NUR 313 - Nursing Informatics Chapter 1 PDF

NUR 313 - Nursing Informatics CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO NURSING INFORMATICS Introduction We “are in the digital age. What does this mean to us as nurses? The convergence of the telecommunications and computer industry has seen a pervasive increase in how we communicate and process informati...

NUR 313 - Nursing Informatics CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO NURSING INFORMATICS Introduction We “are in the digital age. What does this mean to us as nurses? The convergence of the telecommunications and computer industry has seen a pervasive increase in how we communicate and process information. Integrated systems support evidence-based nursing practice, facilitate nurses’ participation in the health care team, and document nurses’ contribution to patient care outcomes. Nurses are major stakeholders in health care and based on their knowledge, they translate data to information, information to knowledge and knowledge to wisdom. For greater achievement in nursing practice, nurses need to desire and adopt innovative means to make their contribution to the patient care process and patient outcome visible. Hence, Nursing Informatics (NI) will bring nursing contributions to health outcomes” visible Learning Outcome It contains the list of competencies that students should acquire during the learning process. define and describe nursing informatics, information science, and information system discuss the historical antecedents of nursing informatics. define the key concepts in nursing informatics describe information science discuss the purpose of nursing informatics. Learning Content Topics for Unit 1: Introduction to Information Systems Topic 1.1: Introduction Nursing informatics is a specialized field within nursing that integrates nursing science with information and analytical sciences to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice. Established as a distinct specialty over the past 25 years, nursing informatics aims to support decision-making processes for nurses, patients, consumers, inter-professional healthcare teams, and other stakeholders. This support is provided across various roles and settings within the healthcare environment, helping to achieve desired health outcomes. The evolution of nursing informatics reflects the growing importance of technology in healthcare, ensuring that data-driven insights enhance patient care and improve healthcare systems' efficiency. By bridging the gap between clinical practice and NUR 313 - Nursing Informatics information technology, nursing informatics empowers healthcare professionals to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care. Topic 1.2: Information Science Information science is a multidisciplinary field that focuses on the effective collection, storage, retrieval, and use of information. It deals with recordable information and knowledge, alongside the technologies and services that facilitate their management and utilization. This discipline draws from various fields such as computer science, cognitive science, social science, communication science, and library science to handle activities including obtaining, organizing, manipulating, managing, storing, retrieving, recapturing, disposing of, distributing, or broadcasting information. Essentially, information science can be viewed as the study of information systems, which originated as a sub-discipline of computer science. The primary goal was to understand and streamline the management of technology within organizations. Over time, it has evolved into a prominent field of management research, expanding its focus to encompass human-computer interaction, interfacing, and the interplay between people, information systems, and corporations. This field has become critical as organizations recognize the importance of information and knowledge as powerful resources that must be developed and refined to meet their needs. Consequently, information science is taught at major universities and business schools worldwide, reflecting its growing significance in both academic and professional contexts. In the mid-1980s, Blum (1986) introduced a framework for understanding clinical information systems and their impact on healthcare by categorizing these systems based on the types of objects they processed: data, information, and knowledge. This framework laid the groundwork for the development and evaluation of clinical information systems, highlighting the importance of distinguishing between these three types of objects to enhance the effectiveness of information management in healthcare settings. NUR 313 - Nursing Informatics Thus, information “science is the study of information systems, the application and usage of knowledge focuses on why and how technology can be put to best use to serve the information flow within the” organization. Topic 1.2: Nursing Informatics The term "nursing informatics" first appeared in the literature in the 1980s, defined as a combination of nursing, information, and computer sciences aimed at managing and processing data into knowledge for nursing practice (Murphy, 2010). By 1994, the American Nurses Association (ANA) began formulating a statement to define the scope of nursing informatics, recognizing its growing importance within the nursing profession (Baker, 2012). Over time, the definition of nursing informatics has evolved and been refined. The ANA's 2008 definition describes nursing informatics as "a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice". This comprehensive definition highlights the interdisciplinary nature of nursing informatics, emphasizing its role in transforming raw data into meaningful information that can be used to improve nursing care and outcomes. Another definition comes from the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), which states, "Nursing Informatics science and practice integrates nursing, its information and knowledge, and their management, with information and communication technologies to promote the health of people, families, and communities worldwide" (2009). This definition underlines the global perspective of nursing informatics and its potential to enhance health outcomes on a broad scale. Nursing Informatics (NI) is thus recognized as a specialty that brings together nursing science, computer science, and information science. It focuses on managing and communicating data, information, knowledge, and wisdom to support the decision-making process for consumers, patients, nurses, and other healthcare providers across various roles and settings. This support is achieved through the use of information structures, information processes, and information technology. By integrating these elements, nursing informatics helps ensure that healthcare practices are informed, efficient, and effective, ultimately leading to