Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists

Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists

Sample Answer for Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Included

Discussion  Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists

RE: Discussion – Week 3

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A Sample Answer For the Assignment: Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists

Title: Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists

Initial Post

          Nursing informatics has evolved into a discipline that is involved in a large number of essential healthcare decisions. Recent proof of this was obvious during the pandemic’s peak earlier this year, when telehealth and other virtual services became a primary source of healthcare delivery. Nursing informatics, according to Sipes (2016), “supports judgments in all positions, functions, and contexts…” I regularly observe this interdisciplinary teamwork inside the organization with which I work. I had the honor of caring for the mother of one of the nurse informatics instructors at the organization for which I work a few weeks ago. While caring for her mother, I sought out networking opportunities and presented myself to this NI instructor, explaining that I am currently getting an MSN in informatics.

Since then, she has encouraged me to shadow her several times, and this is a process that is ongoing. Indeed, I spent a few hours today, Monday December 14th, 2020, shadowing her. Throughout this assignment, I was able to observe the nursing informatics team’s interprofessional partnerships with the rest of the hospital. A problem I observed this connection in relation to the CERNER electronic health record platform. Recently, there have been some unexpected “downtimes,” and it appeared as though this may happen again this morning

The informatics office received numerous phone calls from units inquiring about CERNER’s status, including physicians, charge nurses, and even the pharmacy department. The NI educator was receiving alerts from the cooperating office with real-time updates to share with the units. We then circled the hospital with another NI and a Physician Clinical Informaticists, where I witnessed the informatics team approach each unit leader, providing an update and answering any questions they may have about the current state of the CERNER delay.

Discussion  Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists
Discussion  Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists

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            Among the many responsibilities that nurses have, one of the most important yet biggest frustrations come from EHR

documentation burdens that can interrupt patient care. (Boyle et al., 2019) states that two important points to address are “1) implementing true interprofessional teams to improve communication and quality of care and 2) addressing the documentation burden, usability, and interoperability issues of electronic health records through redesign”. I not only experience the frequent EHR interruptions with CERNER, but I also got to witness what it was like for the informatics team to address it in real-time. The organization I work for is in the early implementation phases of transferring the EHR system from CERNER to EPIC. Currently, there are three major databases that are used within the 50 hospital campuses, and 1,200 acute care centers (Cohen, 2020). By switching to EPIC, all of the health records will be accessible, making it easier to provide more patient-centered care because there will a more fluid process with interprofessional communication.(McGonigle & Mastrain, 2018, Chapter 25) points out the importance of patient-centered in regard to inter-professional relationships that are “woven together through the material and immaterial resources available in specific organizational contexts”

            A recommendation I have for the organization is to include the floor nurses and other staff members during their early implementation phases of the EPIC transition. I am aware of their need for “superusers” because I have expressed much interest in becoming a superuser. However, I would suggest creating more of awareness during the early stages so that there is a sense of enthusiasm among the staff members to embrace this change. Such a change is not always welcomed, especially for the more seasoned staff members. I plan on working alongside the NI team to help the emergency department become involved and excited about this transition. The nursing informatics field is bound to continuously grow and become engaged in project developments that impact patient care on a large platform. As technology improves and medical advancements are made, there will always be room for nurse informaticists to provide valuable input.

Discussion  Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists References

Boyle, D. K., Baernholdt, M., Adams, J. M., McBride, S., Harper, E., Poghosyan, L., & Manges, K. (2019). Improve nurses’ well-being and joy in work: Implement true interprofessional teams and address electronic health record usability issues. Nursing Outlook, 67(6), 791–797. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2019.10.002

Cohen, J. K. (2020). Adventhealth dropping Cerner, Athenahealth EHRs for EPIC. Modern Healthcare, 50(7). https://eds-a-ebscohost-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=ee20cd36-009f-4569-897c-07afe7f634cb%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=edsgcl.614407797&db=edsgea

McGonigle, D., & Mastrain, K. G. (2018). Nursing Informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Mosier, S., Roberts, D., & Englebright, J. (2019). A systems-level method for developing nursing informatics solutions. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 49(11), 543–548. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000815

Sipes, C. (2016). Project Management: Essential skill of nurse informaticists. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 225, 252–256. https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=724dd4e7-7035-49e4-b99d-7f8efd41be65%40pdc-v-sessmgr05

Discussion: 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 Informaticists collaboration. You will also propose strategies for how these collaborative experiences might be improved.

