NURS 6051 Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists 

NURS 6051 Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists 

NURS 6051 Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists 

How Nurse Informaticists or Data/ Technology Specialists Interact with Other Professionals in the Healthcare Organization

            For the purposes of this paper, the technology or data specialist in this case will be referred to as the nurse informaticist. Any interaction between the nurse informaticist and the other professionals in the healthcare organization cannot be talked about if the role of the former has not been defined. The nurse informaticist is a relatively recent role for the advanced practice nurse and involves responsibility for all technological applications used in healthcare.

            The informaticist professional is responsible for the seamless capturing of patient data, adherence to and enforcement of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), access to the technological systems and installation or upgrading of any of the systems such as the electronic health record or EHR system (Alotaibi & Federico, 2017; McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). Since the use of technology to capture patient data is already mandated by law, this means that the nurse informaticist must literally communicate with all the other healthcare professionals in the organization.

Continuous Education (CE)

            Being the healthcare professional with both the technological and medical knowledge, the nurse informaticist is a valuable resources person who regularly gives presentations to staff on how systems are to be used. She teaches the applicability of the systems and their benefits to patients, staff, and the organization. This is one way in which she interacts with the other healthcare professionals in the organization.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

            As she is the custodian of all the technological systems used in the healthcare organization, she is also the person responsible for designing and disseminating the standard operating procedures or SOPs to be used by all staff when accessing the technology systems. This means that she will also have to interact with the other staff through tools such as internal emails or memos.  

Giving Individual Access or Passwords

            The nurse informaticist is the gatekeeper of all technological systems within the healthcare organization. These include principally the certified electronic health record technology or CEHRT system as well as the clinical decision support or CDS system. For any individual employee in the organization to have access to the system (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dieticians, and so on), they must be given a unique password by the nurse informaticist. She will therefore also interact with them individually at this level.

Troubleshooting

            As the other healthcare professionals utilize the system functionalities such as the CPOE (computerized provider order entry), PDMS (patient data management system), BCMA (bar code medication administration), and eMAR (electronic medication administration record); they will encounter challenges here and there. The only resource person that they will consult first for troubleshooting will be the nurse informaticist. This is therefore yet another way in which she interacts with the other healthcare professionals.

New Technology Applications or Improvements (Project Management) 

            Last but not least, the nurse informaticist is responsible for any new project involving installation of a new system or upgrading of an existing one. This essentially makes them the project manager (Sipes, 2016). They will thus interact with the other healthcare professionals by informing them of the impending change and also educating them of the need for the same.

NURS 6051 Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists 
NURS 6051 Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists 

Future Outlook

            One strategy for improving the above interactions is to strengthen the technology units taught in the basic courses for all healthcare professionals. This will enable them to see the nurse informaticist as a valuable resource and not as a nuisance. The continued evolution of nursing informatics will impact professional interactions in that data will play a very crucial role (Wang et al., 2018). The medium of communication will henceforth be electronic data.          

References

Alotaibi, Y., & Federico, F. (2017). The impact of health information technology on patient safety. Saudi Medical Journal, 38(12), 1173–1180. https://doi.org/10.15537/smj.2017.12.20631

Links to an external site.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K.G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge, 4th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Sipes, C. (2016). Project management: Essential skill of nurse informaticists. Nursing Informatics, 252-256. https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-658-3-252

Links to an external site.

Wang, Y., Kung, L., & Byrd, T.A. (2018). Big data analytics: Understanding its capabilities and potential benefits for healthcare organizations. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 126(1), 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2015.12.019

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Although most nursing informatics work is done behind the scenes, it has a profound effect on many facets of our industry and daily lives. Healthcare data and information is collected and analyzed by nursing informaticists (NI) to monitor the effects of healthcare treatments. According to research (Threw, 2016). At work, I make regular use of NI for incident report tracking. The system keeps tabs on incidents like these, as well as those involving patient-to-staff and patient-to-patient violence. They monitor the frequency with which these events occur in order to determine which preventative measures are effective and which are not. 

Incorrect medicine delivery is only one example of the kinds of medical mistakes that may be reduced because to NI’s efforts to enhance the healthcare system. It was NI who spearheaded the effort to improve our hospital’s medicine delivery procedures from the ground up (McGonigle & Mastrian et al., 2017). A patient’s wristband, patient record, and medicine label must all match before we may give them a dose of medication. 

Our relationships with NI might be enhanced if we had a more direct channel for reporting problems with the EHR (EHR). While Point Click Care is a fantastic EHR, it does have a lot of nitpicky flaws that we’ve had to work around. Both myself and many of my coworkers find this very irritating. If we could more easily get in touch with the people in charge of our EHR, we could share our discoveries (and our disappointments) and work together to develop solutions. 

In my opinion, the significance of NI expertise will increase in the next years. The field of NI has a lot of space to expand thanks to the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and remote monitoring tools like fall detection gadgets and remote blood sugar monitors. This emphasizes the significance of having clear lines of communication between the frontline healthcare staff and the team responsible for the EHR’s development and the NI division.

References

Kassam, I., Nagle, L., & Strudwick, G. (2017). Informatics competencies for nurse leaders: 

protocol for a scoping review. BMJ open, 7(12), e018855. 

