NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Healthcare
NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Healthcare
Nursing Informatics in Healthcare Sample Paper
With the rapidly modernizing world, the debate on technology role in nursing is inevitable. It is therefore pertinent to study the scope of nurses and the need for inclusion of technology in nursing processes. According to Harerimana et al. (2021), owing to the fast development in information technology (IT), it is essential to incorporate health informatics course into the nursing curriculum at undergraduate and postgraduate studies. In the following discussion, find an in-depth build up of nursing informatics and the role of nurse informaticist in care delivery.
Nursing Informatics and the Role of Nurse Informaticist
The origins of health informatics can be traced back to the 1950s, when the United States and, later, Europe developed Information Communication Technologies (ICT), a watershed moment that spawned a plethora of health technology. Nursing informatics, according to McGonigle and Mastrian (2021), is the use of technology in nursing processes such as practice, research, education, and management. The American Nursing Informatics Association (2021) revised the definition to include a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer and information science, education, and data communication management. Both definitions make it clear that integrating IT into nursing work is an essential component of nursing informatics.
In today’s healthcare, the role of a nurse informaticist is becoming more visible. A nurse informaticist is responsible for information system analysis, training of healthcare workers on a yet-to-be-implemented or already-implemented systems, leveraging the systems to collect, analyze, and store data, and facilitating communications and project implementation of various health informatics projects (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2021). Nurse informaticists bridge the gap between caring and technology, utilizing information systems to provide the best patient care possible.
Nurse Collaboration with an Interdisciplinary Team to Improve Quality of Patient Care
The novelty of a nurse informaticist’s role necessitates the formation of an interdisciplinary team that recognizes the role. First, before delving into the interdisciplinary interaction, what has other health organizations’ experience with nurse informaticists been like? A 2015 survey titled ‘the 2015 Impact of the Informatics Nurse Survey’ revealed that nurse informaticists have a positive impact on patient care (Bresnick, 2018). According to Joyce Sensmeier, the then-global vice president of the Health Information and Management System Society (HIMSS), approximately 70% of nurse informaticists assisted organizations in improving patient care through device integration programs (Bresnick, 2018). Several health organizations have described nurse informaticists as critical enablers of care delivery models, and they are currently owed for having upscaled clinical care processes.
A nurse informaticist works with a variety of other healthcare providers. In collaboration with nurses, physicians, and pharmacists, a nurse informaticist identifies patient needs and preferences that would benefit from implementing a health technology (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2021). Following the identification of the patient’s needs and preferences, a nurse informaticist conducts a feasibility analysis of the yet-to-be-implemented health technology, weighs the benefits and the risks, and discusses the findings with the rest of the care team. The collaboration extends beyond the care walls to the administration and leadership, whose support is required for the informatics project’s objectives to be realized. As a result, it is clear how a nurse informaticist requires the assistance of other healthcare providers, the domain in which interdisciplinary collaboration thrives.
Justification of the Need of a Nurse Informaticist in a healthcare Organization; Impact of Full Nurse Engagement in Healthcare Technology
As previously stated, the nurse informaticist’s role in healthcare has been demonstrated and described as critical by various organizations. The impact of a nurse informaticist is felt in three areas: patient care, workflow, and cost containment. In terms of patient care, nurse informaticists are lauded for implementing a pharmacy information system (PIS) that improves drug supply and organization. The PIS facilitates appropriate medication dispensing, reducing medical errors caused by poor drug dispensing and improving patient safety and outcomes (Kinnunen et al., 2019). Furthermore, e-prescribing, according to Kinnunen et al. (2019), reduces the likelihood of medical prescription errors that would otherwise occur due to poor penmanship of prescribers (Kinnunen et al., 2019 NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Healthcare). The two examples provided demonstrate the importance of a nurse informaticist’s role in healthcare.
