The information technology (IT) team within the hospital system that I’m currently employed with works with staff members during both the day and night shifts to resolve technical and organizational issues (Singh, 2022). For example, the IT team was contacted by a nurse during the day due to the inability to chart within the electric medical record (EMR) system. They worked to resolve this issue to ensure that all patient information was correctly charted.
Strategies to Improve Interactions
One example of a strategy that could be used to improve the interactions between healthcare professionals and nursing informaticists is by communicating to improve the technology within the hospital system. Clinical staff usually defer to informaticists regarding the use of decision support and the finest way to design inputs and outputs on information. Technical experts usually defer to clinical experts regarding workflow and content. Regulatory experts provide guidance on content and workflow involving the evaluation of final products. This will allow for the improvement of nursing documentation, creating a more useful patient-centered healthcare record, and normalizing data to evaluate nursing care of patients during their hospital stay and their outcome levels (Mosier et al., 2019). By working together, the healthcare professionals and the nursing informaticists will continue to improve patient outcomes.
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Evolution of Nursing Informatics and New Technologies
The evolution of nursing informatics and new technologies is clear. It’s known that nursing informatics specialists have united analytical sciences and nursing science to define, identify, communicate data, manage data, knowledge, informatics, and wisdom for decades. Now, nurses who work in informatics are advancing towards implementing better EMRs. They also work on improving the knowledge of educators, analysts, policy developers, software engineers, and operational owners to improve patient care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing informaticists, program leaders, clinical services, and information services worked together to implement telehealth programs (Schoenbaum & Carroll, 2022). This was a solution that was implemented to protect the health and safety of patients and healthcare workers throughout the country.
References
Mosier, S., Roberts, D., & Englebright, J. (2019, November).
A Systems-Level Method for Developing Nursing Informatics Solutions: The Role of Executive Leadership
. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://oce.ovid.com/article/00005110-201911000-00008/HTML
Schoenbaum, A. E., & Carroll, W. M. (2022, May 16).
Nursing informatics key role in defining clinical workflow, increasing efficiency and improving quality
. HIMSS. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.himss.org/resources/nursing-informatics-key-role-defining-clinical-workflow-increasing-efficiency-and
Singh, A. (2022, August 17).
What does an IT professional do?
University of the People. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/what-does-an-it-professional-do/#:~:text=IT%20stands%20for%20information%20technology,within%20organizations%20of%20all%20sizes.
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Ketia Sanon
Mar 15, 2023 9:52pm
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Last reply Mar 19, 2023 5:28am
Reply from Ketia Sanon
Interaction between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists
Nursing informatics is integral in helping transform healthcare services’ quality and safety. Nurse informatics is a new specialty in nursing that integrates nursing information and knowledge with technology to manage and integrate healthcare. Nursing informatics has helped transform the healthcare system by helping promote and incorporate evidence-based practices into the clinical decision-making process by providing relevant, practical, and current data and information to support healthcare provision and decision-making (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022). The role of a nurse informaticist is to collect, analyze, and disseminate data to ensure the delivery of quality and safe care through the utilization of advanced technological resources (Deckro et al., 2020). Nurse informaticists support other healthcare specialists in applying information technology in healthcare and clinical processes.
Interaction between Nurse Informaticists, Data or Technology Specialists, and Other Professionals Within My Healthcare Organization
In my healthcare organization, nurse informaticists ensure proper and meaningful utilization of all technological systems. Nurse informaticists offer technical support to other specialists to avoid and avert technological mishaps that could adversely affect the quality and safe care delivery (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022). In my organization, nurse informaticists work to develop communication and information technologies to enhance the delivery of care. We use mobile devices, social media platforms, and emails to communicate. Nurse informaticists ensure flawless communication within the organization, facilitating the exchange of vital patient information. When new technologies are implemented at the organization, nurse informaticists carry out training to ensure that we all understand the use and application of the new technologies.
Improving Interactions between Clinicians or Other Specialists and Nurse Informacists/
Data or Technology Specialists
The interactions between technology specialists and other professionals within my healthcare organization help eliminate delays and waste of healthcare resources (Deckro et al., 2020). At the healthcare facility, we use electronic health records to facilitate the delivery of patient-centered interventions. Electronic health records ensure that all specialists at the organization have accurate and complete information about patients and other issues, thus enabling effective and timely decisions. Nurse informaticists ensure that all professionals at the healthcare facility have quick access to patient records for better coordinated and efficient care.
The use of electronic health records at my healthcare organization has improved workflow efficiency leading to better patient experience and healthcare outcomes (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022). One strategy for improving the interactions between nurse informaticists and other professionals might be enhancing security and privacy. Nurse informaticists should ensure that there is a limited risk of unauthorized persons accessing patient information (Mosier et al., 2019). For instance, using biometrics for verification when prescribing medications or accessing electronic systems in the facility has greatly improved security and eliminated system misuse by professionals. For example, it helps eliminate colleagues misusing other people’s systems to perform tasks such as prescribing medications, which could land others in trouble in case of prescription mistakes or errors.
The Impact of the Continued Evolution of Nursing Informatics on Professional Interactions
The continued emergence of new technologies will significantly impact professional interactions. Using new and advanced technologies improves the quality and efficiency of providing health services to patients. Increased efficiency has implications for healthcare professionals because it reduces work-related stress and fosters overall job satisfaction. The continued evolution of nursing informatics and the emergence of new technologies might impact professional interactions because they simplify information acquisition (Mosier et al., 2019). Simplified acquisition of patient information enhances decision-making, which saves the patient time. The continued emergence of new technologies will help improve workflow, quality of care, and patient safety. The evolution of nursing informatics as a specialty will continue to enhance communication and inter-professional collaborations, leading to improved healthcare services.
References
Deckro, J., Phillips, T., Davis, A., Hehr, A. T., & Ochylski, S. (2021). Big data in the veterans health administration: A nursing informatics perspective.
Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 53
(3), 288-295.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12631
Links to an external site.
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2022).
Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (5th Ed.).
Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Mosier, S., Roberts, W. D., & Englebright, J. (2019). A systems-level method for developing nursing informatics solutions: The role of executive leadership.
The Journal of Nursing Administration
,
49
(11), 543–548.
https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000815
Links to an external site.
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Kelly Ann Robertson
Mar 15, 2023 9:06pm
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Last reply Mar 19, 2023 5:29am
Reply from Kelly Ann Robertson
Week Three Discussion:
Initial Post
What is a Nursing Informaticist?