Nursing informatics is the junction where nursing science meets information technology. The rapidly developing use of big data to make predictions and improve processes as well as the use of emergent technologies to improve health care led to the creation of the nursing informatics specialty to harness these new technologies in nursing care (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022). As a result, nursing Informaticists play an increasingly pivotal role in improving the quality of care patients receive. Therefore, a collaboration between nursing Informaticists and other healthcare workers is essential to improve care processes and patient safety.

Collaboration in my Workplace

In my workplace, there are several ways nursing Informaticists collaborate with other health workers to deliver quality care and ensure the safety of patients and health workers. The first way is through continuous education. Nursing informatics is a vital part of modern healthcare. But Honey et al. (2017) noted that not all nurses had competency in nursing informatics. Therefore continuous education is vital to improving competency in nursing informatics. In my workplace, nursing Informaticists help other nurses attain valuable nursing informatics skills by making presentations and holding workshops to teach and demonstrate how emergent technologies can be used to benefit patients. Another way they collaborate with other health workers is by troubleshooting medical equipment used to deliver healthcare. In a particular incident, our EHR malfunctioned and stopped retrieving the medical records of patients. It affected the time of care delivery as it was difficult to retrieve and confirm standing orders regarding certain patients as well as review their history. But our nursing informaticist was notified and she successfully resolved the issue.

Strategy to Improve Collaboration

Studies have shown that the collaboration of interdisciplinary teams of healthcare workers to deliver care to patients improves the quality of care and patient outcomes. Due to this fact, improving collaboration between nursing informaticists and other healthcare workers will improve the efficiency of care delivery. A strategy that can improve collaboration is assigning nursing informaticists to interdisciplinary care teams with clearly defined roles for each member of the team. Rosen et al. 2020 (2018) noted that creating specific roles for each member of the care team reduces tension that may arise if roles are overlapped and improves interdependency. Through this approach, one can effectively make the nursing informaticist a needed member of the care team where their skills can be put to good use improving patient care. Being part of the care team will also improve communication and collaboration. As emergent health technologies become more complex and crucial to quality care delivery, the input of nursing informaticists will become even more important. Hence, the profession will gain added importance. Collaboration with other healthcare professionals will become paramount to quality care delivery.

 

Discussion  Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists References

Honey, M. L., Skiba, D. J., Procter, P., Foster, J., Kouri, P., & Nagle, L. M. (2017). Nursing informatics competencies for entry to practice: the perspective of six countries. Stud Health Technol Inform, 232, 51-61.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2022). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Rosen, M. A., DiazGranados, D., Dietz, A. S., Benishek, L. E., Thompson, D., Pronovost, P. J., & Weaver, S. J. (2018). Teamwork in healthcare: Key discoveries enabling safer, high-quality care. American Psychologist, 73(4), 433.

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.

Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticist and Other Healthcare Specialists

Nursing informaticists play a pivotal role in researching and analyzing administrative and clinical performance analytics (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015). This is important for tracking interventions and outcomes. In my workplace, I have experienced an interaction between nurse informaticists and other healthcare specialists on various occasions. Most importantly, nurse informaticists often interact with the administration to design, implement, and adjust the health information system software that is used to run communication at our facility. They then train each staff member on how to retrieve and access and share patient information without breaching the confidentiality rule. It has promoted end-to-end treatment and continuity of care as it aligns nursing based practice with clinical workflow.