In terms of workflow, electronic health records make patient scheduling and room allocation easier. Furthermore, because humans are prone to error, automatic calculations of drug dosages, fluid deficits, and requirements limit flaws during care delivery, thereby improving care coordination and maximizing efficiencies (Kinnunen et al., 2019). Finally, nursing informatics reduces costs associated with paper work, processing, and billing requests because informatics projects, such as a billing information system, can streamline all tasks. Accurate billing and coding allow for seamless reimbursement, allowing the organization to maximize profits and increase their return on investment. The impact of nurse informaticists on improving patient care, improving workflows, and lowering costs is sufficient to justify their employment in healthcare organizations.
Evidence-Based Strategies used by Nurses and Interdisciplinary Team to effectively manage Patients Protected Health Information
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act requires that patients’ protected health information be handled with the utmost privacy, security, and confidentiality. When using electronic data, passwords, biometric identification, and automatic logouts have been used to ensure user authentication (George et al., 2019). My organization, for example, takes pride in implementing biometric authentication via laptops that allow facial recognition, fingerprint scanners, and speaker recognition of care providers in various departments and offices. Biometric identification has been demonstrated to be more effective because it eliminates the need to memorize long and complex passwords (George et al., 2019).
To reduce the breach into information systems, health organizations have used antivirus software, firewalls, and active audit trials for protection and security. Furthermore, in order to ensure safe hardware disposal, care organizations encourage the proper disposal of used computers as well as the erasure of hard drives from rented computers or photocopiers (George et al., 2019). For resource-constrained health facilities that want a safe management of patients’ protected health information, George et al. (2019) recommends that patient documents be stored in a secure location, under the watchful eye of security personnel, or with security alarms installed that recognize unauthorized access.
Moreover, careful hiring practices must be encouraged in order to foster a culture of privacy, security, and confidentiality of patient information within a health facility. Before hiring employees, potential hires must be thoroughly vetted, including a thorough background check, to avoid hiring people with a history of system security breaches (George et al., 2019). Care providers must also be educated on proper information sharing. When the mentioned strategies are effectively implemented, they ensure effective management of patients’ protected health information.
Opportunities and Challenges
The novelty of nurse informaticists’ role in healthcare creates a double-edged sword situation in which both opportunities and challenges exist concurrently. Nursing informatics has provided an opportune time to bridge the gap between clinical care and technologies, resulting in increased employment in the field of health informatics. Furthermore, because improved care outcomes, patient safety, and cost containment have been achieved, it is only natural to attribute the achievement to nursing informatics.
Aside from the opportunity to improve patient care, there have also been challenges. There is a conundrum regarding how to effectively incorporate nurse informaticists in health, as some scholars argue that the nurse informaticists does not yet have a defined role (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2021). Furthermore, health informatics project implementation is costly due to the high costs required to identify an information system, conduct feasibility tests, train care providers, secure the necessary technology, and finally implement the project.
Summary/Conclusion and Recommendations
Despite being introduced in the 1950s, health informatics has only recently gained popularity in the twenty-first century. This epoch has seen massive technological advancement, with numerous health informatics projects stemming from the initial ICT. With the rapid advancement of health technology, there is an increased demand for health informatics specialists, including nurse informaticists.
By 2015, the HIMSS vice president acknowledged a massive involvement of nurses in health information technologies, resulting in an increase in the employment of nurse informaticists. To this day, it is nearly impossible to miss a health informatics employee in any healthcare institution that uses technology. Given their impact in patient care, safety, cost containment, and in privacy, security and confidentiality of patient protected health information, nurse informaticists have risen to the top of the health-care workforce.
A suggestion to any healthcare organization would be to hire health informatics specialists and designate a specific position, department, and role for them within the facility. Furthermore, various nursing institutions are encouraged to incorporate health informatics into nursing pedagogy at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Finally, governments are encouraged to invest in technological infrastructure in order to smoothen the transition from traditional nursing practice to modern technologized nursing.
NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Healthcare References
- American Nursing Informatics Association. (2021). American Nursing Informatics Association: Where Caring and Technology Meets. Ania.Org. https://www.ania.org/
- Bresnick, J. (2018). Nurse Informaticists Have “Direct Positive Impact” on Patient Care. Google.Com. https://www.google.com/amp/s/healthitanalytics.com/news/amp/nurse-informaticists-have-direct-positive-impact-on-patient-care
- George, J., Bhila, T., & Department of Health Information Systems Management, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia. (2019). Security, confidentiality and privacy in health of healthcare data. International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development, 3(4), 373–377. https://doi.org/10.31142/ijtsrd23780
- Harerimana, A., Wicking, K., Biedermann, N., & Yates, K. (2021). Integrating nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education in Africa: A scoping review. International Nursing Review, 68(3), 420–433. https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12618
- Kinnunen, U.-M., Heponiemi, T., Rajalahti, E., Ahonen, O., Korhonen, T., & Hyppönen, H. (2019). Factors related to health informatics competencies for nurses-results of a national electronic health record survey. Computers, Informatics, Nursing: CIN, 37(8), 420–429. https://doi.org/10.1097/CIN.0000000000000511
Nursing Informatics in Healthcare Example 2
Health informatics is the integration of healthcare science and information technology. Nursing informatics is the science and practice that integrates nursing knowledge and knowledge in information technology to manage and integrate health information. Generally, the nurse informaticist links nursing science and information technology since they have knowledge and expertise in nursing and information technology. The nurse informaticist role has gained popularity and continues to gain popularity with technological advancement and the use of technology across different areas in healthcare. It is, therefore, vital to have a nurse informaticist role in every healthcare organization. This proposal aims to support and justify the role of a nurse informaticist in the organization.
Nursing Informatics and the Nurse Informaticist
Nursing informatics has been defined as the integration between nursing science knowledge and knowledge in information technology. According to the American Nurses Association (n.d.), nursing informatics is the specialty integrating nursing science and multiple information and analytical sciences to identify, define, manage, and communicate data, information, knowledge and wisdom in nursing practice. Nursing informatics as a science aims to improve the healthcare services provided to people and communities while minimizing the costs of healthcare service provision. In addition, Garcia-Dia (2021) notes that nursing informatics bridges the gap between healthcare data and nursing practice by combining data analytics expertise and clinical expertise.
Based on the understanding of nursing informatics, the nurse informaticist plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between nursing science and information technology. According to Garcia-Dia (2021), the three most pivotal responsibilities of the nurse informaticist are understanding and communicating the “why” behind new technological processes in the healthcare organization, leading technological initiatives and implementing new processes, and validating data quality in the healthcare organization. The nurse informaticist must have the necessary nursing informatics competencies, which are the skills, abilities, attitudes, and knowledge required to perform informatics tasks. These competencies include basic computer skills, informatics knowledge, informatics skills, and nursing knowledge.
Nurse Informaticists and Other Healthcare Organizations
Research shows that healthcare organizations that have had an active role as nurse informaticists have had an easier time implementing healthcare technology than healthcare organizations that do not have one (Kleib et al., 2021). Despite being an additional role with additional demands, healthcare organizations with nurse Informaticists report better interaction with healthcare technology, leading to improved healthcare services provision and experience, better patient care outcomes and overall organizational outcomes.
Furthermore, healthcare organizations with a nurse informaticist implement healthcare technology processes fast and are less likely to make mistakes in implementation. The nurse informaticist analyzes the information technology based on the current healthcare needs in the organization and recommends the best technological processes that would help address these healthcare needs while minimizing the cost of care services provision. Additionally, the nurse informaticist trains the other healthcare providers on using the new healthcare technology/processes, thus easing implementation and adaptation.
The nurse informaticist also interacts with the rest of the nursing staff and the interdisciplinary team by providing technical assistance and guidance when using healthcare technology. Since the nurse informaticist healthcare needs from the bedside to the organizational level, they can use information technology expertise to guide the nurses and other Interprofessional team members in using new and existing healthcare technology to address these needs. More so, the nurse informaticist leads and facilitates the training of nurses and other Interprofessional team members before implementing new healthcare technology, thus making it easier to use the technology at the bedside level.