As time goes on, technology improves to make our lives as medical providers easier, as well as keeping patients well and safe. Technology has given us the use of electronic health records (EHR), telemedicine, medication dispensing machines, and much more. A Nursing Informaticist is a registered nurse that collects data and applies information to improve nursing systems, nursing care, and improve patient outcomes (HIMSS, 2022,.).
Post
a description of experiences or observations about how nurse informaticists and/or data or technology specialists interact with other professionals within your healthcare organization.
I work for an outpatient psychiatric clinic who primarily handles SMI (Serious Mental Illness) members as well as COT (Court Ordered Treatment) members. Before coming to this clinic, the places I worked had paper charting and that was always a nightmare! We now use an EHR called Axiom, and while it has its flaws it seems to work okay now. When we first launched Axiom, the errors were unbelievable. Charts wouldn’t load right, it would shut down when charting a note, injections wouldn’t show up in the log, medications were incorrect on the reconciliation pages, billing code errors, and the list goes on. According to Dimas, J., Lyons, A., Richardson, S., & Sward, K. (2022), sometimes the EHR’s just simply contain errors that will take time to fix much like the errors I already mentioned. Technology is not perfect, much like we aren’t. While we don’t have a nursing informatics team, we do have a large team of IT specialists, Quality Improvement Specialists and Business Systems Analyst. In order to fix these issues within the company, we use email and phone calls to collaborate with these specialist to try to get this solved quickly and efficiently. But sadly, our IT department can’t always fix everything and then they will have to reach out to the IT department of the EHR. My company does take in a LOT of feedback from the medical staff as we are affected the most, and we have all worked together with Axiom to create a more seamless charting system that is companywide (we have numerous clinics around the state) and we can all see the same notes and documentation and have reduced the errors significantly.
Suggest at least one strategy on how these interactions might be improved
.
There are a couple of ways that this issue could improve. While we do use email as our primary communication within the company, our IT/Specialists can have a difficult time getting a hold of IT for the EHR. Most of the time the error is fixed in a couple of hours, but there are times that the communication just isn’t there and it could be DAYS before an error gets fixed, and you can probably image the pure chaos that stems from that. Ways to improve this of course would be better communication and maybe someone on the receiving end could prioritize phone calls from outside consumers. Within the company where there are problems in the EHR, IT and specialists will come to each clinic and discuss the issues we are having and ways to improve or increase the work flow and relay them to the charting company. Nurses need to have a voice when it comes to flaws in the EHR. Voicing our needs and suggestions are important to create the workflow we desire and can help redesign the health record programs (Kang, J., Lee, S., 2021.).I think discussing with staff first hand and holding meetings and trainings is the best way to start to collect data to discuss with the company.
Explain the impact you believe the continued evolution of nursing informatics as a specialty and/or the continued emergence of new technologies might have on professional interactions.
Technology is growing and the possibilities are endless within the medical field. I have friends that work in the medical hospitals and the things they tell me that they can do is incredible, like scanning a barcode on the patients wrist to check medications, vitals automatically going into the chart, it’s great. Going from years of paper charting to electronic charting has made a huge improvement in our patient care and our performance as medical professionals. The ability to have the providers, pharmacy, and case management/social workers, see what we are charting and in real time has been amazing. No more waiting for a call back from the on-call provider. No more hoping and praying that the medication order made it to the pharmacy. We can see who the members entire team consists of without having to hunt down staff. That part makes me happy because we can all read each other’s notes and everything is conveniently in a drop down menu to choose the area you want to research or staff you wish to communicate with. Hopefully, things will continue to improve as time goes on.
Resources:
Dimas, J., Lyons, A., Richardson, S., & Sward, K. (2022, June).
Assessing EHR data for use in clinical improvement and research: Ingenta connect
. American Journal of Nursing. Retrieved on March 14, 2023, from
https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/wk/ajn/2022/00000122/00000006/art00021
Links to an external site.
Lee, Seonah PhD, RN; Kang, Ji-Soon PhD, RN. Unintended Consequences and Workarounds of Electronic Medical Record Implementation in Clinical Nursing Practice. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing 39(12):p 898-907, December 2021. | DOI: 10.1097/CIN.0000000000000785
What is nursing informatics?
(2022, June 29). Retrieved on March 15, 2023, from
HIMSS. https://www.himss.org/resources/what-nursing-informatics
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Dafroza Ikolo Msuya
Mar 15, 2023 8:49pm
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Last reply Mar 18, 2023 8:22pm
Reply from Dafroza Ikolo Msuya
Nurse Informaticists Interaction
Nurse informatics are important healthcare team members because they help nurses and other medical staff do their jobs when caring for patients. They use technology to improve patient outcomes and the overall performance of the healthcare system. They ensure that nurses have correct and up-to-date information and advise them on how to use it well. Nurse informatics must also know how to work well with other specialists to give patients the best care possible. The healthcare system’s success depends on the collaboration of nurse informatics and other specialists (Sipes, 2016). By working together, these professionals can ensure that patients receive the best possible care. Furthermore, this collaboration can aid in discovering new ways to improve care delivery (Sipes, 2016).
Nurse informatics is a part of nursing that uses computers, information systems, and nursing to determine what data means (Sipes, 2016). It is also a unique part of nursing that lets nurses work with other professionals as communication and information technology developers. When combined with evidence-based technology, informatics can help patients receive better care and outcomes. The concepts of evidence-based practice (EBP) and the use of workplace technologies demonstrate that the world of healthcare is changing (Abdekhoda & Khezri, 2021). Nurse informatics and information technology teams can help the hospital use the system during care. All healthcare workers in my nursing unit use the Cerner EHR to access, organize, store, and share patient’s electronic medical records (EMR). Since the software was introduced to the hospital a few years ago, nurse informatics have taught older and newer employees how to use it. During software updates and competency reviews, older employees are given refresher courses. Scheduled training days are provided for new team members to learn how to use the software properly. The nurse informatics goal is to ensure everyone is trained well enough to prevent mistakes in patient medical records.
Strategy on how these interactions might be improved.
