Nursing Informatics Applications Quiz

Applying Nursing Informatics

• Nursing informatics is applied to nursing administration, research, practice, and education.
• These four areas relate to provide evidence-based practice.

Intended Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the unit, students will be able to explain the nursing informatics application to nursing administration, research, practice, and education.

Introduction to Nursing Informatics Applications

• User Liaison: Nurses in this role install computer systems and interact with vendors & healthcare institutions.
• Product Manager: Nurses update current products, and keep up with new developments in the field. They create applications like decision support, staffing, scheduling systems.
• Clinical Systems Installer: Nurses work with vendors to install computer systems, train users, and act as a liaison between healthcare institutions and vendors.
• Systems Analyst/Programmer: These nurses analyze and maintain the information systems department.
• Other Nursing Informatics Roles:
  • Chief Information Officer
  • Nursing Informatics Consultant
  • Network Administrator
  • Data Repository Specialist
  • Nursing Informatics Project Manager
  • Nursing Informatics Educator
  • Clinical Information Liaison

Nursing Clinical Practice

• Informatics changed practice through documentation.
• Paper charts were replaced by electronic health records which allow for up-to-date and accessible patient medical history.
• Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society noted that electronic charting improves efficiency and daily workflow.
• Electronic records provide access to all care team members.
• Mobile populations benefit from easily accessible medical records that follow them throughout their care.
• Tracking staffing, workflow, and communication allows nurses to improve processes and ensure adequate staffing levels.

The application of informatics to clinical practice

• Work lists for planned interventions.
• Electronic medical records and computerized patient records.
• Monitoring devices for vital signs and other measurements, directly into client records.
• Computer generated nursing care plans and critical pathways.
• Automatic billing for supplies and procedures with nursing documentation.
• Reminders and prompts for comprehensive charting during documentation.

Nursing Administration

• Nursing administration is a broad term encompassing leadership practices for nursing professionals.
• Nurse administrators/leaders design, manage, and facilitate patient care in healthcare settings.
• Nursing leadership must develop a successful vision for the nursing organization, nurture collaborative relationships, and implement the vision via staff and management.
• Nurse leaders apply analytical and problem-solving skills daily to guide and mentor unit nurses.
• Nurse administrators are responsible for large-scale policy planning, staff management, financial resource management, and business management.
• Responsibilities include coordinating and supervising healthcare delivery.

Application of informatics to nursing administration

• Automated staff scheduling
• Email for improved communication among departments.
• Cost analysis and trend identification for budget purposes.
• Quality assurance and outcome analysis.

Nursing Education

• Nursing informatics facilitates the integration of information, data, and knowledge to support nurses, patients, and other providers.

• The knowledge model supports nurses in extending practical knowledge to holistic determinations based on various factors.

• Competencies in informatics include, but are not limited to information literacy, computer literacy, ability to manage data, knowledge, and information, using computer-mediated communication skills.

• Computer-mediated communication skills are crucial for nursing success and improving patients' safety.

• The rise of telecommunication, computer-mediated communication, and virtual technologies has opened opportunities to improve communication and extend care.

• Proponents of computer technology in education believe it erases geographical boundaries for students, enhances content presentation, improves learning outcomes, and tailors instruction to individual needs.

• When matched with curricular objectives, technology serves as an efficient and affordable avenue for providing knowledge to students.

• Informatics allows for applications beyond simple word processing and spreadsheets, encompassing simulations, multimedia, virtual reality-assisted clinical scenarios, and internet tools.

Application of informatics to nursing education

• Computerized record keeping.
• Computerized assisted instruction.
• Interactive video technology (Telenursing).
• Distance learning web-based courses and degree programs.
• Teaching and presentations.

Informatics and Nursing Research

• Nursing research uses technology to support evidence-based practice.
• Clinicians must think critically about their actions and interventions.
• Research questions should investigate scientific underpinnings and use evidence-based resources instead of relying on tradition.
• Research helps nurses determine effective best practices to improve patient care.
• Nursing informatics enhances and facilitates collaboration, improving access to online libraries and critically selecting electronic and non-electronic references to consolidate and compare conclusions.
• Nursing research aims to generate knowledge to meet the healthcare system's needs, including organizations, nurses, and patients.
• Knowledge generation is vital to advancing nursing science.
• Quantitative research is based on the paradigm of logical positivism to focus on measurable outcomes using statistics. Randomised controlled trials are a leading research method.
• Qualitative research examines the lived experience of individuals receiving or delivering nursing care. Methods include interviews, case studies, focus groups, and ethnography.
• Computerized literature searching, evidence-based practice retrieval, adoption of standardized language, trends in aggregate data, and use of internet knowledge bases.