One way in which interactions between nurse informaticists and other specialists might be improved is by training all the employees on how to utilize the information systems available for better patient outcomes (McGonigle& Mastrian, 2015). Secondly, collaborative practice is key in embracing the unique role of each employee at the workplace. Therefore, the organization should establish and maintain employee relationships as well as employee-employer relationships. Lastly, the interaction may also be fostered when every employee in the work environment has an access to a computer. Organizations need to add more electronics required for better patient outcomes.

Due to fast technological advancement and its application in the healthcare sector, we expect a huge impact on healthcare practice in terms of outcomes and quality (Cynthia & Tim, 2019). Headways in the future of nursing informatics will center on automated clinical and patient data records, simplified data collection, improved operations in healthcare facilities, and real-time access to data at any time. All these are evidenced by the emergence of artificial intelligence and remote monitoring technologies like remote blood sugar monitors. This substantiates the essence of us as front liners in healthcare having easy and open communications with the designers and builders of NI and EHR departments.

 

Discussion  Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists References

Cynthia, J., & Tim, R. (2019). Transformations in health information technology and the impact on patient experience. Patient Experience Journal, 6(2), 5-8.

McGonigle, D. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th Ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (Eds.). (2015). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

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.

Trying to get staff comfortable with a new system can be challenging, communication and education or training in this situation is critical to a successful transition.With proper comprehensive training prior to implementation and ensuring the staff of the benefits of using the new system before going live can alleviate some of the future impediments .

One of the biggest problems faced by Informaticist while deploying a new EMR system is getting staff to learn how to they can use the System to its full capabilities. Staff members can discover methods to use outdated systems or to not efficiently use the new EHR system, even if a practice has “installed” one. When reluctant staff members choose to chart manually rather than electronically, it doubles the effort required because they must later enter the electronic record to chart what was written down. Increasing organizational efficiency is one rationale for putting in place a system like this, but when it’s not used correctly, it negates the objective and leads to double work. Getting employees to use the new System was one of our biggest challenges throughout implementation.

The data that we are able to obtain through the electronic system can allow hospital systems to not only get a better picture of what is going on with the patients individually, but it also helps to see what is going on with the hospital and what improvements we can make on the administrative level to continually improve the hospital which will help improve overall care for the patient.

*Note: Throughout this program, your fellow students are referred to as colleagues.

Submission and Grading Information

Discussion  Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 3 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 6 of Week 3

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 3 Discussion

RE: Discussion – Week 3

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I do absolutely support to your post especially when you have mentioned that “Amongst the many responsibilities that nurses have, one of the most important yet biggest frustrations come from EHR documentation burdens that can interrupt patient care. (Boyle et al., 2019) states that two important points to address are “1) implementing true interprofessional teams to improve communication and quality of care and 2) addressing the documentation burden, usability, and interoperability issues of electronic health records through redesign”.  The negative aspect of nurse informatics is that it disregards the face-to-face assessment interaction amongst the healthcare team.

Group presentations are often helpful because it allows mutual information sharing, memorizing important data, and highlights problems (Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 2014).  While on a positive note, team members can appreciate other viewpoints while expanding knowledge of certain situations. These strategies would allow interaction with CIS to improve on areas needed additional data collection advancing technology within the organization.   Therefore, the continued development of nursing informatics has an affirmative impact on professional interactions.  This will allow continual education and interaction with other healthcare professionals, keeping them abreast of changes within the system.  This interaction also shapes trust amongst all disciplines and count on one another for the up-to-date information and data collection.

In the words of McGonigle & Mastrian, nurses are considered knowledgeable engineers, designers and developer, who implement and maintain knowledge (2017). To accomplish these characteristics, the nursing force needs professional interaction with the nursing informatics specialist. This interaction not only exists in healthcare settings, but in the business settings as well.  These types of telecommunication will continue to exist as long as there is technology with room for advancement.