Interactions between nurse informatics, and other professionals can be improved through communication. For example, when patients are discharged from the hospital, they are given two copies of their medical records—one for themselves and one for their primary care physician. Even though they see hospitalized patients daily, primary care doctors cannot get information about them unless they give it to them during office visits (Theodos & Sittig, 2020). It would be simple for the doctor to continue providing care if he or she could see information about the patient, especially if the person has a long-term illness. The problem with denying access is that the information about the patient is private, and the doctor must use the same system used in acute care facilities (Theodos & Sittig, 2020). Once the patient agrees to share his or her medical record, access to information should be available using a broader system. So, standardizing how the medical system is used will eliminate the problem of being unable to get patient information and give patients the best care possible.
Impact of
continued evolution of nursing informatics as a specialty and/or the continued emergence of new technologies might have on professional interactions.
Creating new technology and nursing informatics tools significantly affects how professionals work together. When technology is used, it makes healthcare services better and more efficient for patients. At the management level, healthcare information systems coordinate all activities within a healthcare system (Mosier et al., 2019). Furthermore, obtaining information is simplified and more convenient, patients save time when seeking medical assistance, workflow is improved, and treatment decisions can be made quickly. Most of the time, using technology to manage health information has made patients safer. When the administration and professionals from different fields can access up-to-date, accurate, and relevant information from information management systems, it is easy to find problems and inefficiencies in how healthcare is given (Mosier et al., 2019). Interprofessional communication technology and electronic health records improve collaboration and patient outcomes.
Reference
Abdekhoda, M., & Khezri, H. (2021, August 6).
Investigating the impact of Health Informatics Literacy on the evidence-based practice of Nursing
. HIMSS. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from
https://www.himss.org/resources/investigating-impact-health-informatics-literacy-evidence-based-practice-nursing
Links to an external site.
Mosier, S., Roberts, W. D., & Englebright, J. (2019). A Systems-Level Method for Developing Nursing Informatics Solutions:
The Role of Executive LeadershipLinks to an external site.
Links to an external site.
.
JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration
,
49
(11), 543-548.
Sipes, C. (2016). Project management:
Essential skill of nurse informaticistsLinks to an external site.
Links to an external site.
.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 225
, 252-256.
Theodos, K., & Sittig, S. (2020, December 7).
Health Information Privacy Laws in the digital age: HIPAA doesn’t apply
. Perspectives in health information management. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7883355/
Links to an external site.
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Shannon Glasshoff
Mar 15, 2023 8:39pm
Reply from Shannon Glasshoff
Initial Post
Nursing Informatics supports the nursing profession through the integration of nursing science and analytical science (Sipes, 2016). Healthcare continues to evolve with the advancement of technology. The role of the nurse informaticists is becoming more prominent across health systems daily.
Trauma patients, patients with obstetric complications and certain gastrointestinal bleeding can be prevented with blood products in the pre-hospital setting (Shand et al., 2019). In the quest to put blood products on our aircraft and bring this vital lifesaving component to the pre-hospital patient, my department worked alongside the nurse informaticists to collect and interpret data. Some of the most important data collected consisted of the patient’s blood pressure, heart rate, and/or a positive FAST exam. Other information pertinent was whether the patient received tranexamic acid in lieu of blood products being available. It was also important to review the patient’s chart to see if they received any blood products upon immediate arrival at the trauma bay.
We worked alongside the nurse informaticist on project management. This process included initiation, plan, implementation, monitor, and evaluation (Sipes, 2016). To initiate this process several things needed to be put in place. Those things included a freezer with temperature monitoring, an insulated cooler to carry the blood in the aircraft, and blood specific metrics in the patient’s chart. A plan was formulated to gather equipment, validate equipment, and work with a local blood bank to supply the blood products and monitor temperatures. Education was provided to all staff members. Each quarter the lead nurse on the project, a member of the blood bank, management, and the nurse informaticist would monitor and report all patient cases where blood products were transfused. The nurse informaticist helped in many ways throughout this project. They helped guide data collection and interpretation.
Nurse informaticists assist in informing and expanding the nurse’s knowledge and use of technology (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022). There is such a varied age range and work experience when working on this project that the nurse informaticists needed to slow down and or elaborate on their idea of how this project would take shape. It appeared as though the informaticists were sometimes a few steps ahead during this project. However, once this was brought to their attention, they took the time to slow down and be specific with their ideas and formulate the plan in a way all parties could understand.
It is undeniable that technology is changing the field of nursing. The nursing profession has seen the integration of electronic medical records, robotic surgery, telehealth medicine, evidence-based practice, and implanted monitoring devices for multiple different disease processes just to name a few. Informaticists bring the patient, the care team, the data, and technology together. They assist the bedside nurse in interpreting data and incorporating science to improve patient care.
References
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2022).
Nursing informatics and the foundation of
knowledge
(5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Sipes, C. (2016). Project management:
Essential skill of nurse informaticistsLinks to an external
site.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 225
, 252-256.
Shand, S., Curtis, K., Dinh, M., & Burns, B. (February 2019).
What is the impact of prehospital
blood product administration for patients with catastrophic haemorrhage: an
integrative review.
Injury,
50(2), 226-234.
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Michaela Manney
Mar 15, 2023 8:23pm
|
Last reply Mar 19, 2023 2:24pm
Reply from Michaela Manney
INITIAL POST
Nurse Informaticists and Their Interactions
Nursing informaticists gather, analyze, and disseminate data, information, and knowledge as it applies to their specific specialty in their healthcare organization. They combine the acquisition of data with nursing expertise and help to implement new processes or refine old processes. They work closely with other nurses, providers, and leadership. Data can be an integral piece of operational and patient care decisions (Mosier, et.al., 2019). Furthermore, nursing informatics helps nurses, patients, consumers, stakeholders, and the whole interdisciplinary team (Sipes, 2016). Healthcare leadership relies on data to make important decisions in regard to patient care, to staff their healthcare organization, and to integrate the highest functioning technology into the healthcare worker’s day. Nurse informaticists can also help orient new hires on the electronic health record (EHR) that the organization uses. Or, when a facility updates its current EHR, it can help assist in training nurses for the new system. Nursing informaticists can also bring technological concerns to leadership. For example, nurses might have issues with scanning a certain medication during administration, and nursing informaticists can help problem solve and bring the issue to the appropriate person.
Strategies to Improve Interactions
Nursing informaticists work closely with nurses and other healthcare professionals. It is important that they keep a good relationship with each other. Nurses should be able to go to nursing informaticists with questions and feel supported. On the other side, nursing informaticists should be able to provide feedback to nurses. It would also be a good idea to educate incoming nurses on the role that nursing informaticists play in keeping a healthcare organization going. Communication is another key to facilitating a good relationship and email can be a good starting point.