better patient care and health outcomes. Staggers and Thompson (2002) argued that the field of nursing informatics (NI) was hampered by the existence of too many varied definitions, leading to the specialty’s expansion without a solid conceptual foundation. They believed that this lack of consistency made it challenging to establish a robust informatics practice or to develop the necessary educational framework for this specialty. To address these concerns, NUR 313 - Nursing Informatics Staggers and Thompson conducted a critical analysis of the existing definitions of nursing informatics, aiming to create a more unified and comprehensive definition. Their analysis led to the development of a new definition of nursing informatics, intended to provide the foundational clarity needed to support both the practice and education of this field. Unfortunately, the specific new definition proposed by Staggers and Thompson is not provided here, but it would typically incorporate the key elements identified in their critical analysis to establish a clearer and more consistent understanding of nursing informatics. If you have access to the exact wording of their definition, it would be helpful to include it for completeness. The goal of nursing informatics (NI) is to enhance the health of populations, communities, families, and individuals by optimizing the management and communication of information. This optimization involves designing and utilizing informatics solutions and technology to support all areas of nursing practice. These areas include, but are not limited to: Direct Provision of Care: Using technology and information management to support nurses in delivering safe, efficient, and effective care to patients. Administrative Systems: Developing systems that streamline administrative processes, improve workflow, and ensure efficient management of nursing resources. Decision Support Systems: Creating systems that provide healthcare professionals with data-driven insights to make informed clinical decisions. Educational Experiences: Designing and managing technology-enhanced learning environments for nursing education and training. Lifelong Learning: Supporting continuous professional development and lifelong learning for nurses through the use of informatics tools. Nursing Research: Facilitating nursing research by managing data and information, enabling the generation of new knowledge, and improving evidence- based practice. In this context, the term "individuals" refers to patients, healthcare consumers, and any other recipients of nursing care or informatics solutions. Meanwhile, the term "patient" is used to describe consumers in both wellness and illness models, emphasizing the role of nursing informatics in supporting health across a continuum of care, from promoting well-being to managing complex health conditions. By focusing on these diverse applications, nursing informatics aims to enhance the quality of healthcare delivery, improve patient outcomes, and contribute to the advancement of nursing practice and research. NUR 313 - Nursing Informatics The definition and goal of nursing informatics (NI) are grounded in the foundational work by Staggers and Thompson (2002) and have evolved to incorporate the concept of wisdom. This aligns the current definition closely with the 2001 Scope and Standards document. NI is recognized as a specialized informatics practice within the broader field of health informatics and has been well established in nursing since its designation as a specialty for registered nurses by the American Nurses Association (ANA) in 1992. Nursing informatics focuses on the representation and management of nursing data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. The inclusion of wisdom is a significant evolution of the field, highlighting the capacity to apply knowledge and experience to make sound clinical decisions and improve patient outcomes. This conceptual framework draws on the earlier work of Graves and Corcoran (1989), who emphasized data, information, and knowledge, as well as the contributions of Nelson (1989, 2002), who introduced the concept of wisdom in the context of nursing informatics. NI also emphasizes the effective management and communication of nursing information within the larger framework of health informatics. By doing so, it supports the broader goal of improving healthcare delivery and outcomes. Nursing informatics integrates nursing science with information and communication technologies to promote the health of individuals and communities, bridging the gap between clinical practice and the technological innovations that enhance healthcare. Topic 1.3: Why nursing informatics? (1) provides “a nursing perspective (2) illuminates nursing values and beliefs (3) denotes a practice base for nurses in health informatics (4) produces unique knowledge (5) distinguishes groups of practitioners, (6) focuses on the phenomena of interest for nursing, and (7) provides needed nursing language and word context (Brennan, 2003) to health informatics. NUR 313 - Nursing Informatics Activity 1 1. Group your self into 3 to 4 people. Example Scenarios: Scenario 1: A hospital is facing issues with medication errors due to poor communication between departments. Scenario 2: A clinic wants to improve patient follow-up care and reduce readmission rates. Scenario 3: A nursing team is struggling to manage and analyze patient data to identify trends and improve care quality. 2. On the real-world scenarios see how nursing informatics can be applied to support decision-making in healthcare. 3. Identify how nursing informatics could be applied to address the challenges presented in their scenario. You should consider What types of data and information are relevant? How can technology or information systems be used to manage this data? What are the potential benefits of using nursing informatics in this scenario? Who are the stakeholders involved, and how would they benefit from nursing informatics? 4. Create video presentation on your scenario and proposed solutions, reflection answering the following questions What new insights did you gain about nursing informatics? How do you see nursing informatics impacting your own practice or future career? What challenges do you think healthcare facilities face when implementing nursing informatics? NUR 313 - Nursing Informatics References: American “Nurses Association (ANA). (2008). Nursing informatics: Scope and standards of practice. Silver Spring, MD: Nursebooks.org. Baker, J. (2012). Nursing informatics. Perioperative Nursing Clinics, 7, 151-160. Kaminski, J. (Fall, 2010). Theory applied to informatics – Novice to Expert. CJNI: Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics, 5 (4), Editorial. http://cjni.net/journal/?p=967 McGonigle D., & Mastrian K (2009). Nursing Informatics and the foundation of knowledge USA: Delma” Publishers.