The Impact of Full Nurse Engagement in Healthcare Technology
Full engagement of nurses in healthcare technology considerably impacts patient care and handling of healthcare information, specially protected health information, workflow, costs, and return on investments. In several ways, fully engaging nurses in healthcare technology impacts patient care. First and foremost, nurses are well conversant with patient needs and know the technology that can best be used to address these needs. Secondly, nurses provide bedside-level feedback on the use of different healthcare technology processes and modalities, which can be used to improve them to address patient needs better. Third, training nurses in informatics provides them with the capabilities and tools to enrich data, knowledge, information, and wisdom pathway in nursing, thus enhancing better care service provision and patient outcomes.
Additionally, the engagement of nurses in healthcare technology enhances the protection of patient information. Nurses and other Interprofessional team members interact with a lot of protected health information, which requires maximum privacy, security, and confidentiality. Nursing informatics helps nurses and other Interprofessional team members to manage patients’ protected health information effectively, thus maintaining privacy, confidentiality, and security. The evidence-based methods that nurses and the Interprofessional team use to manage protected health information include the use of passwords, encryption, biometric verification, anti-phishing training, and physical controls to protect data and related equipment from theft/damage (Barnes, 2020; Garcia-Dia, 2021). These best practices prevent data from being accessed by unauthorized persons who may have malicious intentions, including using patient information for scamming purposes.
Furthermore, nurses’ engagement in healthcare technology helps design workflow and processes, thus making electronic medical records systems and deployment more effective and efficient. Additionally, nurse engagement in healthcare technology reduces organizational costs and increases the return on investment. Nurses provide feedback on healthcare technology, which helps minimize unnecessary technology and improve existing technology for better services and patient care. In addition, nurse Informaticists conduct research on new technology and trains other nursing staff and Interprofessional team members, thus reducing the costs of hiring external technology experts.
Opportunities and Challenges
There are different opportunities and challenges for nurses and the Interprofessional team with the addition of the nurse informaticist role in the organization. The opportunities for nurses to have a nurse informaticist include better and more efficient care provision, with reduced medical errors and better monitoring and reporting of errors (Hassan et al., 2019). The nurse informaticist helps manage patient and medical information using technological systems and processes and recommends the most current healthcare technologies, thus enhancing patient care and organizational outcomes. However, the challenges that may come with adding a nurse informaticist role in the organization include the inability to cater to the additional role financially and potential patient safety issues resulting from system errors and delayed decisions. The Interprofessional team can collaborate to improve quality care outcomes using technology by participating in related training and providing information on where the technology can be improved to better address patient care.
Summary of Recommendations
From the above proposal, the role of a nurse informaticist is vital in the organization. The additional role is recommended because the informaticist will help bridge the gap between information technology and nursing practice. In addition, the nurse informaticist will communicate to the nurses and other Interprofessional team members the “why” behind new information technology, lead implementation, and validate data quality in the organization. Healthcare organizations with nurse Informaticists report faster technology adoption and acceptance, reduced cost of implementation due to internal training, and thus improved healthcare services. Therefore, the role will go a long way in enhancing better care provision, patient outcomes and organizational performance, hence highly recommended.
References
American Nurses Association (n.d.). Nursing Informatics, Scope and Standards of Practice. Accessed 24th May 2023 from https://www.nursingworld.org/nurses-books/nursing-informatics-scope-and-standards-of-practice-
Barnes, S. J. (2020). Information management research and practice in the post-COVID-19 world. International Journal of Information Management, 55, 102175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102175
Garcia-Dia M. J. (2021). Nursing informatics: An evolving specialty. Nursing Management, 52(5), 56. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NUMA.0000743444.08164.b4
Hassan, M. K., El Desouky, A. I., Elghamrawy, S. M., & Sarhan, A. M. (2019). Big data challenges and opportunities in healthcare informatics and smart hospitals. Security in Smart Cities: Models, Applications, And Challenges, 3-26. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01560-2_1
Kleib, M., Chauvette, A., Furlong, K., Nagle, L., Slater, L., & McCloskey, R. (2021). Approaches for defining and assessing nursing informatics competencies: a scoping review. JBI Evidence Synthesis, 19(4), 794–841. https://doi.org/10.11124/JBIES-20-00100
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