Other Details
Serobatse (2013) states that digitization of business activity in a healthcare institution does not impact performance. However, digitization of clinical activity negatively affects performance particular if it improperly or is partially implemented. In order to have a significant impact, an HIS (Healthcare Information System) must be widely implemented (Serobatse, 2013). In nursing practice, EHR (Electronic Health Care) becomes even more significant because patient information is obtained from EHR (Kelly, 2011). Nurses document patient information and use their knowledge and skills to chart out treatment, intervention, and evaluation plans (Alfaro-LeFevre, 2009). Implementation of HITECH Act has put pressure on hospitals to implement HIT in order to receive financial incentives.
The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is implemented in four stages namely conception, design, development and implementation. It is important to involve nurses who provide the primary care to patients, at each stage in the implementation of HIT in order to facilitate a smooth transition from the manual system to the electronic one (Hunt, Sproat, & Kitzmiller, 2004). User involvement is critical in any IT system (The Standish Group, 1995) because the end users alone can define the requirements. Karen Fuller critical care nurse at CSC Health Delivery Group states that training should focus not only on acquiring new skills but also on new ways of thinking. Nurses should understand that the change is not about technology but about providing better care. Physicians often prefer to learn from their nurses rather than at training sessions. Brian Yeaman, Chief Medical Information Officer M.D., Norman (Okla) says that well trained nurses provide a trainer at every corner (Page, 2011). When nursing staff is involved in the decision making process their performance improves greatly (Hill et al., 2010). The CNO pioneers the involvement of the entire nursing staff in the adoption of technology (Hill et al., 2010).
Where the nurses are not involved in the development or decision-making process, adoption of technology is not wholehearted because its importance is not fully understood (Serobatse, 2013). Not involving nurses in the implementation of HIT may result in errors in decision since IT professionals are not aware of the requirements of patient care.
References
Serobatse, M. D. (2013). The Challenge of Implementing Health Information Systems -, (March). Retrieved from https://ir1.sun.ac.za/bitstream/handle//serobatse_challenge_2013.pdf?..
Alfaro-LeFevre, R. (2009). Critical thinking and clinical
Hunt, E. C., Sproat, S. B., & Kitzmiller, R. R. (2004). The nursing informatics implementation guide. New York: Springer.
judgment. St. Louis, MO: Saunders.
Kelley, T. F., Brandon, D. H., Docherty, S. L., & Ac-pc, C. (2011). Electronic Nursing Documentation as a Strategy to Improve Quality of Patient Care, 154–162. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1547-5069.2011.01397.x
Page, D. (2011). Turning nurses into health IT superusers. Hospitals & Health networks/AHA. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21591563
The Standish Group. (1995). The Standish group report. Retrieved October 28, 2008, from: www.cs.nmt.edu/~cs328/reading/Standish.pdf