Impact of Evolution of Nursing Informatics and New Technologies
The medical field in general continues to make fast-paced changes to the nursing workforce. Telehealth is one of the ways it has changed. Telehealth appointments involve a patient having an interaction with a healthcare provider via video call. This can be very convenient, especially during a pandemic, but it can also lead to an impersonal feeling experience as the provider is not there to provide gentle touch and more articulate facial expressions. Nursing meetings can be held over Zoom or Microsoft Teams, which can also lead to less of a personalized experience, but it is much easier and more flexible. More and more bedside technology is advancing. For example, blood pressure cuffs can be set to automatically retake blood pressure every 5, 15, or 30 minutes. This can be very convenient for a busy nurse, but relying on technology can lead to errors and manual blood pressure is always the best bet for accuracy. As technology advances, it is important that healthcare providers remember to treat the whole patient and not be on their devices during time with patients and families. It is so easy to just be charting on your tablet or computer, but this can come off as distant and cold to the patient. The medical advances we have made are tremendous, but we should never forget the human interaction piece of healing.
References:
Mosier, S. , Roberts, W. & Englebright, J. (2019). A Systems-Level Method for Developing Nursing Informatics Solutions. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 49 (11), 543-548. doi: 10.1097/NNA.0000000000000815.
Sipes, C. (2016). Project Management: Essential Skill of Nurse Informaticists. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 225, 252–256.
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Ashley Green
Mar 15, 2023 8:04pm
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Last reply Mar 19, 2023 3:38pm
Reply from Ashley Green
Within my workplace trying to reach a technology specialist can be very frustrating. You have two ways to communicate within that department, including sending an email, or sitting on hold for long periods of time. Our organization requires a ticket be placed to log the problem and this keeps track of how and who resolved the problem. There are many challenges when adapting any new technology including staff training, software problems, and lack of engagement from staff (Olayiwola & Magana, 2019). One way to help combat technology problems within the unit is having Superusers. Superusers are specially trained to benefit a unit to provide expertise and the knowledge needed in different situations (Deutsch, 2019). Downfalls to having superusers is always having one available on every shift. Also their can be tension within colleagues due to the demand within this very select few people (Haber & Reichman, 2020).
Haber, E., & Reichman, A. (2020). The User, the Superuser, and the Regulator: Functional Separation of Powers and the Plurality of the State in Cyber.
Berkeley Tech. LJ
,
35
, 431.
Deutsch, R. (2019). Superusers’ c-factors.
Superusers
, 15–33.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351138987-2
Links to an external site.
Olayiwola, J. N., & Magaña, C. (2019). Clinical transformation in technology: a fresh change management approach for primary care.
Harvard Health Pol Rev
.
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Shaquita Blue
Mar 15, 2023 7:18pm
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Last reply Mar 20, 2023 8:50pm
Reply from Shaquita Blue
Nursing informatics combines knowledge, skill, and technology to improve patient care (Kassam et al, 2017). Patient care and outcomes are based off information that is collected and analyzed. Without all necessary information the patient care and outcomes can suffer and make it more difficult to treat the patient. Nurse informatics relates with other healthcare professionals within an organization in different ways. One of the ways this happens at the hospital I work at is in data collection in incident reports. All the occurrences are documented in a system according to the hospitals policies and procedures. For example, one of the biggest issues in the hospital are falls. In the event of a fall, an incident report is completed, and all the managers are notified. With all the information gathered it allows the team to evaluate what could have prevented the fall and set interventions immediately into place. From the information gathered from the system events, trends, and missing information can be seen and healthcare professionals can address the issues and prevent further occurrences. Another way that nurse informatics interact with the healthcare organization is the safeguards put into place when scanning IV fluids or medications. The medication is scanned and the pump that it is connected to is scanned so that the computer can send the information and it can decrease the instance of medication errors. There is a report that generates and can show if it is being done or if it is entered manually. This ensures a safer and more efficient medication administration.
One strategy to improve this interaction is through conducting research to enhance nursing informatics. There can be improvements by getting feedback from the nurses to make sure some of the implementations of policies are effective. Some of the older nurses are not as comfortable with change when it is integrated, and changes are made so I think it is important to make sure that everybody is on the same page. Data about nursing care has become an integral part of decisions related to patient care and management that can improve the efficiacy of nursing practice (Mosier et al, 2019).
The continuing growth and emergence of new technology and nursing informatics tools have tremendous implications for professional interactions. The use of technology increases the quality and efficiency of providing health services to patients. Technology and EHRs that support inter-professional communication enhance collaboration and improve patient outcomes (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022).
References
Kassam, I., Nagle, L., & Strudwick, G. (2017). Informatics competencies for nurse leaders: protocol for a scoping review.
BMJ open
,
7
(12), e018855. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018855
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2022).
Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge
(5th ed.) Jones & Bartlett Learning
Mosier, S., Roberts, W. D., & Englebright, J. (2019). A System-level Method for Developing Nursing Informatics Solutions: The role of Executive Leadership. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 49(11), 543-548.
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Sherrona D Wiggins
Mar 15, 2023 6:06pm
Reply from Sherrona D Wiggins
MAIN POST: Sherrona Wiggins
Nursing informaticists are responsible for assessing and selecting technology. They oversee defining end-user conditions and requirements and customizing functionality. They are also counted on to deploy the technology and get users ready by creating and delivering the required training (Gibson, 2022, p.612). In the organization in which I am employed, there was a recent implementation of tablets for patient documentation, before this, everything was documented manually. The Nursing Informaticist was responsible for putting together an interactive computer-based training tutorial so that all nurses would be prepared to properly use the software on the tablets. The Nursing Informaticist was also responsible for coordinating interactions between clinical nursing staff, management, and IT during this process.
Nurse informaticists play a key role in introducing cutting-edge technology to nurses’ daily work, enhancing workflows, and optimizing documentation. They go beyond providing simple technical support (Kwiatkowski, 2021). Often when rolling out new technology one must be well-prepared. Though it is not a perfect process being prepared shows that Nursing Informaticists are competent in their ability. In the aforementioned scenario, a strategy for improved interactions would have been concerning the interactive tutorial. The tutorial was in very tiny writing, and no one was able to read the directions on the tutorial so completing it was null and void. This left many of the nurses confused and the lack of communication between the Nurse Informaticist, management, clinical nursing staff, and IT became chaotic because no one knew whom to go to for concrete direction. I would have put together a spreadsheet identifying whom to call for specific situations that may have arisen.