Discussion  Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists References

Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R.T., & Smith, K.A. (2014). Cooperative learning: Improving      university instruction by basing practice on validated theory.  Journal on Excellence in  University Teaching. 25(4). 1-26.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K.G. (2017).  Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge(4th ed.).  Burlington, MA:  Jones & Bartlett Learning.

RE: Discussion – Week 3

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            What a topical and amazing opportunity you had! Just as we begin a class focused on nursing informatics, you stumble upon one who takes you in? That’s amazing and I’m incredibly jealous of your luck! Interestingly enough, I have seen a few posts about CERNER in this discussion, so I’m curious as to the pros and cons of this electronic health program.

It seems as though your institution was able to manage this issue of the downtimes in a manner that pleased the staff, but were they able to get to the bottom of the random downtimes? One thing I’ve noticed in my workplace is the de-escalation factor of rising issues without actual resolve. For example, if multiple units are complaining about a similar issue, management may come around and give an answer that doesn’t exactly address the underlying issue but manages to decrease the frustration of the issue. Nursing informaticists must be able to have the discussions that occur within a disciplinary team in order to keep a constant flow of information and updates. In our weekly resources, Carolyn Sipes states that “discussion is the most important trait” (2016) for this exact reason. Keeping the team updated on current issues and solutions can lead to improved patient outcomes.

Your suggestion for including floor nurses in the early phases into the transition into a new electronic health program makes perfect sense. My health system is currently implementing education for a transition into the use of EPIC. In the earlier phases of the implementation, my health system selected “superusers”, but this idea ultimately failed. The people selected for the “superuser” class openly refused the responsibility, claiming that more nurses should be involved versus having mandated nurses be experts. This led to floor nurses being involved in the early phases which in turn created a volunteer basis for the “super user” title. Although we have not implemented EPIC as of yet, this is believed to produce better results. As quoted from one of our weekly resources, “leadership engagement is a key component of the implementation process” (Mosier,S et al., 2019). Leadership needs to be aware of the demands of the staff nurse in order for these things to work as fluently as they hoped, which it seems like your health system has (and mine hopes to get to).

Discussion  Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists References

Mosier, Sammie, DHA, MA, BSN, NE-BC, CMSRN, BC, Roberts, Wm., Dan PhD, RN, et al. (2019). A Systems-Level Method for Developing Nursing Informatics Solutions: The Role of Executive Leadership. Journal of Nursing Administration, 49, 543-548. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000815

Sipes, C. (2016). Project Management: Essential Skill of Nurse Informaticists. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 225, 252–256.

Discussion  Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Rubric Detail

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Content
Name: NURS_5051_Module02_Week03_Discussion_Rubric

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Excellent Good Fair Poor
Main Posting

Points Range: 45 (45%) – 50 (50%)

Answers all parts of the discussion question(s) expectations with reflective critical analysis and synthesis of knowledge gained from the course readings for the module and current credible sources.

Supported by at least three current, credible sources.

Written clearly and concisely with no grammatical or spelling errors and fully adheres to current APA manual writing rules and style.

Points Range: 40 (40%) – 44 (44%)

Responds to the discussion question(s) and is reflective with critical analysis and synthesis of knowledge gained from the course readings for the module.

At least 75% of post has exceptional depth and breadth.

Supported by at least three credible sources.

Written clearly and concisely with one or no grammatical or spelling errors and fully adheres to current APA manual writing rules and style.

Points Range: 35 (35%) – 39 (39%)

Responds to some of the discussion question(s).

One or two criteria are not addressed or are superficially addressed.

Is somewhat lacking reflection and critical analysis and synthesis.

Somewhat represents knowledge gained from the course readings for the module.

Post is cited with two credible sources.

Written somewhat concisely; may contain more than two spelling or grammatical errors.

Contains some APA formatting errors.

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 34 (34%)

Does not respond to the discussion question(s) adequately.

