Nursing Informatics in Health Care

Nursing Informatics in Health Care

Data collection and documentation influence the quality of healthcare services. Accurate documentation reduces the incidence of medical errors and improves the billing process. Nurses and other healthcare providers should embrace technology to improve the accuracy of data collection documentation and reporting. This paper discusses nursing informatics and evaluates the role and relevance of a nurse informaticist.

Nursing Informatics and the Nurse Informaticist

Forman et al. (2020) report that nursing informatics (NI) is a field that embraces technology to optimize the management of health information. NI focuses on lowering healthcare costs by increasing data accuracy and promoting evidence-based practice (Booth et al., 2022). This is accomplished via proper characterization, management, and dissemination of information. NI has enabled healthcare facilities to acquire and implement healthcare technology. For instance, NI triggered the introduction and widespread implementation of electronic health record (EHR) systems in healthcare setups (Booth et al., 2022).

Nurse informaticists are relevant stakeholders who accomplish various roles and responsibilities. Firstly, they initiate and oversee the implementation of health technology in various healthcare settings (Booth et al., 2022). Appropriate use of health technology (such as EHR systems) optimizes workflow, reduces medical errors, and improves the quality of healthcare services (Ngangue et al., 2020). Secondly, nurse informaticists use evidence-based data to restructure, create new, or modify organizational policies and standard procedures (Booth et al., 2022). Evidence-based data from the organization enables them to make informed decisions to formulate the best plans. Thirdly, they are involved in the supervision of data handling and data validation (Booth et al., 2022). To accomplish this, they work in concert with interdisciplinary team members to increase the accuracy of data collection, documentation, and reporting.

Nurse Informaticists and Other Health Care Organizations

Nurse informaticists work in various healthcare setups, such as private health facilities, public health facilities, government organizations, and academia. Females account for more than 75 percent of this population (Zippia.com, n.d.). About 48 percent of these specialists work in private health facilities, whereas 25 percent work in public healthcare facilities (Zippia.com, n.d.). About 19 percent are involved in academia and research, whereas 11 percent practice in government organizations (Zippia.com, n.d.).

Nurse informaticists have been proven to be beneficial stakeholders in academia and public and private facilities. They collect, analyze, interpret data, and disseminate their findings. This feedback forms the basis for optimizing workflow, identifying existing gaps, and developing new policies (Booth et al., 2022). Also, nurse informaticists train and provide continuous education to interdisciplinary team members. Training and education are guided by evidence-based research and organizational data. By so doing, employees acquire pertinent skills and knowledge to improve service delivery quality and increase productivity (Booth et al., 2022). Furthermore, nurse informaticists select, acquire, and implement pertinent health technology (Booth et al., 2022). The emphasis is to acquire the best technology to improve healthcare quality by improving documentation, promoting collaboration, and improving the decision-making process (Booth et al., 2022). Examples of these technologies are telehealth and electronic medical systems.

Nurse informaticists interact with members of the interdisciplinary team during training, policy formulation, or when conducting performance evaluation. The interactions can be physical or virtual. Examples of interdisciplinary team members include physicians, administrators, pharmacists, nurses, nutritionists, and laboratory personnel. Zareshahi et al. (2022) report that training and education equip these stakeholders with information on the underperforming metrics, new technology, merits of the new technology, how to use new technology, and any changes in organizational policies and standard procedures.

Impact of Full Nurse Engagement in Health Care Technology

Healthcare technology will improve the quality of nursing care. This is attributed to various factors. Firstly, technology such as telehealth and EHR systems will allow nurses to collaborate with other healthcare providers (Ngangue et al., 2020). Interdisciplinary collaboration improves the decision-making process and advocates for evidence-based practice hence improving the quality of nursing care. Secondly, technology will optimize workflow and reduce the incidence of medical errors. For example, barcoding and smart infusion pumps will enable nurses to mitigate medication administration errors (Michalek & Carson, 2020). Thirdly, technology such as telehealth will promote remote patient monitoring and optimize patient follow-up.

Appropriate use of healthcare technology will enable nurses to uphold the privacy and confidentiality of protected patient information. Data encryption will allow them to create ciphertext and unique decryption keys to access patient data (Kok et al., 2019). This will avert unauthorized access. Passcodes will allow nurses to regularly create and update their unique codes (Kok et al., 2019). By so doing, unauthorized access to patient data will be averted. Additionally, identity and access management will ensure that only authorized personnel access patient information (Kok et al., 2019). This technique ensures that each user has a unique account. In this context, account details should not be disclosed to other parties.