Technology is ever-changing and will continue to be an intricate dynamic in healthcare. It is important to have a clear understanding of how technology works to be successful in the healthcare arena. Nursing Informaticists are responsible for bridging these gaps in technological knowledge. Throughout the years their roles have evolved. As healthcare continues to experience rapid change and ambiguity in the creation of cutting-edge emerging technologies, the application of Nursing Informaticist’s priceless informatics skills and capabilities will foster a culture of safety (Whende, 2019).
References
Gibson, D. (2022).
Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge
(5th ed.). Independently published.
Kwiatkoski, T. (2021). Nursing informaticists are the backbone of technology-driven care.
ONS Voice
,
36
(8), 13.
Whende, C. (2019). Nursing informaticists safeguarding the use of emerging technologies.
Online Journal of Nursing Informatics
,
23
(3), 6.
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Rayanne Abood
Mar 15, 2023 4:50pm
Reply from Rayanne Abood
CONTINUED
WEEK 3 DISCUSSION POST
Impact of Evolution of Nursing Informatics and New Technologies
The new technologies that emerged the past ten years have paved the way for easier access to clinician information which will ultimately improve patient care. Previously, written hand offs were done which led to miscommunication of information and errors. Physicians and nurses need to summarize patient information to be clear, concise and to the point in order to be able to give care in a timely matter. With the evolution of EMR systems, a significant filtering of information, and an improved organization of the way information is displayed such as allergies and medication interactions being the first thing clinicians see, has improved patient health outcomes and reduced errors. Nursing informaticists are constantly improving technology systems to reduce time clinicians spend and potential errors. Through electronic prescriptions, a reduction of medication errors have occurred and patients have become more compliant with care knowing that they no longer can lose a written paper. Clinicians including nurses are able to track drug information and an alert is noted when there can be potential drug-drug interactions ( Berner et al., 2005).
References:
Booth, R. G., Strudwick, G., McBride, S., O’Connor, S., & Solano López, A. L. (2021). How the nursing profession should adapt for a digital future.
The BMJ
,
p. 373
, n1190.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1190
Links to an external site.
Eta S. Berner, EdD, Jacqueline Moss, PhD, RN, Informatics Challenges for the Impending Patient Information Explosion,
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
, Volume 12, Issue 6, November 2005, Pages 614–617,
https://doi.org/10.1197/jamia.M1873
Links to an external site.
Khezri H, Abdekhoda M. Assessing nurses’ informatics competency and identifying related factors.
Journal of Research in Nursing
. 2019;24(7):529-538. doi:
10.1177/1744987119839453
Links to an external site.
Ng, Y. C., Alexander, S., & Frith, K. H. (2018). Integration of Mobile Health Applications in Health Information Technology Initiatives: Expanding Opportunities for Nurse Participation in Population Health. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 36(5), 209–213.
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Cheryl Athurine Spence
Mar 15, 2023 4:21pm
Reply from Cheryl Athurine Spence
My Colleague
First discussion question response
Oluwakemi,
I enjoyed reading your post. I agree. Yes, nurses are the face of the healthcare system. We rely on tools and technology to help us complete our workday. Informatics is the science and innovation of technology that will help us screen, triage, and treat patients safely and effectively. Technological advancement has given us the skills and knowledge to perform our job better. Nursing informatics provides an integration system that can implement various ways to transfer and analyze data to the EHR (Electronic Health Records) for patient-related care that is safe and effective. Using IT technology, nurses, doctors, administrators, and pharmacists can now review, act and work in collaboration with each to reach faster positive outcomes. Nursing informatics technology remains at the forefront with ongoing training, patient focus, and effective results.
Another aspect of using technology is during the 2020 COVID pandemic; technology played a vital role throughout the community. The public health department works with the city to implement, collaborate, and organize vaccine centers, such as churches, daycare centers, and schools to vaccinate the community. These sites were equipped for patients to view healthcare records securely. The HIMSS (HealthCare Information Management Systems Society) Was also an information site that people could use to obtain resources.
References:
Anna. E Schoenbaum, DNP, MS, RN-BC, FHIMSS and Whined McCarroll, MS, RN; -BC HIMSSNursing Informatics Committee Members
Nursing Informatics Key Role in Defining Clinical Workflow, Increasing Efficiency, and Improving Quality.
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.
https//www.himss.org/resources
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Nanette Fernandez
(She/Her)
Mar 15, 2023 3:47pm
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Last reply Mar 17, 2023 11:42pm
Reply from Nanette Fernandez
Main Discussion Post
Interaction Between Nurse Informatics and Other Specialists
Nurse Informatics Interaction
Before I started working at my current job at the Veterans Hospital in Northern California, I had never met or spoken with a nurse informatician. Nonetheless, given that I work the night shift, I am not shocked.
However, when working the dayshift in the hospital where I had previously worked more than four years earlier in another Veterans Hospital Administration (VHA) in Florida, I had a few interactions with a few nurse informaticians. Most of them had such a technological flare to their speech, and they had already solved several issues with data cross-over from the Spacelab monitor to the PICIS system. The VHA’s critical care units use the PICIS Critical Care Management software to identify and assess patient patterns and future intensive care unit problems. This program automates patient data collection and vital signs by connecting to medical monitoring devices and intravenous pumps (United States of Veterans Affairs (n.d.).
Another instance involved a meeting with the head of bar-coded medication administration (BCMA) and champions from various units. Following the administration of medications, it was discussed how to conduct a prompt evaluation of one-hour PRN (pro re nata) effectiveness. The chief explained employing alerts to comply with a one-hour review of efficacy while presenting a compilation of data compliance.
According to Jouparinejad et al. (2020, -a), the growth and development of nursing informatics (NI) and health information technology (HIT) are revolutionizing all facets of nursing practice. Holden et al. (2017) stated that health informaticians are critical assets of interprofessional teams in all problem-solving aspects, including problem assessment, solution formulation, implementation, and evaluation. By using their skills in design, development, adoption, and use of information technology (IT)-based innovations, health informaticians bring value in various other situations. Informaticians can design tools and networks to allow interprofessional collaboration and communication, establish methodologies and technologies to advance team research, and create standards and vocabularies to support system interoperability.