Lacks depth or superficially addresses criteria.

Lacks reflection and critical analysis and synthesis.

Does not represent knowledge gained from the course readings for the module.

Contains only one or no credible sources.

Not written clearly or concisely.

Contains more than two spelling or grammatical errors.

Does not adhere to current APA manual writing rules and style.
Main Post: Timeliness

Points Range: 10 (10%) – 10 (10%)

Posts main post by day 3.

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Does not post by day 3.
First Response

Points Range: 17 (17%) – 18 (18%)

Response exhibits synthesis, critical thinking, and application to practice settings.

Responds fully to questions posed by faculty.

Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by at least two scholarly sources.

Demonstrates synthesis and understanding of learning objectives.

Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues.

Responses to faculty questions are fully answered, if posed.

Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.

Points Range: 15 (15%) – 16 (16%)

Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings.

Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues.

Responses to faculty questions are answered, if posed.

Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources.

Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.

Points Range: 13 (13%) – 14 (14%)

Response is on topic and may have some depth.

Responses posted in the discussion may lack effective professional communication.

Responses to faculty questions are somewhat answered, if posed.

Response may lack clear, concise opinions and ideas, and a few or no credible sources are cited.

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 12 (12%)

Response may not be on topic and lacks depth.

Responses posted in the discussion lack effective professional communication.

Responses to faculty questions are missing.

No credible sources are cited.
Second Response

Points Range: 16 (16%) – 17 (17%)

Response exhibits synthesis, critical thinking, and application to practice settings.

Responds fully to questions posed by faculty.

Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by at least two scholarly sources.

Demonstrates synthesis and understanding of learning objectives.

Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues.

Responses to faculty questions are fully answered, if posed.

Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.

Points Range: 14 (14%) – 15 (15%)

Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings.

Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues.

Responses to faculty questions are answered, if posed.

Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources.

Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.

Points Range: 12 (12%) – 13 (13%)

Response is on topic and may have some depth.

Responses posted in the discussion may lack effective professional communication.

Responses to faculty questions are somewhat answered, if posed.

Response may lack clear, concise opinions and ideas, and a few or no credible sources are cited.

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 11 (11%)

Response may not be on topic and lacks depth.

Responses posted in the discussion lack effective professional communication.

Responses to faculty questions are missing.

No credible sources are cited.
Participation

Points Range: 5 (5%) – 5 (5%)

Meets requirements for participation by posting on three different days.

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Does not meet requirements for participation by posting on 3 different days.
Total Points: 100
Name: NURS_5051_Module02_Week03_Discussion_Rubric

My experiences and observations 

Nurse informaticists handle analyzing data to improve patient care, as well as implementing new patient care technologies. At the hospital, I currently work for we have an infection control team. They handle collaborating with the informatics nurses and designing programs to detect early signs of sepsis. We have a main nurse that stays on our unit daily to answer questions and make corrections to the programs as needed. The program itself is greatly beneficial but is not without its issues. Having someone that can be in person, to correct errors as they occur has shown an overall improvement with the program. They stay on the phone with the tech department for real-time awareness. The infection control nurse is a licensed nurse that helps to understand our issues while relaying with needs to be corrected to the team that is correcting the program. “Appropriate health information technology education is critical to ensure quality documentation, patient privacy, and safe healthcare” (Topaz, 2013).  

My Suggestions and Strategies 

If I had to make one major suggestion to making this program more beneficial, it would be to have one main employee from each group trained as well. The infection nurse is only available Monday through Friday, 8 am-4 pm. If an issue arises outside of these hours, the floor nurses handle writing down the issue and hoping it gets corrected. If we always have a trained individual on staff, we can work together to ensure that all errors are corrected promptly. “A champion or superuser is recommended to maintain the momentum of the transformation and enculturation” (Kiel, 2016).  

