Storage of information enables the doctors to diagnosis patients ailments accurately thus saving on treatment cost. This improves the quality of healthcare enjoyed by the patients (Hasman, 2000)
The information stored in the organizations database should be backed up to minimize the risk of information loss in a secure location. The organization should also have adequate security protocol to protect information from hackers and viruses (De, 2006)
The nurses can work for a longer time and serve more clients per day thus improving the efficiency of the workers. The work load reduced through the use of computerized management enables the nurses to channel thus provides better services (Schiller, 1994)
Accurate and quick data collection will improve the quality of healthcare by reducing the time patients spend in healthcare centers. Quick service time enables the medical institution to serve more customers thus higher revenue compared to other organization that do not implement technology in their organizations (Singh, 2007)
The ease of collecting data/information about nursing and its application in the medical field is an important advantage that an efficient database system can provide to healthcare professionals like nurses. Another potential that nursing informatics can provide for nurses is the determination of "nursing problems, interventions, and outcomes in a standardized format to be stored in administrative and clinical data repositories" (Swan, 2004:330)
These are things that should have been an integral part of nursing education and nursing practice a long time ago. Thus, there are elements of nursing education curriculum that serve little purpose in today's world and should be overhauled (Hannah, Ball & Edwards, 1994)
One survey noted that at least half of nursing students graded their instructors as "novice" or "advanced beginner" with respect to their computer skills. It is no surprise that when the instructors do not understand the technology that they will be challenged to teach it (McNeil et al
Technological advances and government regulation have combined to create a dramatic increase in the use of information technology across all fields, and health care is starting to come on board now as well. So important is health informatics that a new C-suite position is emerging, the Chief Nursing Informatics Officer, or CNIO (Murphy, 2011)
Just as the intrepid Florence Nightingale paved the way for modern nursing as we know it today by establishing the first nursing school at St. Thomas' Hospital in 1860, defining nursing in her famous notes on the profession as "the act of utilizing the environment of the patient to assist him to recovery" (Nightingale, 1860), the widespread adoption and integration of nursing informatics was made possible by the tireless contributions of several influential pioneers
Nursing informatics allows for the quick and seamless creation of patient-centered care plans. Improved care coordination within and across medical settings means better service for patients, especially those facing chronic and acute conditions (Childs, Alexander & Duong, 2012)
Nursing Informatics Field Definition of informatics nurses Example of nursing informatics in practice (software applications) Recent Growth Nursing shortage and its impact Need for automated processes over manual processes Need for increased patient safety in terms of medication, care and records Need for data security and compliance with HIPPA rules Need for increased healthcare coordination between nurses and others Phases of Nursing Informatics Implementation Design and Analysis Phases a) Request for Proposal (RFP) process b) Need for collaboration with other stakeholders Configuration Phase Testing Phase Training Phase Final implementation Phase Conclusion Importance of nursing informatics Benefits of nursing informatics Impact to information management Increased nursing satisfaction Continued evolution of the field Future direction and precaution for organizations End benefit to patients Current Trends and the Future of Nursing Informatics Nursing informatics is a specialized area of healthcare information technology (HIT) that involves the design, testing, implementation and training associated with technical solutions that support nursing practice (Kumar & Aldrich, 2010)
Beyond the immediate work of the nurses, consideration must also be given to needs of different departments or members of the facility. A gap analysis helps nurses determine the full scope of what technical solutions would work best and have a positive impact on the organization and patients (Lynn, 2011)
Recent Growth There are a number of events that have sparked new trends and increased investment in nursing informatics in recent years. For starters, there is a nursing shortage taking place in America (Mayer, 2009)
The end result is greater speed, efficiency and improved overall care for patients. Nursing informatics was first recognized as a specialty by the American Nursing Association in 1992 (Sensmeier, 2011)
Most projects begin with design and analysis. Head nurses or nursing informatics analysts thoroughly consider ways to improve current workflows, processes, and fill service delivery gaps (Thacker, 2010)
Furthermore, such systems have the ability of being linked into other systems in other healthcare networks and providing more information than was ever previously available. Who Benefits From Nursing Informatics? Substantial evidence links the use of information technology with improvements in patient safety, care quality, access, and efficiency (Fetter, 2009, p
Technological Improvements Most of the new technology enhancing the profession pertains to information handling. This includes technology to collect data, analyze the data, and then present the data as information or knowledge (Gugerty & Delaney, 2009, p
As conditions arise, elders may become less active, increasing risk of pressure ulcers. Standardized pressure ulcer risk assessment and guidelines are usually in paper format, do not describe sufficiency among all patients, and cause difficulty for nurses at the point of care in delivery of care in a timely manner (Choi, Feb 2013)
In the meantime, the nurse informaticist is equipped to enable better quality of care and patient safety by implementing how information gets processed and delivered. Another important area of the technology includes alerts in the EHR to providers when things fall outside of the norm (McCool, Summer 2013)
Nursing informatics has been defined as, "a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice" (Shuler, 2011). The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a conceptual model used in project management that describes the stages involved in the information system development, from a feasibility study to the maintenance of the completed system (Rouse, 2009)