Health Informatics Course NUR 351 - Lesson 1

Lesson 1: Introduction of Health Informatics and Its Importance

• The course is Health Informatics Course NUR 351
• The instructor is Dr. Sally M. Farghaly
• Objectives for the lesson include defining health informatics related concepts, determining the Nursing Informatics Framework, recognizing the application of health informatics in nursing, identifying the benefits of health informatics in nursing, and determining the role of nurse informatics according to the ANA.

Introduction to Health Informatics

• Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid while human beings are incredibly slow, inaccurate, and brilliant.
• Together, they are powerful beyond imagination.
• Over the past four decades, informatics has become a focus of research and theory development.
• The goal is to address both the visible and hidden aspects of informatics in nursing.

Informatics - A Combined Science

• Informatics combines domain science, information science, computer science, and cognitive science.
• It's an application of computer science and information science for managing and processing data, information, and knowledge in a given field.

Nursing Informatics Defined

• Nursing informatics integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science.
• It is to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice.

Nursing Informatics

• Supports consumers, patients, nurses, and other providers in their decision-making across all roles and settings.
• This support is provided through information structures, information processes, and information technology.

Health Informatics

• The use of information technology (software) in combination with information management methods supports healthcare delivery.
• It's an umbrella term encompassing medical, nursing, dental, and pharmacy informatics, among others.

Healthcare Information System (HIS)

• A HIS is a system designed for holding and updating patient-related information, both clinically and administratively.
• It manages information from various sources, including hospitals, clinics, doctors, and other health sector organizations.
• It creates, sends, receives, processes, and stores patient information from healthcare workers.
• Processing this information generates useful information to improve medical service quality and effectiveness.
• The management of HIS involves cataloging, maintaining, transmitting, and comparing large amounts of data and information.
• HIS requires effective storing and efficient retrieval of electronic medical records.

Nursing Informatics Conceptual Framework

• Data: A single observation or discrete entity described objectively, including a value assigned to a variable.
• Information: Organized and interpreted data, reflecting interpretation, organization, or structuring of data. Information is the result of processing data. Example: A child's height and weight recorded on a standardized growth chart allow interpretation of whether the growth pattern is normal or abnormal.
• Knowledge: The synthesis of information from diverse sources to form a single concept or idea. Knowledge provides a foundation for logical decision-making.
• Wisdom: Appropriate use of knowledge to manage and solve human problems, including understanding when and how to apply knowledge in complex situations.

Measures to Ensure Data Integrity

• Education of personnel collecting and entering data, system checks for accurate and complete data entry, and data verification techniques are critical measures for insuring the integrity of data maintained.

Goal of Nursing Informatics

• Nurses should understand the benefits and problems of technology and its effect on their practice.

Why Informatics is Important to Nursing

• Make nursing practice visible locally, nationally, and internationally.
• Empower nurses in influencing policy.
• Information is critical for effective decision-making and quality nursing practice.
• Increased awareness and understanding of nursing and healthcare issues.

Application of Nursing Informatics

• Practice (e.g., recording patient assessments, using computerized care plans, and automated billing)
• Administration (e.g., automated staff scheduling, communication, cost analysis, quality assurance)
• Education (e.g., using computerized record-keeping, interactive video technology, and distance learning)
• Research (e.g., using statistical software)

Benefits of Nursing Informatics

• Improve access to medical records
• Decrease data redundancy and time spent on documentation
• Facilitate data collection for research
• Improve communication among healthcare providers
• Improve patient outcomes through aggregated data
• Make storage and retrieval of health records faster

Explore the foundational concepts of health informatics in this introductory lesson for NUR 351. Learn about its significance in nursing, the Nursing Informatics Framework, and the benefits of implementing informatics in healthcare settings. Additionally, understand the role of nurse informatics as per the ANA guidelines.