Discussion: Interaction between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists
The role of nurse informaticists and specialists are virtually applicable in all health practice settings. Their responsibilities encompass collaboration with other professionals thus requiring appropriate collaborative strategies. Nurse informaticists support information acquisition and clinical information system evaluation and implementation. In so doing, they promote and assist the institution on knowledge management (Nagle et al., 2020).
In my practice stetting, patients that do not require emergency care are received and triaged before they are directed to the appropriate specialists. At the triaging and reception, the patients’ data are collected or retrieved. At this point, the entry and classification of this information to the appropriate departments requires the services of nurse informaticists.
The process of admitting a patient to our institution starts at the registration. The patient’s data is entered in hard copy patient file records and into the electronic health records for easy retrieval. The physical file records are handled only by the clinicians and patients have limited access. The process of patient interview and history taking involves recording the information in the file records and transferring the summarized and organized data into the electronic records.
The results from lab are produced in hard copy printed papers and filed while a copy is sent to the requesting physician for further interpretation and care. The nurse is responsible for the collection and transfer of patient data and the transmission of results between different outpatient departments. In the process, the nurse interacts with the physician and technicians on a daily basis and is responsible for the flow of the patient’s information and data throughout until discharge.
Improving the Interactions
The interaction between the nurse informaticists and the physicians is collaborative and interdependent. The process of flow and exchange of information and data between the nurses and the consultants is slower and would be improved through the use of information technology. Absolute use of information technology with the paper-based methods as backup would speed up these interactions, ensuring faster, specific and patient-centered care (Nelson & Carter-Templeton, 2016). Information technology, through the use of electronic health records (EHR), would be used to transfer, share and inform other specialist on patient’s data results and details about their care so far.
Relaying the patient’s information from the reception and registration to the consultants’ rooms would be done through electronic means to eliminate potential delays. The time the nurses take when consolidating the patient’s data from lab to consultation rooms and wards can be reduced through electronic data transfer using computer technology. Use of technology also enhances faster and efficient data analysis that would promote effective knowledge management.
Impacts of Evolution of Nursing Informatics
Nursing informatics has evolved over the past decades from informal informatics that involved no profession to professional learning of the nursing informatics and information technology. Evolution of nursing informatics into a specialty together with technological advancements has increased the scope of application of nursing informatics.
Presently, aspiring nurse informaticists must acquire relevant knowledge in information technology. This knowledge keeps advancing with time and the technologies become more sophisticated and the nurse informaticists have to update their skills and capabilities to adequately interpret organizational information flow (Glassman, 2017). The advancements would reduce the interaction duration between professionals and improve the quality of interaction due to unification of interaction by the use of similar and specific technologies (Brixley, 2016). Modest outcomes include reduced documentation, faster patient registration, and reduced admission time. Specific tasks including nursing data collection and diagnosis will be semi-automated if not fully automated.
References
- Brixey J. J. (2016). Health Informatics Competencies, Workforce and the DNP: Why Connect These ‘Dots’?. Studies In Health Technology And Informatics, 225, 750–752.
- Glassman, K. (2017). Using Data in Nursing Practice. American Nurses Today, 12(11), 45-47. Retrieved 13 December 2020, from https://www.myamericannurse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ant11-Data-1030.pdf.
- Nagle, L., Sermeus, W., & Junger, A. (2020). Evolving Role of the Nursing Informatics Specialist. Forecasting Informatics Competencies For Nurses In The Future Of Connected Health, 212-222. https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-738-2-212
- Nelson, R., & Carter-Templeton, H. D. (2016). The Nursing Informatician’s Role in Mediating Technology Related Health Literacies. Studies In Health Technology And Informatics, 225, 237–241.
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