Proposal: Nursing Informatics in Health Care
The healthcare sector is undergoing significant changes that have played essential roles to improve nurse-patient care. Mainly, these changes are influenced by major technological advancements in healthcare. One of the greatest technological changes in healthcare is the use of nursing informatics. In that regard, the nurses use skills in informatics technology to improve the quality of healthcare. Having attended a nursing workshop in the state’s nurses’ association, the idea presented by a nurse Informaticist depicted the role of nurse informatics and the positive impacts of using nursing informatics tools to assist patients at their bedside. Thus, the primary purpose of this paper is to present a proposal to the Chief Nursing Officer and Human Resources Manager how the implementation of nursing informatics in health care. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
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Nursing Informatics and the Nurse Informaticist
What is nursing informatics?
According to the American Nurses Association, nursing informatics refers to a nursing competence that incorporate information sciences, computer, and nursing aspects in developing and maintaining all health care systems and medical data. It is an aspect used in nursing to provide assistance in nursing practice as well as improving the outcomes of patients in health care. HIMSS recommends that nursing informatics is a health care specialty that integrates analytical sciences, nursing sciences, and multiple information systems in identifying, defining, managing, data communication and information in improving nursing practice. Some of the best technological tools used in nursing informatics include computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and electrical medical records (EMRs).
What is the role of the nurse Informaticists?
The nurse Informaticists have crucial roles in health care. Mainly, Nurse Informaticist assist in driving healthcare application via technological tools such as electrical medical records (EMRs) and computerized provider order entry (CPOE). Besides, Nurse Informaticist work together with other healthcare providers to bridge the gap between technical and clinical perspectives. Another crucial role of a Nurse Informaticist is to generate, manage, and process patients’ data to determine the critical information that supports nursing practice. Moreover, Nurse Informaticist has a role in reducing medical errors and costs. Overall, Nursing Informatics use technology in health care to improve coordination, thereby assisting other health care stakeholders in decision-making.
Nurse Informaticist and Other Health Care Organizations
What is the experience of other health care organizations with Nurse Informaticist?
The best thing about Nurse Informaticists is the ability to work together with other health care organizations. According to the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, nurse Informaticists share experience with other health care organizations in several ways. First, nurse Informaticists align their skills in nursing practice with clinical care and workflow, thereby improving the outcomes of their patients. Therefore, they integrate with other healthcare organizations in new diagnostics, clinical workflow reviews, treatment strategic plans, and process design. They also share their experience through the use of value-based care and patient-centered care through technological tools that assist in care provision.
The experience of nurse Informaticists with other healthcare organizations is also depicted in their ability to enhance clinical procedures, processes, protocols, and policies. They used data to assist healthcare organizations in decision-making. Nurse Informaticists ensure data and information provided to healthcare organizations is credible in measuring the success of procedures, processes, and protocols applied in other healthcare organizations. Thus, a nurse Informaticist will use data in measuring and analyzing the performance of a health care organization in line with improving patient outcomes.
The experience of a nurse Informaticist with other healthcare organizations is also demonstrated in the provision of training on informatics data. In that regard, nurse Informaticist trains clinical staff to allow them to make proper interpretation of healthcare data. Thus, other healthcare organizations can learn new skills from nurse informatics through a learning-based program that incorporates external education, certification, ongoing in-house training, and onboarding new staff from other health care organizations.
How do these nurse Informaticists interact with the rest of the nursing staff and the interdisciplinary team?
The nursing practice is a wide platform that requires the integration of nurse Informaticists with other nursing staff and interdisciplinary team. One of the nursing staff in the nurse manager. The nurse manager has the role of ensuring positive changes in patient outcomes via the use of nursing informatics. Thus, nurse Informaticists interact with a nurse manager in the selection and testing of new healthcare devices. Nurse Informaticists can recommend the best medical devices that should be procured by a nurse manager to offer a vast quantity of health data on patients. Nurse Informaticists understand informatics data thereby recommending the best course of action to nursing staff when making diagnostics and treatment protocols.
Moreover, nurse Informaticists can work with nursing clerks in minimizing medical costs. They can also integrate ideas with nursing staff to minimize medical errors. Therefore, nurse Informaticists can reduce the margin of medical errors and costs by training nursing staff, improving the nursing process by reducing patient risks. More importantly, the collaboration between nurse Informaticists and interdisciplinary teams is essential in improving patient outcomes. Team members from various healthcare units can rely on nurse Informaticists. Thus, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, registered dietitians, audiologists, and doctors rely on data and information provided by nurse Informaticists in their treatment plan. Thus, interdisciplinary team members make decisions based on data and information provided by nurse Informaticists in terms of diagnostics and treatment protocols.
Impact of Full Nurse Engagement in Health Care Technology
How does fully engaging nurses in health care technology impact:
- Patient care?
Patient care is affected by the use of health care technology by a nurse by improving patient outcomes. In that regard, the use of health care technology enables nurses to save lives. Nurses use informatics tools such as telemetry and automated blood pressure cuffs to enhance the safety of patients. Health care technology allows nurses to monitor and track patients’ treatment plans, thereby improving patient care. Nurses use health care technology tools to minimize medical errors thereby improving patient outcomes.
- Protected health information (security, privacy, and confidentiality)?
The health care technology by nurses assist in the protection of health care information in terms of security, privacy, and confidentiality. First, technology ensures health care information is stored in a soft copy format. Health care facilities ensure that data back-up is in place to enhance the security of health information in case of fire and theft. In terms of privacy, the patient’s data cannot be access by authorized users. The use of informatics systems ensures data is shared between patients and healthcare providers.
- Workflow?
The use of health care technology ensures efficient workflow because informatics tools increase efficiency. These tools apply a well-designed electronic system that allows the nurse to respond to patients quickly. Nurses can chart comprehensively and access patient’s information with ultimate ease.
- Costs and return on investment?
In terms of costs, the use of health care technology is effective in terms of time used to care for each patient. The technology reduces the waiting time of patients, thereby maximizing the number of patients treated in a given period. In terms of return on investment, the use of healthcare technology in nursing practice is expensive. Patients are required to pay certain fees to access information and data regarding their health. Thus, the technology used in health care has a positive return on investment.
Opportunities and Challenges
What are the opportunities and challenges for nurses and the interdisciplinary team with the addition of a nurse Informaticist role?
In terms of opportunities, nurses and the interdisciplinary team will access more patients who will be seeking medical care. They are also likely to learn new medical skills through training offered by nurse Informaticists. In terms of challenges, it is not easy to interpret data and medical information offered in nursing informatics. Inadequate training may result in misdiagnoses that can affect patient outcomes.
How can the interdisciplinary team collaborate to improve quality care outcomes through technology?
The interdisciplinary teams can use health care technology in the diagnostic process to ensure proper diagnoses are made on patients. They should also collaborate to interpret data through technology to assist their decision-making process. Overall, they should use technology to design treatment plans and monitors the recovery process of their patients.
Summary of Recommendations
The CNO and HR manager should remember several aspects of the role of Nurse Informaticist. First, new technology in nursing informatics should be established by purchasing informatics tools that align with the quality of health care needed. CNO and HR managers should remember that nursing informatics tools are a huge investment in healthcare. Apart from minimizing medical errors and costs, they can be used to attract a huge number of patients, which makes them a viable investment. Lastly, nursing informatics is changing and nurses should be consulted in making the initial design technology system to enhance the quality of care.