Impact of Information Systems and Computer Technology on Quality, Safety, and Efficiency In Nursing Practice

Impact of Information Systems and Computer Technology on Quality, Safety, and Efficiency In Nursing Practice

Digital technologies are helping manage and overcome the challenges faced in modern healthcare settings with tangible impacts on care quality, safety, accessibility, costs, and care delivery efficiency. Nursing practice is among the major areas that have been hugely impacted by and benefited from the digitization of healthcare systems through the adoption of advanced information systems and computer technologies. The use of technologies in healthcare is fueling the development of nursing informatics with significant impacts on nursing practice. This paper explores and discusses the implications of information systems and technological advancement on quality, safety, and efficiency in nursing practice.

Quality in Nursing Practice

The quality of care delivered to patients is a major focus in nursing practice. Quality in healthcare and nursing settings is related to the ability of health services delivered to an individual or a population to improve the chance to achieve and maintain desired health outcomes and status. Information and computer technologies such as electronic health records (EHRs) systems, telehealth services, mHealth technologies, and social media platforms have facilitated the achievement of quality in nursing practice in a number of ways. EHRs have improved the quality of documentation in nursing (Akhu-Zaheya et al., 2018). This allows nurses to access patient data from anywhere with ease, assess the data using provided digital and automated data analysis tools, as well as integrate such individual patient health data in healthcare planning. The ability to compile health data for individuals in the community or patient populations enables nurses and care teams to identify individual patient needs and make informed decisions based on such data. This is essential in the delivery of quality patient-centered care.

All of the care delivered in nursing care settings needs to align with existing evidence and nursing knowledge for it to be considered quality care and achieve targeted health outcomes. Technology and information systems help nursing professionals improve their evidence development and integration in practice skills and capabilities. Findings in a study by Harvey et al. (2019) conclude that the adoption and use of EHR systems improve the mobilization of quality evidence in nursing practice, resulting in better quality and safer care.

Safety in Nursing Practice

Safety in patient care is an area of focus in nursing practice due to its close relations with the perception of quality of care, patient outcomes, care costs, and patient experiences with nursing care. The main safety concerns on patient safety in nursing settings arise from aspects such as medication errors, surgical errors, pressure ulcers, hospital-acquired infections, patient falls, sepsis, and diagnostic errors, among others. Computer technologies and related health information systems have significantly impacted safety in nursing practice by transforming various aspects of safety, including nursing processes, activities, care procedures, patient and nurse behaviors, and the nursing cultures and care environment. For instance, implementing technologies that aid in the administration of medications in nursing settings, such as automated dispensing cabinets, barcode medication systems, and electronic medication management systems, have transformed the medication process, eliminating possible human errors in manual prescription and administration (Zheng et al., 2021). The use of such technologies, therefore, improves the safety of the medication processes in nursing settings by reducing medication errors and medication administration with the potential to cause patient harm and adverse events, including death. Besides preventing medication errors, technology has improved safety in nursing practice by preventing patient falls. A study by Vlaeyen et al. (2021) conducted in multiple nursing homes found that combining Care Home Falls Screen (CaHFRiS) with the Fall Risk Classification Algorithm (FRiCA) significantly improved fall screening and prevention within such settings. Additionally, emerging technologies in nursing, such as artificial intelligence, are proving to be essential technological tools that are applicable in clinical, operational, and behavioral analytics to predict clinical pathway prediction, behavioral responses, disease progression, and health risks to informed practices and processes.

Efficiency in Nursing Practice

Besides improving quality and safety, digital technologies and information systems have also impacted efficiency in nursing practice. For instance, the utilization of EHRs within healthcare settings, especially in nursing, has improved data sharing and access, hence facilitating health information exchange with an impact on efficiency in workflow and collaboration in health services delivery (Dobrow et al., 2019). As earlier noted, the use of information systems such as EHRs in nursing settings has been associated with improved quality of nursing documentation (Akhu-Zaheya et al., 2018). Electronic-based health documentation systems have been shown to be superior over paper-based health records as a majority of them are interoperable and allow easy search, access, and sharing of quality health information. Such ease of access to health documentation has a significant impact on the efficiency of operations in nursing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the currently adopted systems and technologies such as EHRs, telehealth and telemedicine, mHealth, and big data analytics have effectively supported informed patient management, monitoring, decision-making, and care delivery in nursing settings. As healthcare and nursing settings remain dynamic; creating new safety, quality, and efficiency challenges, the full integration and utilization of information systems and computer technology will ensure that nurses continue to deliver high-quality, safe, and efficient patient care.

References

Akhu-Zaheya, L., Al-Maaitah, R., & Bany Hani, S. (2018). Quality of nursing documentation: Paper-based health records versus electronic-based health records. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 27(3–4), e578–e589. https://doi.org/10.1111/JOCN.14097

Dobrow, M. J., Bytautas, J. P., Tharmalingam, S., & Hagens, S. (2019). Interoperable Electronic Health Records and Health Information Exchanges: Systematic Review. JMIR Med Inform 2019;7(2):E12607 Https://Medinform.Jmir.Org/2019/2/E12607, 7(2), e12607. https://doi.org/10.2196/12607

Harvey, G., Gifford, W., Cummings, G., Kelly, J., Kislov, R., Kitson, A., Pettersson, L., Wallin, L., Wilson, P., & Ehrenberg, A. (2019). Mobilizing evidence to improve nursing practice: A qualitative study of leadership roles and processes in four countries. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 90, 21–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJNURSTU.2018.09.017

Vlaeyen, E., Poels, J., Colemonts, U., Peeters, L., Leysens, G., Delbaere, K., Dejaeger, E., Dobbels, F., & Milisen, K. (2021). Predicting Falls in Nursing Homes: A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study Comparing Fall History, Staff Clinical Judgment, the Care Home Falls Screen, and the Fall Risk Classification Algorithm. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 22(2), 380–387. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JAMDA.2020.06.037

Zheng, W. Y., Lichtner, V., Van Dort, B. A., & Baysari, M. T. (2021). The impact of introducing automated dispensing cabinets, barcode medication administration, and closed-loop electronic medication management systems on work processes and safety of controlled medications in hospitals: A systematic review. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 17(5), 832–841. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SAPHARM.2020.08.001

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Impact of Information Systems and Computer Technology

Instructions
1. Review the Turnitin website and handout linked from the resource list above
2. Prior to beginning the assignment, review the grading rubric to understand the criteria for earning a maximum of 200 points.
3. Write a 2 to 3-page paper (excluding the title page and reference page) that includes the following:
a. Describe the impact that information systems and computer technology have on quality, safety, and efficiency in nursing practice.
b. Give specific examples from the literature to support your discussion.
c. Cite and reference a minimum of three current and scholarly sources in this paper. Your textbook, Applied Clinical Informatics for Nurses, may be considered one of the three sources used for this assignment. Remember that cited chapters from an edited textbook must have separate entries on the reference page.
4. Proofread your paper for grammar, spelling, and APA errors. Consider using writing resources like Tutor.com or Grammarly. This link explains the use of the Grammarly tool: https://kb.indwes.edu/Apps/Grammarly.
a. Remember, the Grammarly tool does not have your nursing knowledge. Some suggestions or comments may not be accurate, but it is useful as a general tool to assist with improving your writing style as needed. Remember that there is a plagiarism check in the Grammarly program that can be used before submitting the assignment.
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