Importance of Nursing Informatics in Healthcare
Introduction
One of the key factors for effective decision-making for nurses and other healthcare practitioners is information. It is also integral to the quality improvement of the practice of nursing. In most of the activities of nurses such as from assessing the health care needs of patients up to the developing of health care plans, information acquisition and evaluation is required. Information is also involved in the communication patients regarding the information to and from the other health care practitioners (Canadian Nurses Association np). Lastly, information is also involved in the analysis of the staff’s work as well as the budget reports. In general, the workplace of nurses and other healthcare practitioners involved intensive information use.
In the modern times, technology has played an important role in the nursing education and nursing practice in general. One of the main reasons why technology is a factor for the modern nursing practice is that the health care system is becoming more dynamic. Advances in information technology also helped in improving the nursing practice. One of the main influences of the advances in information technology on the nursing practice is the creation of new role for the health care practitioners (Lee np). This new role is also referred to as nursing informatics. However, the nurses should also integrate the competencies of the nursing informatics into their practice in order to acquire the full potential of the concept.
Nursing informatics could provide large scale of benefits for the nursing practice as well as for the health care as a whole. The objective of this research paper is to evaluate the importance of nursing informatics in healthcare.
Advances in information technology have improved some of the important institutions in the society including health care systems. Some of the information technologies which provided a great help in the nursing sector is the computers and software. Over the last 25 years, the advances in information technology have created numerous opportunities and ways for nurses to become aware about the current information which is used by most of the health care practitioners in the modern times (Canadian Nurses Association np). This information could be used for the decision-making regarding several nursing activities. The advances in information technology also help the nursing sector in almost all aspects of the field.
Some of the results of the advancements of information technology include faster computers, internet and sophisticated software. The faster computers could help nurses and other health care practitioners to process larger amount of data and information. These data are usually processed and assessed for decision-making. The sophisticated software could also help in assisting the nurses and the other health care practitioners in transforming the data into useful information. The internet could also help the nurses and the other health care practitioners for more powerful communication. It could enable them to secure that the information which they used are transmitted to the other health service organizations and other health care professionals.
Another impact of the advances in the information technology on the nursing practice is the faster efforts for implementation of the information systems (Darvish & Bahramnezhad 11). One of the most important information systems which are implemented in the modern times is the electronic health record (EHR). The EHR is referred to as the collection of the communications of the patients and the health care practitioners which are in the form of electronic data. The EHR is used to improve the decision-making of the nurses or the health care practitioners. The EHR is always subjected to privacy, security and confidentiality legislations and guidelines in order to protect the patients as well as the health care practitioners.
What is Nursing Informatics?
Definition of Nursing Informatics
The concept of nursing informatics could be considered as a new field. In this case, it has no standard definition since the concept of nursing informatics is still being developed by experts. In 1999, the National Nursing Informatics Project (NNIP) developed an acceptable definition for nursing informatics (Canadian Nurses Association np). According to them, nursing informatics could be referred to as “the application of computer science and informatics in the field of nursing” (Canadian Nurses Association np). According to the NNIP, the nursing informatics is developed in order to promote the proper management, generation and processing of information and relevant data to develop a certain knowledge that could help the nursing practice in most ways.
The basic elements or foundation of nursing informatics includes the concept of data, information and knowledge. Information is essential for the nursing practice. Information are acquired from analysis, evaluation and processing of data. Information is also communicated and developed in order to acquire a certain size of knowledge. Data could be referred to as discrete observations which are structured and organized although it is not yet interpreted. Information could be referred to as processed data and provides meaning to the observations. On the other hand, knowledge is considered as synthesis of information which translates the common information available in the field such as in the nursing practice.
Brief History
Nurses have been using the informatics as well as the other information technologies for almost four decades. In 1984, the American Nurses associated has considered nursing informatics as one of the specialization of the field. Since then, many subfields of informatics has been added to the nursing practice such as human-computer interaction, imaging informatics, computer science, ethics, data recovery, patient care, information systems, information science, security, electronic patient records, e-nursing, telenursing, and intelligent systems (Darvish & Bahramnezhad 13). The standard definition of nursing informatics has evolved through time. In 1994, the American Nursing Association published its standards and presented the Nursing Informatics as a special subfield of nursing which integrates the field of computer science and information science to the field of nursing and health care (Canadian Nurses Association np).
