Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Essay

Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Essay

By Day 3 of Week 3

Nurse informaticists interact with other healthcare professionals daily to ensure easy and efficient collection and dissemination of information relating to clinical decisions, patient health records, and organizational operations. Additionally, they are a significant factor in facilitating consistency in the provision of safe, quality care (Ball, 2005). Knowledge management systems combine knowledge needs, the basis of knowledge, and decision support systems that inform decision-making (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). Nurse informaticists play an integral role in effective knowledge management and transfer in healthcare systems by forming informatics tools and systems that facilitate new knowledge creation and sharing within interdisciplinary teams (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). The nurse informaticists translate between data languages, between different systems, and interdisciplinary staff, thereby enabling communication between systems and different health professionals (Public Health Informatics Institute, 2017).

One strategy to improve this interaction is through conducting research to enhance nursing informatics. There are opportunities for mining of various data in the electronic health records (EHR) to detect trends and patterns. Algorithms have been designed and utilized to mine EHRs for significant adverse events such as catheter-associated bloodstream infections, cases of pneumonia acquired in hospitals, and patient falls (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). To increase AE detection accuracy, comprehensive programmed algorithms to identify AE, which incorporate information from all clinical data sources, must be designed (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017) Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Essay.

The continuing growth and emergence of new technology and nursing informatics tools have tremendous implications for professional interactions. The use of technology increases the quality and efficiency of providing health services to patients (Ball, 2005). Healthcare information systems are used to coordinate all activities in a healthcare system at the management level. Additionally, information acquisition is simpler and more convenient, time is saved for patients when seeking medical assistance, workflow is improved, and treatment decisions can be made quickly (Ball, 2005). The application of technologies in managing health information has generally enhanced patient safety (Ball, 2005). The failures and inefficiencies in healthcare provision are easily identified when the administration and interdisciplinary professionals can access current, accurate, and relevant information from information management systems. (Ash et al., 2004). Technology and EHRs that support inter-professional communication enhance collaboration and improve patient outcomes (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017) Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Essay.

References

Ash, J. S., Berg, M., & Coiera, E. (2004). Some unintended consequences of information technology in health care: the nature of patient care information system-related errors. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 11(2), 104-112.

Ball, M. J. (2005). Nursing Informatics of tomorrow. Healthcare Informatics Online, 2(5). Retrieved from http://www.providersedge.com/ehdocs/ehr_articles/Nursing_Informatics_of_Tomorrow.pdf

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

Public Health Informatics Institute. (2017). Public Health Informatics: “translating” knowledge for health [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLUygA8Hpfo

By Day 6 of Week 3

You made some interesting points about electronic health records(EHR) being able to detect trends and patterns. By detecting these trends, it would help significantly in helping with consistency to provide safe care to patients. I work on a med-surg floor and see a lot of readmissions. To prevent readmissions, nurses rely on technology to keep everything efficient and organized. Nurse informaticists play a massive role in evolving technology (Laureate Education, 2018). As a nurse, this is one of the reasons why interacting with other professionals is important. Nurse informaticists communicate with other healthcare professionals by providing evidence-based clinical decisions ((McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). It is essential for nurses to understand how technology relates to their patients and their care. Nursing informatics already plays a significant role and will play an even more prominent role in the future, benefiting a positive outcome.

References 

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). The Nurse Informaticist [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Essay.

sample post 2

The American Nurses Association defines nursing informatics as “the specialty that integrates nursing science with multiple information and analytical sciences to identify, define, manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice” (as cited in HIMSS, 2019).  Nursing informatics (NI) is essential to nurses by enhancing their daily practice and ensuring they make sound, evidence-based clinical decisions (McGonigle, 2017).  NI uses modern technology to access data in all facets of the nursing profession, including daily care, administration, and learning and research. Using these newer technologies allows nurses to be more efficient and improves their patients’ outcomes (Darvish et al., 2014) Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Essay.

