Information Systems in Nursing Essay

Information Systems in Nursing

Heart Failure Clinic Resourcing Plan Sample Essay

Clinical Information Systems represents computer-based systems that are designed for storing, manipulating, collecting, and simplifying the accessibility of clinical information relevant for the delivery of quality care (Campbell, 2013). As a result, nurse informaticists are playing an imperative responsibility in the integration of several clinical applications, including nursing/clinical documentation and clinical information systems, EMR CPOE, and EHRs (Campbell, 2013). The success of clinical processes depends on the quality of information management. Therefore, the management must support quality and improved systems for storing and maintaining patients’ information. This will increase the speed and quality of decision making within the organization.  This paper focuses on Electronic Health Record (EHR), which is an important tool that improves the quality of the nursing care. This system enables the healthcare providers to access the patients’ information in an orderly and timely fashion. The information is updated on regular basis hence improving the reliability of the EHR system.

How an Information System Used in Nursing Contributes to Evidence-Based Nursing Practices

Evidence-based nursing is the process through which the nurses and other medical practitioners make decisions and provide quality healthcare according to their professional qualifications and in line with the latest and most relevant research about a particular topic. Informatics Systems in nursing is becoming embraced given the diversity and complexity of the activities surrounding nursing profession. Evidence-based practice depends on judicious use of current appealing evidence along with patient values with the aim of achieving quality healthcare decisions. Liamputtong (2013) determines that there is an increasing rate of the level of activities ranging from Health Informatics World, also known as e-prescribing to biomedical patterns (Liamputtong, 2013).  Electronic Health Record (EHR) is an important tool that facilitates basic nursing operations such as patient charting, care plan and nursing assessments, staff scheduling, clinical data integration, and keeping track of patients’ data over time. With the integration of nursing information systems, these nursing activities become electronic and hence easier to handle. For instance, when there is electronic record system, retrieval and handling become much convenient. The 2008 Health Policy Conference by American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) was all intended to provide ways in which informatics provides Evidence Based Nursing within the workplace (Liamputtong, 2013).

The conference gave attention to issues such providing necessary information at the right time and for the desired purpose. Many discoveries and other critical information obtained from the patient goes to the records through electronic means for safe storage. Recording individual’s information makes it possible to prescribe future diagnosis and treatment patterns for each patient depending on the past records. Stair and Reynolds (2013) identified that the efforts to provide greater patient involvement both in planning and their personal care require solutions that support the records kept for each patient (Stair and Reynolds, 2013). The trend allows the professionals to access the patient information easily when and where it is needed.

 Nursing information systems provide a solid base for critical nursing decisions, which aims to provide patients with quality healthcare.  The nurses can formulate strategic decision basing the stored records in administering quality healthcare to the patient. In addition, storing the information in various electronic devices promotes online access and sharing of data regarding the patients’ care plan, diagnosis, and treatment across the health care system (Stair and Reynolds, 2013). It means that the nurses have the opportunity to keep updated drug administration processes and promotes care planning because patients’ data can be easily viewed retrieved, and analyzed. 

How a Nurse Researcher Uses Information Technology to Define Patient Safety

Most people believe that information technology promotes better healthcare through security of the patients’ information and records, lowering cost of operation, and sharing of data. However, there is also a countering belief that information technology may bring errors in the course of providing nursing activities and this is particularly prevalent during conducting nursing research. Blum, (2013) records that millions of healthcare providers uses more than five thousand types of computer-based medical tools daily to promote quality care delivery (Blum, 2013). Throughout the entire nursing processes including research, a nurse researcher must put some measures in place to guarantee patient safety especially on the context of outcomes. Nurses must prove that the technologies they use offer ways for preventing errors such as miscommunications, adverse events, and medication errors. Despite the debate that surrounds the effectiveness of technology, it stands out that technology is usually designed to shield the consequences caused by errors. In this case, the technology can be said to provide a successful breakthrough in eliminating errors, mitigating effects of errors, detecting early mistakes and so on.

The foundation of patient safety and quality improvement needs to focus on system factors other than individuals. The nurses can create safety for the patients through maintaining understanding and promoting accountability for all healthcare complexities, healthcare processes, and patient needs. It is also important for the nurses to serve the patients according to their priorities. Examples of such priorities include the patient’s religious beliefs, social and physical preferences. The patients must receive satisfaction from the kind of healthcare they receive and from the nurses and tools nurses use for treatment. For example, when collecting information from the patient, they express their confidence in the devices they use. In this case, a nurse researcher must go for tools that are user-friendly. In addition to that, the nurse can take a step of educating the patients about safety requirements. Blum, (2013) states that one of the best ways to improve patient safety is to locate the best nursing plan and be able to modify the strategy according to needs (Blum, 2013).

How nurse leaders and nurse informaticists use technology and evidence-based practice to contribute to improved patient outcomes

Technology is a critical tool in the modern world that enables nurse informaticists and nurse leadersto cope with the complexities which show up in various areas of their work. With the use of advanced clinical information systems, provision and documentation of work becomes easier, and the degree of accuracy increases significantly (Stair & Reynolds, 2013). Technology is often preferred to human qualities since it allows services such as multitasking, retrieving complex information quickly and comparing information with related databases and even making real-time adjustments where possible. Both technology and Evidence-Based Practice can be used to improve patient outcomes in various approaches. One way is through patient care evaluation where the progress of patient’s health pattern is monitored through electronic means to enable making of future diagnosis and treatment decisions. The nurse leaders can also use data retrieved from electronic medical record to create care plans and conduct nursing evaluations and assessments. Discharging patients from the hospital is a critical decision that may depend on the medical history of the patient to determine timely discharging. 

Integrating patient values, best research evidence, and clinical expertise into the decision making process is important in offering optimum patient care. To improve patient outcomes, the nurses rely on the digital information stored in an electronic health record to identity and prescribe the most favorable diagnosis and treatment processes. It becomes both natural and of higher quality when nurses retrieve patient’s health history from the records hence probable that a patient is likely to receive improved care. Through technology and EBP, the nurse leaders and nurse informaticists determine and analyze the patient’s healthcare needs. The integration of electronic information systems assists the care providers to transfer and share patients’ information regarding medications, diagnoses, family medical histories, immunizations, and provider contact information with various departments and organizations. However, the digital information remains secure and confidential.

Heart Failure Clinic Resourcing Plan Essay