Applications of Nursing Informatics
Clinical Practice
Nursing informatics could be advantageous in clinical practice or in nursing practice in many ways. The application of nursing informatics gave birth to the electronic health record (Lee np). The electronic health record could be used by nurses or other health care practitioner in recording every communication of health care practitioners and the patient. This record could be used in for the assessment of the patient and their recovery. It could also be beneficial in every aspect of patient treatment method (Canadian Nurses Association np). The electronic health record could also be used to acquire and processed other electronic information such as past intervention methods and workloads.
Health Care Education
Nursing informatics could also be used for the education of nurses and other health care practitioners. In most of the professions, advances in the information technology such as the use of internet could be used for education. The internet could provide a long distance learning and teaching of the field of nursing. Nurses could access the internet and provide nursing practice education to other health care practitioners or nurses who are also internet users. It could also be beneficial in every aspect of patient treatment method (Darvish & Bahramnezhad 13). The internet could also be used to acquire and processed other electronic information such as past intervention methods and workloads.
Health Care Administration
Another importance of nursing informatics in healthcare is its benefits in the field of nursing or healthcare administration. Health care systems or administrations could use nursing informatics in order to generated data from the large scale of populations regarding health care interventions (Canadian Nurses Association np). Then these data could be processed through the use of spread sheet software applications and generate information. This information could be synthesized in order to formulate knowledge. The nursing informatics could also be used in order to review the outcome indicators using software applications. . It could also be beneficial in every aspect of patient treatment method. The software applications could also be used to acquire and processed other electronic information such as past intervention methods and workloads.
Research and Development
In the field of nursing, researches and studies require large amounts of data which should be processed in a short period of time in order to formulate new information. With the use of nursing informatics, even the nurse-sensitive outcome measures could also be evaluated through the use of standard minimum data set. In this case, many of the studies and researches associated with nursing could be easily conducted through the use of software applications and the internet. The internet could be used in order to transfer important data or information with the group of nurses or health care practitioners. In addition, the internet could also be used in order to share studies to other groups of nurses for synthesis of information and formulation of new knowledge.
Elements in Nursing Informatics Implementation
Health Care Promotion
In order to acquire the benefits of nursing informatics in healthcare, the three key elements should be considered which are the health care promotion, advanced systems and network or internet installation (Lee np). In order to properly implement nursing informatics in most of the sectors of health care, health care system or administration should have a promotion. The promotion of health care could start at education. In this case, universities or schools offering nursing courses should improve their curriculum and add the subfields from computer science and informatics to the nursing education. Private and public sector should also work hand in hand in order to promote health care system and introduce concepts of information technology into the workplace.
Advanced Systems
The benefits or the advantages of nursing information could not be achieved without the installation of advanced systems in the workplace or in the education sector of the field of nursing. Incorporation of the advanced systems could be achieved by upgrading the systems through installation of the advanced information technologies. It could also be achieved through selecting hardware and software which could encourage the nurses in the work and make their jobs easier and less strenuous.
The use of decision-based systems could alter the decision making system of the nurses and other health care practitioners (Darvish & Bahramnezhad 11). The main reason for this alteration is that decision-based system could impair critical thinking. In order to compensate this alteration, advanced systems should be employed. Designing simple and efficient system of decision-based system could be one solution. It could only be achieved through the use of advanced system.
Network and Internet
Another key element in the implementation of the nursing informatics is the use of network and internet. The benefits or the applications of nursing informatics in the field of health care is based on continuous and fast communication between nurses and other health care practitioners. The progress and the success of the implementation of the nursing informatics in health care rely on the use of advanced information technologies such as the use of networks and the internet. In 1997, the use of the internet-based education system is implemented at Duck University (Canadian Nurses Association np). This implementation leads to the study regarding the potential advantages of the use of network and the internet in the successful use of nursing informatics in health care. The use of internet-based communication system is also a trend in the modern health care systems. Experts such as health care practitioners are looking forward to the progress of the used of advanced information technology such as the internet in order to develop the field of nursing informatics.
Common Benefits of Nursing Informatics over the Past Decade
Health Information: Nursing Terminologies
The nursing informatics has been helpful to the health care administration in many aspects. One of these aspects is the standardization of health information such as the nursing terminologies (Darvish & Bahramnezhad 11). Over the past decade, the universally and language for the definitions of some of the nursing terminologies has been developed at international level through the International Council of Nurses. This development was achieved through the use of continuous communication among nurses at the international level as well as the development of knowledge. This achievement would be difficult with the help of nursing informatics. In 1996, the International Council of Nurses has establishes the International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP). The main purpose of the ICNP is to provide a method for defining and describing key elements which could represent the clinical nursing practice. The ICNP was also developed through the use of nursing informatics.