Healthcare technology will enable nurses to optimize workflow, reduce treatment costs, and get a positive return on investment. Technology such as telehealth and EHR systems optimize workflow by automating documentation and improving interdisciplinary collaboration (Ngangue et al., 2020). Collaboration facilitates care coordination and improves the quality of healthcare services. Other technologies, such as barcoding, reduce medication administration errors by allowing nurses to identify patients accurately (Michalek & Carson, 2020). Care coordination and interdisciplinary collaboration lower the incidence of medical errors, improve the quality of care and improve patient outcomes. As such, healthcare costs are lowered. Automated documentation and billing services reduce the likelihood of monetary losses resulting from inaccurate billing. This applies to both out-of-pocket payments and reimbursements from insurers.

Opportunities and Challenges

The nurse informaticist role offers opportunities and some challenges for nurses and members of the interdisciplinary team. This role will promote the effective use of organizational data. By so doing, evidence-based decisions will be made to optimize workflow and the existing policies and procedures. The role of a nurse informaticist provides an opportunity for continuing education and training (Booth et al., 2022). This will enable nurses and other healthcare providers to acquire new skills and knowledge and improve their competency. Nurses and members of the interdisciplinary team may experience challenges in capturing and recording accurate data (Booth et al., 2022). This will be averted by regular training and performance evaluation.

As aforementioned, members of the interdisciplinary team should work in concert via technology to improve the quality of care outcomes. For instance, physicians should embrace features such as computerized physician order entries (CPOEs) to increase the accuracy of the documentation (Alizadeh et al., 2021). Additionally, decision support systems will enable them to develop evidence-based plans (Alizadeh et al., 2021). CPOEs and barcodes will improve the accuracy and promote safe medication administration by nurses. CPOEs will enable pharmacists to check prescriptions’ accuracy and dispense them accurately (Alizadeh et al., 2021). Ngangue et al. (2020) report that telehealth will enable interdisciplinary team members to collaborate and provide real-time care to patients remotely.

Summary of Recommendations

Nurse informaticists positively impact academia and public and private health facilities. They are involved in initiating and implementing health technology, creating and modifying organizational policies and standard procedures, and supervising data handling and validation (Booth et al., 2022; Forman et al., 2020). Other organizations have benefitted from the role of nurse informaticists. Notably, these stakeholders provide continuous education and training and enforce the appropriate use of healthcare technology to improve the quality of healthcare services. Appropriate use of technology via collaboration with nurse informaticists will enable the nurse to deliver high-quality nursing services, protect patient data and minimize healthcare costs. Nurses and other healthcare providers should collaborate with nurse informaticists to improve the quality of healthcare.

References

Alizadeh, G., Jafarzadeh, A., & Farough Khosravi, M. (2021). Scoping Review of Computerized Physician Order Entry Systems in Reducing Medical Errors. Evidence-Based Health Policy, Management and Economics, 5(2), 142–150. https://doi.org/10.18502/jebhpme.v5i2.6559

Booth, R., Strudwick, G., McMurray, J., Chan, R., Cotton, K., & Cooke, S. (2021). The future of nursing informatics in a digitally-enabled world. In Introduction to Nursing Informatics (pp. 395-417). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58740-6_16

Forman, T. M., Armor, D. A., & Miller, A. S. (2020). A review of clinical informatics competencies in nursing to inform best practices in education and nurse faculty development. Nursing Education Perspectives, 41(1), E3–E7. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000000588

Kok, S. H., Abdullah, A., Jhanjhi, N. Z., & Supramaniam, M. (2019). Ransomware, Threat and Detection Techniques: A Review. IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, 19(2), 136–146. http://paper.ijcsns.org/07_book/201902/20190217.pdf

Michalek, C., & Carson, S. L. (2020). Implementing barcode medication administration and smart infusion pumps is just the beginning of the safety journey to prevent administration errors. Farmacia Hospitalaria, 44(3), 114–121. https://doi.org/10.7399/fh.11410

Ngangue, P. A., Forgues, C., Nguyen, T., Sasseville, M., Gallagher, F., Loignon, C., Stewart, M., Belle Brown, J., Chouinard, M. C., & Fortin, M. (2020). Patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals’ experience with an interdisciplinary intervention for people with multimorbidity in primary care: A qualitative study. Health Expectations, 23(2), 318–327. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.13035

Zareshahi, M., Mirzaei, S., & Nasiriani, K. (2022). Nursing informatics competencies in critical care unit. Health Informatics Journal, 28(1), 146045822210838. https://doi.org/10.1177/14604582221083843

Zippia.com. (n.d.). Informatics Nurse Demographics and Statistics in the US. https://www.zippia.com/nurse-informaticist-jobs/demographics/

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Assessment 1 Instructions: Nursing Informatics in Health Care
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Write a 4-5 page evidence-based proposal to support the need for a nurse informaticist in an organization who would focus on improving health care outcomes.