Impact of the Evolution of Nursing Informatics & New Technologies 

Healthcare has received help from the evolution of nursing informatics and innovative technologies. “In interprofessional health care teams, individuals with distinct professional training supply unique expertise and work together to solve health care problems” (Holden, 2018). With each new program, and addition to our care, we can supply better care to our patients. Patient care outcomes have benefited greatly from nursing informatics and the latest changes to our technology. Being able to detect and treat sepsis before it reaches a point of no return has awarded our unit many accommodations throughout the hospital. The proof of impact is in the outcomes of the programs. We need every area of specialty coming together to create a new world of healthcare.  

Discussion  Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists References 

Holden, R., Binkheder, S., Patel, J., & Viernes, S. (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

Kiel, J. (2016). Using Organizational Development for Electronic Medical Record Transformation. The Health Care Manager, 35(4), 305–311. https://doi.org/10.1097/hcm.0000000000000131

Topaz, M., Rao, A., Creber, M. & Bowles, K. (2013). Educating Clinicians on New Elements Incorporated into the Electronic Health Record. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 31(8), 375–379. https://doi.org/10.1097/nxn.0b013e318295e5a5

In  addition conveying the meaning and importance of health informatics to a new nurse an adequate definition would be the acquisition, storage, retrieval and use of health information.  Health informatics promotes efficient and effective patient care through the fluid transmittance and retrieval of health care information.  The use of technology such as computer systems, software and other technologies promote informatics.  A good and simple example of the efficiency and importance of informatics can be seen when considering mail via the post office and emails via computer systems and network.  The delivery of mail using email transmittance allows for the quick, efficient and certain delivery of information.  Sending information through the post office takes time, vulnerable to be lost as well as being damaged.  The same efficiency is needed in addressing patient Care as patients lives at times will be dependent on the efficient transmittal of information.  A patient, for example, that meets in a car accident and requires emergency surgery, would benefit from health informatics as the patient’s medical history is readily retrievable from a health care informatics system that links providers to each other.  Imagine calling around for patient information or worst yet, writing letters to request patient information.  Antiquated systems can jeopardize patient care and patient safety (Alotaibi and Frederico, 2017).

As the main health care personnel, nurses are charged with the responsibility of operating systems that utilize informatics.  In addition, nurses should be able to efficiently and fluently use those systems.  It is therefore important that nurses understand the full purpose of informatics as well as to navigate any system in their network that utilizes informatics.  This is a critical part of nursing care as it promotes proper nursing care for patients as well as to increase positive outcome for the patients as well.  Informatics should also be part of the core curriculum in nursing school because it teaches student nurses how to better care for their patients (Leung et. al., 2015).  In addition, this core curriculum should again be reinforced in the clinical setting, as there are nuances to different informatics network systems.  The nurse should be familiar with these nuances so that they can best utilize the system when dealing with health informatics.  Nurses understanding and use of informatics should be greater than any other personnel in the clinical setting as the nurse is the main point of contact for patient care.  A nurse, for example, may alert the doctor or others of a patient’s pre-existing conditions or allergies thereby preventing any type of accident.  The nurse should also be able to properly train other personnel in using health informatics.  In training a new on how to use health informatics, it is also important that the nurse possess basic technology skills such as computer skills and understanding how software works.  Health informatics is the wave of the future and the nurse should also be at the forefront of this wave as it directly impacts patient care and patient outcome.  It has also been shown that hospitals that uses health informatics efficiently, has more positive patient outcomes (Snyder et. al., 2011).

Thank you for your informative insight into health informatics, and the role it serves to shape continuity of care in the nursing profession, especially in behavioral health. you have brought out the multidisciplinary input that health informatics draws, from various fields of expertise to finalize attempts at utilizing data in achieving the highest possible care. The COVID-19 pandemic helped reveal the less mild spectra of behavioral and mental challenges that may exist but also improved how technology can be used to accelerate care through data-driven approaches (Ye, 2020). This is because behavioral health is delicate, and relatively data conscious.