Strategies to Improve Interactions
One strategy to improve the interaction between nursing informatics and other healthcare professionals would be to enhance nurses’ nursing informatics competency, particularly in information management skills. Managers, decision-makers, educators, and authorities in clinical settings should organize suitable interventions and training programs with the assistance of informatics specialists (Jouparinejad et al., 2020, -b).
Nurse management should also emphasize the significance of highly competent and effective nurses in delivering patient-centered, evidence-based care. They ought to supply the necessary materials to support nurses’ NI competency. Jouparinejad et al. (2020, -c) pointed out that in order to create NI competency in future nurses, nursing schools are in the greatest position to do so. Hence, improving collaboration and engagement between universities and hospitals is crucial. Future nurses can successfully balance health information technology with clinical needs if NI competency is integrated into nursing education and nursing students’ NI competency is developed through blended courses.
On the other hand, many nurse leaders today must completely grasp the value of informatics competencies for nursing practice. It has been challenging to persuade nurse leaders that they must develop informatics skills. After being persuaded of the importance of informatics capabilities, nurse leaders still need help gaining the right kind and level of informatics skills to support technologically advanced healthcare environments. Improved guidance on informatics skills and technology more suited to nursing care should assist direct care nurses in the long run because nurse leaders are better equipped with specialized informatics competencies. Henceforth, they improved interactions between the nursing informaticians and the clinical nursing teams (Strudwick et al., 2019).
Impact of Evolution of Nursing Informatics and New Technologies
The reduction of medical errors, prompt diagnosis and efficient care delivery, enhanced communication between healthcare providers and patients, motivation for research, and the incorporation of more cutting-edge technologies to improve healthcare quality are just a few examples of how nursing informatics has a significant impact on patient care ( Al Najjar & Shafie, 2022). A few examples of this nursing technology that the VHA uses are telehealth, EHR, point-of-care technology, electronic lift systems and smart beds, omnicell, vocera communications, and BCMA. The authors, Al Najjar & Shafie, emphasized that in the Information Age nowadays, where nurses frequently use nursing technology to attend to patients’ medical needs, it is only natural that nurses and other healthcare professionals will continue integrating ever-evolving technology into their daily routines, including using machinery and artificial intelligence technology for the same purpose.
Furthermore, technological advances are occurring more frequently, altering how people are treated for their health and welfare. Pepito and Locsin (2019) added that the organization and structure of the nursing industry had undergone significant changes due to technological advancements. Technology advancements have enabled nurses to work more effectively and safely while providing patient care. Modal changes in modern healthcare and its delivery methods, including the adoption of electronic health records and advancements in biomedical and engineering technologies that enable the development of ever more sophisticated technologies in healthcare, robotics technology, and artificial intelligence, have transformed the nursing industry. When more modern technology becomes available to nurses, they can raise care standards, improve working conditions, and cut expenses.
Again, technology is a key component of nursing practice and education in today’s dynamic health systems. Because nurses increasingly utilize nursing informatics, they can use technology to improve care results. Thus, it is important to draw attention to the fact that nurses need the right IT education. An educational setting that prepares nurses at all levels to use IT instruments in all facets of their career and integrates them with the rapidly accelerating pace of technological advancements is advised in order to make use of nursing informatics to improve nursing outcomes and healthcare quality (Park & Park, 2023). By doing this, nursing informaticians and clinical nurses collaborate and positively engage with one another to accomplish a shared objective.
References
Al Najjar, R. & Shafie, Z. (2022). Impact of Nursing Informatics on the Quality of Patient Care.
International Journal Of Medical Science And Clinical
Research Studies
,
2
(5), 418–421.
https://doi.org/10.47191/ijmscrs/v2-i5-19
Links to an external site.
Holden, R. J., Binkheder, S., Patel, J., & Viernes, S. H. P. (2018). Best Practices for Health Informatician Involvement in Interprofessional Health Care
Teams.
Applied clinical informatics
,
9
(1), 141–148.
https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0038-1626724
Links to an external site.
Jouparinejad, S., Foroughameri, G., Khajouei, R., & Farokhzadian, J. (2020). Improving the informatics competency of critical care nurses: results of an
interventional study in the southeast of Iran.
BMC medical informatics and decision making, 20
(1), 220.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-020-
Links to an external site.
01244-5
Park, J. & Park, J. (2023, January). Identifying the Knowledge Structure and Trends of Nursing Informatics: A Text Network Analysis. CIN: Computers,
Informatics, Nursing, 41(1), 8–17.
https://doi.org/10.1097/CIN.0000000000000919
Links to an external site.
Pepito, J. A., & Locsin, R. (2019). Can nurses remain relevant in a technologically advanced future?.
International journal of nursing sciences, 6
(1), 106-
110.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6608671/
Links to an external site.
Strudwick, G., Nagle, L., Kassam, I., Pahwa, M., & Sequeira, L. (2019). Informatics competencies for nurse leaders: a scoping review.
JONA: The Journal
of Nursing Administration
,
49
(6), 323-330.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31135640/
Links to an external site.
United States of Veterans Affairs (n.d.). PICIS Critical Care Manager- Veterans Affairs.
https://www.oit.va.gov/Services/TRM/ToolPage.aspx?tid=11507
Links to an external site.
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Rayanne Abood
Mar 15, 2023 3:20pm
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Last reply Mar 19, 2023 10:42pm
Reply from Rayanne Abood
Week 3 Discussion
Experiences and observations on interactions between nurse informaticists and data or technology specialists
Nurse informaticists play a vital role in ensuring the efficacious collection of clinical information and health records to present the information practically to the users. Nurse informaticists are responsible for making clinical decisions through research and theory and applying it to their practice and knowledge (Khezri & Abdekhoda, 2019). Nurse informaticists interact with clinical staff and IT to promote information through technology. We witness more effective and safe quality care outcomes through technology and evidence-based research. Nursing informatics implements value-based care by focusing on department systems, EHR systems, optimal documentation, and care coordination.
Strategies on how professional Interactions between nurse informaticists and technology specialists can be Improved
During the pandemic, we witnessed a significant shift in the technology world, forcing many individuals to rely heavily on their phones, the internet, and social media, and a significant dependency on tele-health. However, medical professionals still need to gain knowledge of digital technology usage. Firstly, there should be more efforts towards training staff and integrating technological systems within the healthcare system. Additionally, nursing informaticists can enhance the interactions between professionals by analyzing the data in EHRs (Ng et al., 2018). In a previous medical facility, nursing informaticists conducted monthly analyses through a program built within the EMR system that detects CAUTIs, hospital-acquired pneumonia, and patient falls—through this integration, improved.