Our floor nurses, such as myself, have no contact with facility informaticists or data/technology specialists in my current employment.  I am unaware of the location or contact methods to reach informatics teams for my facility.  We are directed to bring any issues to the nursing executive team. Modern technology is limited in the facility due to the closed and secure correctional environment in which I work.  However, there have been movements toward adopting an electronic health record (EHR) to replace the current paper charts that we continue to use.  Our facility approved the medical department’s use of a mobile hotspot device and Kindle tablet to do telehealth visits for offenders due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In addition to those, we recently obtained a cell phone and a second tablet to use.

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Management sent staff emails, which included basic directions on operating both the mobile hotspot and Kindle tablet along with how to use these devices to contact on-call mental health or medical providers after regular business hours.   Management later sent a second email giving further detailed and step-by-step instructions on using these devices after multiple questions arose regarding their instructions.  One of the issues staff has found with these devices is that the provider must be aware they will be receiving a Google Meet request via work email.  Unless providers have prior knowledge to access their email, they do not respond or join the requested Google Meet session.  There has been no instructional email providing directions on when or how to use the new cell phone and second tablet available for staff to use when necessary.  These types of training emails have always been the regular practice that is not due to the COVID-19 pandemic Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Essay.

The electronic health record that our facility was planning to implement has been postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19. We are unable to ascertain when our statewide facilities will be able to adopt this new technology.  With the paper charts’ current use, patient information is sometimes difficult to find.  Sometimes, looking for the charts themselves is very time-consuming when some staff members do not replace them in the medical records room.  Patient information physically travels between facilities often leading to displaced information and damaged or lost charts.

A fully integrated EHR would be one way to improve communication and collaboration between all multidisciplinary health care team members, resulting in safer care and better outcomes for our patients.  Another benefit of an EHR in my facility would provide nursing staff quicker, more complete access to patient information.  More thorough instructions, including videos, would help my facility give more in-depth and necessary staff training instead of the current method of providing email directions that generally require clarifications for better explanations.  Another strategy to reduce frustration and stress is to have small guidance sessions to ensure all staff fully comprehend new procedures when implementing advanced technology Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Essay.

References

sample response

Thank you for your post.  I enjoyed reading it.  You are in a challenging situation during this pandemic when technology seems to be rising to its fullest capabilities, but close contact education is struggling.  According to Francis (2017), nurses who do not have the technology to incorporate nursing informatics can not be impacted by its capabilities, nor can patient’s health care be optimized.

We were about ready to switch over to a new EHR program until COVID-19 came along.  That was delayed until our facility’s chief surgeon decided to omit the new program and remain with our current program.  Tyler (2020) included that having a clearly defined process, and an easy-to-understand technology remains simple for a management crisis.  I found this acceptable as switching to a different EHR could create frustration and stress among healthcare workers and compromise patient care during this pandemic.  In your situation, switching from paper to technology would be a whole new ball game.  Your efforts would not be directed towards patient care; instead, it would help learn and implement new technology.  However, introducing the mobile hotspots and tablets for virtual appointments is the first step towards introducing nursing informatics Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Essay.

Kaminski (2015) states that more universities and colleges incorporate nurse informatics into their education to help prepare nurses since some facilities are still lacking technology use.  By doing this, students will know the importance of nursing informatics and help inspire informatics into their careers.  It will prevent being blind-sighted with technology.

This may help you approach a new strategy once the pandemic is over.  You may be enticed to approach the nurse executive team about a time frame for introducing the new EHR system.  Sometimes a crisis can delay the process, and time is often neglected.  Gather information and facts on the use of paper charts versus electronic.  It is putting your case together to help make that change and be a part of a better change.  If interested, it would be beneficial to be on the nurse executive team.  I do not know what your interests are for that Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Essay.

Reference

Francis, I. (2017). Nursing informatics and the metaparadigms of nursing. On-Line Journal of Nursing Informatics, 21(1), 1-6. https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly-journals%2Fnursing-informatics-metaparadigms%2Fdocview%2F1984366214%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D14872

Kaminski, J. (2015). Why every nurse needs nursing informatics courses. Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics, 10(3). https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly-journals%2Fwhy-every-nurse-needs-nursing-informatics-courses%2Fdocview%2F1753599892%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D14872 Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists Essay