Free Paper Sample on Nursing Informatics

Introduction

Nursing informatics is a specialty in nursing that incorporates nursing, information and analytical sciences and computers, to manage and develop medical data to better the nursing practice and improve the patients' experience in receiving treatment. Nursing informatics focuses majorly on how data, information, and knowledge can make work for medical practitioners easy. Data is discrete observations that do not need interpretation, such as the patients' name, age, and disease history (Nursing, 2017). On the other hand, information refers to data that has been interpreted, organized, and structured to give more details and make more sense to the medical practitioners. Knowledge is the blend of information, providing further observation of an issue. The three building blocks of nursing informatics are nursing science, information science, and computer science; proper knowledge on the incorporation of the three gives rise to a competent nursing informatics specialist. Therefore, nursing informatics has become essential in the current hospital settings.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Nurse Informaticists

Nurse informaticists have a significant role to play in the healthcare industry. Being the technology conversant staff members, they assess and analyze the healthcare technology needs and design a system that is efficient for running a healthcare institution. Nursing informaticists install computer information systems and interfaces with the management and users of healthcare institutions. They are responsible for updating and adding any new developments to the system that is currently in use. The nurse works with the vendor selling computer systems to the healthcare institution and teaches the other staff how the system works and troubleshoots the system (Brokel, 2007). They are expected to analyze and program systems put in place, working in the information systems department. They help the staff transition from one system to another and evaluate the success of implementation to decide on whether more training is needed or if there is a need for a better plan. Thus, nurse informaticists are revolutionizing the healthcare sector and improving patient care indirectly.

Nurse Informaticists and Other Health Care Organizations

In the rapidly changing healthcare landscape, nurse informaticists are essential to health IT's health analytics and implementation strategies. Health organizations that want to leverage IT systems for big data analytics and improving healthcare quality are taking nurse informatics more seriously as a career and employing more nurse informaticists. Employing nurse informaticists has helped health organizations in many was including; encouraging a paperless working environment where documentation and file retrieval time is minimized, making work easier and enjoyable, reducing turnaround time as the systems they put in place enable transfer of patient results virtually, through the systems they also optimize communication and information management among staff members and reduces cost of work in organizations (Staggers, & Rodney, 2012). Accordingly, health organizations should look to employ more nurse informaticists.

The interaction between nurse informaticists and other nurses and interdisciplinary team is often constructive. They guide other nurses on the basics of computerized record-keeping and computerized assisted instructions helping nurses work better and faster, becoming more competent in their field. Nurse informaticists aid nurses and physicians' interaction by encouraging communication via emails, hence better sharing patient information, and nurses can easily interpret orders from physicians on patient management. They also interact with other health care organization staff to know what their working hours are and consequently automate the organization schedule. It is more efficient for the organization as it is easier to monitor staff members' productivity. Nurse informaticists also update organization interns on how to get educated online and get tests done online, saving physicians with unnecessary interaction time. For that reason, the organization should offer more interaction sessions between the nurse informaticists and other staff members.

Impact of Full Nurse Engagement in Health Care Technology

Engaging nurses in health care technology impact the healthcare sector in different ways. The fundamental changes are seen from patient care to the handling of data obtained from patients. Health care technology fastens the service of the nurses to their patients as work is made more accessible. Even in making admissions, the insurance number's confirmation will give the needed information about the patients' medical covers. Previous illnesses will be hard to miss as long as they were entered into the system during the last visit. Medication to be administered may also be indicated, therefore reducing confusion. Patient information access by qualified personnel only who have passes to the system increases patient privacy and comfortability. Accordingly, it is essential to focus on the benefits the patients will get from a procedure before implementing it as they are the priority in the healthcare sector.

Nurses' engagement in healthcare technology has a significant influence on workflow and will bring in returns for technology investment. Incorporating technology in nurses' service makes sharing of patient information with physicians and other practitioners easy. It allows comfortable handing over of work if a nurse is to retire or move to another facility. It also makes traceability easy if a mistake was made in treating a patient. Health organizations incur costs in purchasing the healthcare systems and employing nurse informaticists to manage the systems. Returns are driven to serve more patients within a short time, and better service will attract a larger population to get treatment at that particular healthcare institution. Hence, investing in a sound healthcare system is worthwhile as it improves service to patients and eventually brings in returns.

Opportunities and Challenges

Together with the interdisciplinary team, nurses encounter different opportunities and challenges following the technology integration of healthcare institutions. The opportunity that presents itself is working for shorter hours and completing the same amount of work as before. Delivery of better services to patients is also possible hence finding fulfillment in their careers. The acquisition of this knowledge may aid make easy navigation of nurses and the interdisciplinary team in their everyday life as every sector is going digital. The introduction of technology in working systems has proved challenging since it takes time for the personnel to adjust to the new normal. The healthcare organization will have to allocate more time and funds to the incorporation of technology. The nurses and interdisciplinary team will be expected to dedicate their time towards understanding what is going on, and a slow understanding of the system might cause frustrations in others. On account of this, nurses and the interdisciplinary team should be willing to try to upgrade technology at their workplaces.

The interdisciplinary team can collaborate to get positive healthcare outcomes through technology by doing various things. They can encourage other practitioners to join on the available healthcare systems; hence they can reference the unusual diagnosis they get to deal with. Through these systems, they can also monitor the change of a patients' condition in the intensive care unit so that action can be taken in good time to save a life (Meadows, 2002).

Conclusion

Thus, technology application means that practitioners can embrace robots' introduction to monitor patients when they are overwhelmed like during the COVID-19 pandemic. The interdisciplinary team can also incorporate a patient segment to the system where patients can learn more facts about their condition and can refer to their daily dosage of medication in case they forget. That being the case, healthcare organization personnel are motivated by management to take up new inventions in the health sectors as there is much they can do with the knowledge.

References

Brokel, J. (2007). Creating sustainability of clinical information systems: The chief nurse officer and nurse informatics specialist roles. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 37(1), 10-13.

Meadows, G. (2002). Nursing informatics: an evolving specialty.(Information Systems & Technology). Nursing Economics, 20(6), 300-302.

Registerednursing.org. (2017, August 9). Nursing informatics. RN Programs - Registered Nurse || RegisteredNursing.org.
https://www.registerednursing.org/nursing-informatics/

Staggers, N., & Rodney, M. (2012). Promoting usability in organizations with a new health usability model: Implications for nursing informatics. In NI 2012: 11th International Congress on Nursing Informatics, June 23-27, 2012, Montreal, Canada. (Vol. 2012). American Medical Informatics Association.