Through informatics and technology, healthcare is more easily accessible and convenient for practitioners and patients. Healthcare systems rely heavily on technology and the management of healthcare facilities. Furthermore, it is convenient for nurses to track and follow up with patients, specifically on a medication regimen, pain management, and education. Additionally, communication methods within the healthcare system need to be improved or more robust. Working for a tele-health primary care group has opened my eyes to the communication gap between practitioners. When practitioners are hard to reach in time-sensitive cases, systems like Slack have been an excellent method to enable fast notifications with other professionals. Communication systems such as Slack can help practitioners make better healthcare choices for patients and allow asking each other clinical questions, including access to information to ensure quality care (Sipes, 2016).
References:
Booth, R. G., Strudwick, G., McBride, S., O’Connor, S., & Solano López, A. L. (2021). How the nursing profession should adapt for a digital future.
The BMJ
,
p. 373
, n1190.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1190
Links to an external site.
Khezri H, Abdekhoda M. Assessing nurses’ informatics competency and identifying related factors.
Journal of Research in Nursing
. 2019;24(7):529-538. doi:
10.1177/1744987119839453
Links to an external site.
Ng, Y. C., Alexander, S., & Frith, K. H. (2018). Integration of Mobile Health Applications in Health Information Technology Initiatives: Expanding Opportunities for Nurse Participation in Population Health. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 36(5), 209–213.
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Rachael Werner
Mar 15, 2023 3:17pm
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Last reply Mar 16, 2023 2:23pm
Reply from Rachael Werner
WEEK 3 Discussion Post
Nursing informaticists are essential to the nursing profession. This specialty combines nursing science with analytical science to effectively manage and communicate data for better patient care and outcomes (Admin, 2023). It is imperative that nurse informaticists and/or technology specialists work closely with healthcare professionals such as nurses and physicians to ensure that the patient is receiving the best of care when it comes to quality and safety. In order to minimize adverse events, it’s important that healthcare facilities embrace a safety culture (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022). Time management is also of the essence when it comes to proper patient care. Time management is imperative in the healthcare setting and utilizing informatics to improve patient care and not create additional barriers is important (Sweeney, 2017). For example, in the facility I work, we have patients who may want to be on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and/or peptide therapy. For this process, blood work is essential to see what that patient’s body is doing based on their blood results. We use an electronic medical record (EMR) system called Zenoti to update patient information, chart notes, refills, consults, and so forth. Zenoti keeps a record of each time that a patient interacts with staff so that it is easily accessible to the nurse, physician or front desk employee to access and have that data in real-time. If a patient recently had blood work done, that is through another company so those results have to be uploaded to their chart separately. This process can definitely leave room for error, especially if there is a critical lab value that gets overlooked. Myself, the nurse practitioner, or the medical director has to be cautious when refilling and/or ordering medications such as testosterone because we have to make sure we are seeing all the blood results so as to not over or under-medicate a patient. Although it is great to have a system that all staff can utilize for efficacy, there is definite room for error.
One of the ways to improve informatics with the healthcare team where I work would be possibly reevaluating the EMR system we are currently using. If the EMR system could flag when a patient’s blood results are critical or important so that the healthcare provider isn’t searching all over the electronic chart and potentially overlooking a result. Another important improvement would be receiving a notification to alert staff and the patient when blood re-draws are required. For example, if a patient is receiving HRT, such as testosterone, our protocol is to have that patient have their hormones redrawn every 3 months. The only way to know when they are due for a redraw is by searching the chart for the last time results were noted and dated. This could save the provider as well as the patient time so that there is no delay in therapy.
According to McGonigle and Mastrian (2022), nursing is hard work. There is absolutely no debate about that statement. Nurses are known for multitasking as well as being compassionate to their patients. The continued improvement of technological advances will help those in the healthcare profession to better serve our patients safely and effectively without buring the providers out.
References
Admin. (2023, February 27).
What is Nursing Informatics?
HIMSS. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.himss.org/resources/what-nursing-informatics#:~:text=Nursing%20informatics%20%22is%20the%20specialty,and%20wisdom%20in%20nursing%20practice.%22
McGonigle, D. & Garver Mastrian, K. (2022). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Sweeney, J. (2017). Healthcare informatics. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics. Retrieved on March 15, 2023, from https://www.himss.org/ojni
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Daniela Donna Villanueva
Mar 15, 2023 11:23am
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Last reply Mar 16, 2023 8:46pm
Reply from Daniela Donna Villanueva
Observation of Nurse Informaticist Interaction
In my experience as a nurse at a local hospital, I have observed the informatics clinical nurse provide support for clinical informatics, including planning initiatives to meet clinical needs. The informatics clinical nurse works closely with leadership and the IT department to ensure systems are up-to-date and will assess and troubleshoot issues. I have also observed the informatics clinical nurse train new providers on the hospital’s software and systems to help prioritize and organize charting. The informaticist also sits on hospital committees to help make technology decisions that improve organizational processes, performance, and outcomes.
Strategy to Improve Interaction
The nursing practice depends on information and communication technologies that collect input from other nurses and all the patient care technologies (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022, p. 607). One strategy to improve interaction is for the floor nurses to communicate better with the informatics nurse. My experience has been that the floor nurse becomes frustrated when computer glitches or problems with a program arise. The time it takes for IT or the informatics nurse to respond is challenging. Effective communication is essential for better outcomes. The team should be encouraged to work toward the same goal and support ideas for the team as a whole (Skoda et al., 2021). For example, you are in a patient’s room administering medication, and the medication scanner is not responding. The nurse must reboot her computer, and if still not working, she will call IT or the informatics nurse. The floor nurse is now late on her medication pass, and patients are angry, making it very frustrating. The lack of communication between the two teams harms patient outcomes and satisfaction.
Impact of Continued Evolution
Nursing informatics is constantly changing beyond its definition (Sipes, 2016). Technology can help transformational outcomes of great-quality and evidence-based care and education (Harerimana et al., 2022). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of nursing informatics was forced to change to continue managing operations. The use of telehealth and other means of virtual meetings has rapidly expanded and has taken on a whole new meaning (Garcia-Dia, 2021). This specialty will continue to evolve in moments of need and to keep up with technology to help improve patient satisfaction and outcomes.