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018855

Links to an external site.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2022). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning

Threw, J. (2016, April 19). Big Data Means Big Potential, Challenges for Nurse Execs. Health Leaders.Retrieved from https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/nursing/big-data-means-big-potential-challenges-nurse-execs

Thank you for sharing your experience with nursing informatics in your workplace for incident report tracking. Error prevention is of interest to healthcare staff as well as one of the main goals mentioned by the Institute of Medicine. Arguably error prevention can be reached by medical informatics (Duff et al, 2005). Incident reports and software can provide detailed records of events that do not meet best practice standards and can be used for efforts to improve patient care. The evolution of nursing informatics is important as “informatics will continue to support the need to apply the information and technology garnered from experience to advancing developments” (McGonigle and Mastrian, 2022, p. 612).

 I’m curious what system is your healthcare organization using? At my previous workplace, they used a software performance platform called, Midas Healthcare Analytics solutions reporting system. This system is designed to collect data, guide users to draw insight, and offer solutions. From the data gathered in this software program, medical providers have assistance in the management of healthcare operations (Company: Conduent, 2022). An opportunity for the skills of nursing informatics would be essential in reviewing data and integrating findings in collaboration with nursing quality and leadership. This is only one example of an avenue that meets the significant demand for nurse informatics expertise and their abilities to teach and integrate these technologies to aid staff and improve patient care and experience. As the field of informatics develops perhaps the view of technology being an asset will become helpful and less disruptive. The irritations you describe are barriers that take away from the caring presence (McGonigle and Mastrian, 2022) I like your solution of advocacy in speaking up in collaborative efforts to make technology a tool and not a burden or distraction. Well done.   

References:

Company: Conduent. (n.d.). Midas Health Analytics Solutions. Slashdot. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://slashdot.org/software/p/Midas-Health-Analytics-Solutions/

Le Duff, F., Daniel, S., Kamendjé, B., Le Beux, P., & Duvauferrier, R. (2005). Monitoring incident report in the healthcare process to improve quality in hospitals. International Journal of Medical Informatics74(2-4), 111-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2004.06.007

Nursing Informatics (NI) plays a critical role in creating protocols to ensure efficient communication and interactions between departments, teams, individual and patients. At my facility, we also had challenges in reaching the NI about nursing related problems on the electric health record (EHR). The nurse leaders would consistently recommend leaving a message for NI and frequently the messages left would not be addressed in a timely manner. As a result, the NI incorporated a new technology called Tigerconnect to address this problem through smartphone technology which will improve the communication between the IT, NI and other healthcare professionals (Brooks, 2018, p. 1). This technology has made it easier to get in touch with the NI or technology specialist (TS) about EHR challenges. At my facility, NI collect data associated with bar-code medication administration. Barcode medication administration (BCMA) systems have reduced medication errors significantly and when this process is bypassed, it will flag the NI and nurse leader (NL) for evaluation (Staggers et al., 2015, p. 899). The nurse will be notified by the manager or NI about the reason for skipping the barcode scan. NI are very active in monitoring barcode administration data and providing employee training on the use of BCMA.

References: 

Staggers, N., Iribarren, S., Guo, J. W., & Weir, C. (2015). Evaluation of a BCMA’s Electronic Medication Administration Record. Western Journal of Nursing Research37(7), 899–921. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945914566641

Brooks. (2018). Creating an integrated healthcare ecosystem through mobile communication technology. Tigerconnect72(8), 1–6. https://eds.s.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=f65c20f8-6c76-425b-baf1-9c1b6592f5d1%40redis&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNoaWImc2l0ZT1lZHMtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth&AN=131084815

Informatics specialists typically perform work involving the technical or computer-related aspects of health care services. In an executive capacity, these nurses might make decisions that affect the way an entire organization manages patient information. Nursing informatics professionals may specialize in one of several areas. Informatics research nurses commonly work at universities, private medical firms, and private health organizations. Nursing informaticists create and maintain digital information that consumers can access using the Internet (Ahmad et al., 2018). Public health informatics specialists collect and analyze electronic health records (EHRs) and other data for use by consumers, medical professionals, and public health officials. Informatics specialists manipulate data that spans many health disciplines to improve community wellness and keep care providers up to date with timely population health statistics.

References

Ahmad, M. M., Musallam, R., & Allah, A. H. (2018). Nurses and internet health-related information: review on access and utility. Clujul medical (1957)91(3), 266–273. https://doi.org/10.15386/cjmed-1024

 It is true that many people may struggle to understand the importance of nursing informatics since most activities are done behind the scenes. However, in the modern nursing practice, nursing informatics is important in informing and guiding critical clinical decisions. Healthcare data and information is collected and analyzed by nursing informaticists (NI) to monitor the effects of healthcare treatments (Shin et al., 2018). NI is also helpful in incident report tracking. As healthcare organizations seek to improve their performance, they are implementing NI in their practice. Successful utilization of nursing informatics in healthcare environment reduces incorrect medicine delivery (Forman et al., 2020). NI is prioritized in enhancing the healthcare system. Therefore, healthcare workers and providers have expressed their interest towards nursing informatics. It was NI that spearheaded the effort to improve hospital’s medicine delivery procedures from the ground up.  The idea of nursing informatics is expected to influence the future of nursing due to the incorporation of digital technologies.

References

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 Perspectives41(1), E3-E7. doi: 10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000000588

Shin, E. H., Cummings, E., & Ford, K. (2018). A qualitative study of new graduates’ readiness to use nursing informatics in acute care settings: Clinical nurse educa