Introduction
As you begin to prepare this assessment, you are encouraged to complete the Team Perspectives of the Nurse Informaticist activity. Completion of this will help you succeed with the assessment as you explore the nurse informaticist’s role from the different perspectives of the health care team. Completing activities is also a way to demonstrate engagement.

Nurses at the baccalaureate level in all practice areas are involved in nursing informatics through interaction with information management and patient care technologies. Nurses must demonstrate not only knowledge of and skills in health information and patient care technologies but also how to use these tools at the bedside and organizational levels. Moreover, nurses need to recognize how information gathered from various health information sources can impact decision-making at the national and state regulatory levels.

Scenario
For this assessment, assume you are a nurse attending a meeting of your state’s nurses association. A nurse informaticist conducted a presentation on her role and its impact on positive patient and organizational outcomes in her workplace. You realize that your organization is undergoing many technological changes. You believe this type of role could provide many benefits to your organization.

You decide to pursue proposing a nurse informaticist role in your organization. You speak to your chief nursing officer (CNO) and human resources (HR) manager, who ask you to prepare a 4–5 page evidence-based proposal to support the new role. In this way, they can make an informed decision as to whether the addition of such a role could justify the return on investment (ROI). They need your proposal before an upcoming fiscal meeting.​ This is not an essay, but instead, it is a proposal to create a new Nurse Informaticist position.

One important part of this assessment is the justification of the need for a nurse informaticist in a healthcare organization and references from relevant and timely scholarly or professional resources to support the justification for creating this nurse informaticist position. The term justify means to show or prove that the nurse informaticist position brings value to the organization. This justification must include evidence from the literature to support that this position will provide a return on investment for the organization.

Preparation
To successfully prepare for this assessment, you will need to complete these preparatory activities:

Review assessment resources and activities.
Conduct independent research on the nursing knowledge and skills necessary to interact with health information and patient care technology.
Focus your research on current resources available through peer-reviewed articles, professional websites, government websites, professional blogs, wikis, job boards, and so on.
Consult the BSN Program Library Research Guide for help in identifying scholarly and authoritative sources.
Interview peers in your network who are considered information technology experts.
Ask them about how information technology advances are impacting patient care at the bedside, at the organizational level, and beyond.
Proposal Format
The chief nursing officer (CNO) and human resources (HR) manager have asked you to include the following headings in your proposal and to be sure to address the bullets following each heading:

Nursing Informatics and the Nurse Informaticist
What is nursing informatics?
What is the role of the nurse informaticist?
Nurse Informaticists and Other Health Care Organizations
What is the experience of other health care organizations with nurse informaticists?
How do these nurse informaticists interact with the rest of the nursing staff and the interdisciplinary team?
IMPACT OF FULL NURSE ENGAGEMENT IN HEALTH CARE TECHNOLOGY
How does fully engaging nurses in health care technology impact:
Patient care?
Protected health information (security, privacy, and confidentiality)?
In this section, you will explain evidence-based strategies that the nurse informaticist and interdisciplinary team can use to effectively manage patients’ protected health information, particularly privacy, security, and confidentiality. Evidence-based means that they are supported by evidence from scholarly sources.
Workflow?
Costs and 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?
How can the interdisciplinary team collaborate to improve quality care outcomes through technology?
Summary of Recommendations
What are 3–4 key takeaways from your proposal about the recommended nurse informaticist role that you want the CNO and the HR manager to remember?
This is the section where the justification for the implementation of the nursing informaticist role is addressed. Remember to include evidence from the literature to support your recommendation.
Additional Requirements
Written communication: Ensure written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
Submission length: 4–5 double-spaced pages, in addition to title and references pages.
Font: Times New Roman, 12 points.
Citations and References: Cite a minimum of three current scholarly and/or authoritative sources to support your ideas. In addition, cite a minimum of one current professional blog or website to support your central ideas. Current means no more than five years old.
APA formatting: Be sure to follow APA formatting and style guidelines for citations and references. For an APA refresher, consult the Evidence and APA page on Campus.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

Competency 1: Describe nurses’ and the interdisciplinary team’s role in informatics with a focus on electronic health information and patient care technology to support decision-making.
Define nursing informatics and the role of the nurse informaticist.
Explain how the nurse collaborates with the interdisciplinary team, including technologists, to improve the quality of patient care.
Justify the need for a nurse informaticist in a health care organization.
Competency 2: Implement evidence-based strategies to effectively manage protected health information.
Explain evidence-based strategies that the nurse and interdisciplinary team can use to manage patients’ protected health information (privacy, security, and confidentiality) effectively.
Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly communication to facilitate the use of health information and patient care technologies.
Follow APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.
Create a clear, well-organized, and professional proposal that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.