References
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2022). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Garcia-Dia, Mary Joy DNP, RN, FAAN. Nursing informatics: An evolving specialty. Nursing Management (Springhouse) 52(5):p 56, May 2021. | DOI: 10.1097/01.NUMA.0000743444.08164.b4
Harerimana, A., Wicking, K., Biedermann, N., & Yates, K. (2022, August).
Nursing Informatics in undergraduate nursing education in Australia before COVID-19: A scoping review
. Collegian. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1322769621001621
Škoda, T. Baksa, L. Luić (2021) Effective Communication Practices in Digital Curriculum, INTED2021 Proceedings, pp. 5995-6002.Sipes, C. (2016). Project management:
Essential skill of nurse informaticistsLinks to an external site.
Links to an external site.
.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 225
, 252-256.
Sipes, C. (2016). Project management:
Essential skill of nurse informaticistsLinks to an external site.
Links to an external site.
.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 225
, 252-256.
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Latisha Hawkins
Mar 15, 2023 8:15am
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Last reply Mar 19, 2023 9:26pm
Reply from Latisha Hawkins
Nurse informatics looks different depending on what type of specialty you are in, for example, I have a full-time pediatric private duty nurse job, and I work PRN at a correctional facility. In the previous discussions, I mentioned that there is no nurse informatics in my correctional job, and they do chart auditing. And the majority of the charting on corrections is on paper and transferred to an out-of-date charting system.
In my full-time job, the nurse informaticists we have usually teach our charting classes and keep us up to date with any changes that come with it. They typically look for trends in charting issues amongst then nurses throughout the company that need to be addressed. At the same time, I haven’t had any direct observations of them working, and the direct experience I have had with them is through our charting classes and meetings when they feel that those trends need to be addressed.
One major issue is when a provider adds a new order or changes an existing one. Because no doctor looks at the charting, they can’t put in their orders. So it’s left up to the nurses to do it. And it needs to be clarified because you can’t update a previous nurse’s order. You have to discontinue it and go in to add the updated medication or new medication. And often, they call us to say how it’s done incorrectly or to clarify the order without contacting the provider. They should incorporate the providers to get updates when we place these orders. I was taught to put in my order, take a picture of the label and add it for them to verify. And there have been many times when I have a call a provider directly to question an order. Still, if the provider gets maybe notification to clarify it or fix any confusion, it would cut down on many issues with the nurses. Having a system with care everywhere to help with any barrier preventing medication errors could be very beneficial when a patient has a procedure or a hospital stay.
The nursing informatics specialty would have a positive outlook on the interaction of home health nurses with providers. The trends of how often nurses put in these medication orders and how often there are many questions. It would leave no gray area, allow for open communication, and achieve the goal of improved patient outcomes. And as technology advances, I would be surprised if nurse informaticists can achieve it somehow with the current charting system being used.
References
Bakken, S., & Dreisbach, C. (2022). Informatics and data science perspective on future of nursing 2020–2030: Charting a pathway to health equity.
Nursing Outlook
,
70
(6), S77–S87.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2022.04.004
Links to an external site.
Garcia-Dia, M. (2021). Nursing informatics.
Nursing Management
,
52
(5), 56–56.
https://doi.org/10.1097/01.numa.0000743444.08164.b4
Links to an external site.
Wolter Kluwer. (2018, March 27).
Nursing informatics: The intersection of technology and clinical practice
[Wolter Kluwer].
https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/expert-insights/nursing-informatics-the-intersection-of-technology-and-clinical-practice
Links to an external site.
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Francess Ikowe
Mar 15, 2023 1:32am
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Last reply Mar 18, 2023 4:04pm
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Week 3 discussion
Experiences or observations on how nursing informatics interact
The American Nurses Association (ANA) defines nursing informatics as a field that combines nursing science and information technology to manage better and communicate data within nursing practice.
I only interact with informatics nurses when there are significant updates in the electronic health system (EHR). My company uses a system called EPIC documentation system, it is mandatory to get quarterly updates, or the company could lose its contract with EPIC. So, whenever these updates are done, the informatics nurses will be around daily for about a week to answer questions until everyone is comfortable with the new changes. We sometimes must attend in-person classes; for some of these updates, those classes are taught by informatics nurses. The last one I heard was when our IV pump system was integrated into the EHR to calculate all the intravenous fluids the patient received from the Alaris pump.
Suggest at least one strategy on how these interactions might be improved.
These interactions could be improved by allowing nurses to give feedback and express their opinions on the changes and how they may improve or impair their ability to provide patient care. The second is by reforming nursing education; Booth et al. 2021 noted that creating opportunities for undergraduates and graduate-level students in informatics and data science to work with some of these professionals will give nurses the skills to evolve and stay relevant in this technology age. Topaz et al. 2016 also noted that making nursing informatics mandatory for all undergraduate nursing programs should be one of the biggest goals for nursing educators.
The impact of the continued evolution of nursing
As health technology improves and hospitals invest in technology like AI, drones, and robots, nurses will have no choice but to collaborate with some of these developers to ensure a positive patient outcome (Booth et al. 2021). Some of these technologies will make providing nursing care much easier, especially in the area of documentation.
References
Nursing informatics: Scope and standards of Practice, 2nd ed
. ANA. (2016, December 1). Retrieved March 14, 2023, from
https://www.nursingworld.org/nurses-books/nursing-informatics-scope-and-standards-of-practice-2nd-ed/#:~:text=Nursing%20informatics%20(NI)%20is%20the,and%20wisdom%20in%20nursing%20practice
Links to an external site.
.
Booth, R. G., Strudwick, G., McBride, S., O’Connor, S., & Solano López, A. L. (2021). How the nursing profession should adapt for a digital future.
BMJ
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https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1190
Links to an external site.
Peltonen, L. M., Topaz, M., Ronquillo, C., Pruinelli, L., Sarmiento, R. F., Badger, M. K., Ali, S., Lewis, A., Georgsson, M., Jeon, E., Tayaben, J. L., Kuo, C. H., Islam, T., Sommer, J., Jung, H., Eler, G. J., & Alhuwail, D. (2016). Nursing Informatics Research Priorities for the Future: Recommendations from an International Survey.
Studies in health technology and informatics
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, 222–226.