Classification Standards for Health Interventions
The treatment method for nurses could always be altered through implementation of new ideas, concepts or knowledge. In most cases, the health care intervention methods should be the same for patients with the same conditions. Health care intervention methods are only developed by nurses or health care practitioners and learned through nursing practice. In order to standardize the health care intervention methods, nursing informatics should be used. In most of the provinces in Canada, the Canadian Classification for Health Interventions is implemented. It is established in order for the health care intervention methods to be consistent with the terminologies and concepts contained in the ICNP. This standardization method is also not possible without the help of nursing informatics. This comprehensive classification includes list of surgical, therapeutic and support interventions which could be used by nurses or other health care practitioners (Canadian Nurses Association np).
Classification Standards for Health Conditions
During the past decade, the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems is development. The nursing informatics also helped in the development or establishment of the classification standards for health conditions. In most cases, the health care organizations develop classification standards for health conditions. However, the information which is developed in order to develop this classification standards are often collected from the data which are shared by the nurses through nursing informatics. In general, nursing informatics play a key role in the development and establishment of classification standards for health condition as well as the classification standards for health intervention methods.
Through the use of nursing informatics, client or patient outcomes become easier and more accessible to other nurses or health care practitioners (Darvish & Bahramnezhad 11). Client outcomes could easily be recorded and be used as data for information generation through the electronic health record. The electronic health record is known as one of the main tool of nursing informatics (Canadian Nurses Association np). The client outcome could also be analysed in order to acquire proper knowledge for the programs of health care administration such as nursing education and patient intervention education.
Other Important Benefits of Nursing Informatics
Privacy, Confidentiality and Security of Health Information
The information technology is disrupted with issues regarding privacy, confidentiality and security of the data of the users. However, proper network management, knowledge in security implementations and proper used of advanced systems of information technology could solve these issues. This concept is also applicable to nursing informatics. Nurses and other health care practitioners who are developers of nursing informatics could be knowledgeable in securing health care systems. Using the electronic health record, the data of the patients or other clients could be safe from other people (Darvish & Bahramnezhad 11). Data which are acquired from the clients are considered confidential and it is part of the nursing ethics to protect these types of information. The use of nursing informatics could properly provide security, confidentiality and privacy for the clients through sophisticated information technology systems and applications.
Nursing Informatics for Promotion of Quality in Health Care
Another main application of nursing informatics in the health care sector is the promotion of quality health care. The nursing informatics could be used in order to develop sophisticated health care quality improvement methods through acquisition of data from various nurses and processing them into more useful information (Canadian Nurses Association np). The quality of care from nurses could be improved through the use of nursing informatics and other advanced technologies from the field of computer science and information science.
Conclusion
Nursing informatics could be referred to as “the application of computer science and informatics in the field of nursing” (Canadian Nurses Association np). According to the NNIP, the nursing informatics is developed in order to promote the proper management, generation and processing of information and relevant data to develop a certain knowledge that could help the nursing practice in most ways. Nursing informatics could provide large scale of benefits for the nursing practice as well as for the health care as a whole. Nurses have been using the informatics as well as the other information technologies for almost four decades. Nursing informatics could be advantageous in clinical practice or in nursing practice in many ways. The application of nursing informatics gave birth to the electronic health record. The electronic health record could be used by nurses or other health care practitioner in recording every communication of health care practitioners and the patient.
Works Cited:
Canadian Nurses Association. What is nursing informatics and why it is important. 2011. Web. <https://www.cna-aiic.ca/~/media/cna/page-content/pdf-en/nursinginformaticssept_2001_e.pdf?la=en>
Darvish, A., & Bahramnezhad, F. The Role of Nursing Informatics on Promoting Quality of Health Care and the Need for Appropriate Education. Global Journal of Health Science. 2014. Web. <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263773632_The_Role_of_Nursing_Informatics_on_Promoting_Quality_of_Health_Care_and_the_Need_for_Appropriate_Education>
Lee, A. The role of informatics in Nursing. 2014. Web. <http://journals.lww.com/nursingmadeincrediblyeasy/Fulltext/2014/07000/The_role_of_informatics_in_nursing.12.aspx>