A robust system focusing on providing health informatics services can focus on various aspects. Storage and retrieval of medical data in real-time take center stage, as this provides nurses with ample time to plan, make patient-centered decisions, and synthesize clinical information to the best of their ability. It is also easy to draw trends from past data, compare data and formulate epidemiological data that can then be exported, combined with data from other health centers, and ultimately strengthen public health measures (Gamache et al., 2018). Nursing protocols are numerous, just as in other health professions, and health informatics systems can help nurses keep up to date with peer-reviewed data that is used to guide protocols for care. Research plays a central role in revealing what pathways are to be explored to efficiently care for the patient, which nursing informatics benefits strongly from.

References

Gamache, R., Kharrazi, H., & Weiner, J. (2018). Public and Population Health Informatics: The bridging of big data to benefit communities. Yearbook of Medical Informatics, 27(01), 199–206. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0038-1667081

Ye, J. (2020). Pediatric mental and behavioral health in the period of quarantine and social distancing with covid-19. JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, 3(2): e19867. https://doi.org/10.2196/19867

Nursing informatics today has a major influence on the care that is provided to those in the health care system. Nursing informatics produces, “connectivity between care providers and patients, include a wide array of emerging technologies” (Nagle et al., 2017, p.212). It is often taken advantage of by health care providers due to the ease of use and accessibility that electronic health records have been available for approximately eleven years (Kroning, 2018). Without this long stride that was taken in health care there would be much more time spent on completion of hard copy of paperwork versus care provided to the patient. In my practice, the emergency room, we show a great amount of gratitude towards nursing informatics and the electronic health record. In this discussion, I will explain the benefits that come from these tools and its effects on nurse’s care/patient outcomes in the emergent care setting.

Data Collection

In the emergency room, many individuals come through the door with evidence of infection. Through our electronic health record, the patient answers a series of questions such as any evidence of infection and the level of temperature, heart rate, and/or respirations the sepsis score auto-populates, which then triggers a series of laboratory orders that can be drawn. The labs that are a reflux orders from this sepsis scoring is two sets of blood cultures, lactic acid, complete metabolic panel, and complete blood count. This enables the emergency room staff to draw labs before the doctor orders them.

Data Benefits and Usage

Two benefits can come from this data. The first benefit being that we can initiate treatment if the labwork shows evidence of sepsis. Rapid treatment of sepsis allows us to improve the outcomes of the patients. The second benefit being that the electronic health record will show record that the patient has a history of sepsis in the scenario that that patient is unresponsive. It is a known fact that “sepsis is a common diagnosis with a high mortality and is a leading cause of in-hospital death” (Ladha et al., 2019, p.12). This enables us to act in this situation to reduce the patients risk for mortality. As a whole, the knowledge that is gained is the patients risk for sepsis which allows for timely and accurate treatment coming from health care providers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, nursing informatics is the foundation that transforms the protocols that are made, such as sepsis protocols for those showing evidence of infection. Based on the data that has been collected it enables health care workers to provide improved treatment based on the data. In reflection of this data it allows for proper diagnosis and bettered outcomes for patients overall which is an overall health care goal we as nurses hope to reach.

Reference

Kroning, M. (2018). Nursing Informatics. 59 clicks in the EHR. Nursing Management, 49(5), 10–14. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1097/01.NUMA.0000532337.74937.a1

Ladha, E., House-Kokan, M., & Gillespie, M. (2019). The ABCCs of sepsis: A framework for understanding the pathophysiology of sepsis. Canadian Journal of Critical Care Nursing, 30(4), 12–21.

Nagle, L., Sermeus, W., & Junger, A. (2017). Evolving role of the nursing informatics specialist. In J. Murphy, W. Goossen, & P. Weber (Eds.), Forecasting Competencies for Nurses in the Future of Connected Health (212–221). Clifton, VA: IMIA and IOS Press. Retrieved from https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_4A0FEA56B8CB.P001/REF