Technology level has been advancing rapidly in about the last three decades. This has allowed efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery, leading to improved productivity. Healthcare has also embraced the emergence of technology in various areas, such as medication administration, leading to improved safety and outcomes. Technology has been adopted in various healthcare organizations at different levels, whereby some facilities are currently using the most recent technologies while others have not (Jeffery, 2019). For the technologies to be utilized appropriately in healthcare, some professionals, especially in nursing, have specialized in the area to guide other healthcare staff on how to use various equipment and systems associated with technology. That is the point where nursing informatics and nurse informaticists come in. For more understanding, an evidence-based proposal has been developed covering various areas such as Nursing Informatics and the nurse informaticist, nurse informaticists, and other health care organizations, the impact of full nurse engagement in health care technology, opportunities and challenges, as well as the summary of recommendations.
Nursing Informatics and the Nurse Informaticist
Nursing Informatics
Nursing informatics is considered a nursing specialty that combines nursing practices with other aspects, such as information science and computer science. The specialty aims at enhancing the use of information systems and technology in nursing to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of patient care, nursing practices, and healthcare outcomes. As technology continues to advance, this specialty should be supported significantly to ensure that the practices performed in healthcare use contemporary technology (Jeffery, 2019). The more nursing informatics is supported, the more the technologies are introduced in healthcare and utilized appropriately, thus promoting service delivery and patient safety. Healthcare facilities with no nursing informatics specialty risk losing much data and compromising patient safety due to inaccurate and inefficient service delivery.
The Roles of the Nurse Informaticist
Nursing professionals specializing in information systems and technology are considered as nurse informaticists. These professionals are also regarded as nurse informatics practitioners or nursing informatics specialists. They usually play different roles in a healthcare setting. However, the most common ones involve providing education and training to other healthcare providers in information systems and technology, system optimization, data management and analysis, and system implementation. In terms of education and training, these professionals usually develop training materials, carry out seminars and workshops, as well as give ongoing support to other healthcare providers on how to use healthcare technology efficiently and effectively. Regarding system optimization, nurse informaticists keep evaluating information systems and optimizing their usability and functionalities for improved outcomes. Nurse informaticists usually collaborate with other healthcare providers to identify areas that require improvement, solve system issues, and promote clinical workflow efficiency (Anderson et al., 2020). Moreover, in data management, nursing informaticists usually collect data related to clinical practice and analyze and manage it to facilitate quality improvement and delivery of evidence-based services. On system implementation, these professionals usually facilitate the adoption of various technologies and information systems in healthcare facilities through software configuration, designing workflows, and integrating various technologies into clinical practice.
Nurse Informaticists and Other Health Care Organizations
The Experience of Other Health Care Organizations with Nurse Informaticists
Almost every healthcare organization has nurse informatics. However, the benefit that such organizations experience from nursing informaticists vary depending on various factors such as the level of health information technology utilization, the level of technology adoption, the resources available, and the size of the facility.
For instance, nurse informaticists have enabled various healthcare organizations to improve their clinical workflows by identifying challenging areas, developing reliable electronic documentation strategies, and adopting standardized clinical practices, leading to minimal administrative burdens and improving efficiency. This has also contributed to streamlined processes due to technology use. Nurse informaticists have also enabled various organizations to improve patient safety by adopting clinical decision-support systems. Such systems usually provide healthcare providers with evidence-based guidelines, reminders, and alerts that increase their attention to patients, thus promoting patient safety. The systems achieve this goal by supporting clinical decision-making, helping to determine the risk of adverse events occurring, and reducing medication errors, that in turn contribute to improved patient safety (Anderson et al., 2020). Nursing informaticists have also facilitated the efficiency and effectiveness of nursing practices in various healthcare organizations by educating and training other nursing professionals on using various information systems and technologies.
How Nurse Informaticists Interact with Other Nursing Staff and Interdisciplinary Team
For effective outcomes in nursing informatics, nurse informaticists have to work closely with other professionals, such as nurses, physicians, and pharmacists. Nurse informaticists interact with such professionals in different ways, such as training them on how to use technologies adopted within the nursing setting, promoting interdisciplinary communication, and facilitating change management. For instance, nurse informaticists train physicians on how to use computerized physician order entry (CPOE) during medication prescription, nursing on how to use the barcode medication administration (BCMA) system during medication administration, and pharmacists on how to use drug information database, among other different types of technologies (Anderson et al., 2020). Besides, nursing informaticists liaise with various IT departments and clinical practitioners in a healthcare setting to serve as a medium of effective communication between such interdisciplinary teams. This is because these professionals can understand the language used by IT professionals and clinical practitioners, thus facilitating communication with interdisciplinary groups.
Impact of Full Nurse Engagement in Health Care Technology
Patient Care
Fully engagement in healthcare technology through nursing informatics is much beneficial to patient care. Nurse informaticists. According to the interview conducted with a nurse informaticist, it was evident that these professionals are in a better position to understand the gaps between the current practices to improve patient care and the best practices. Through such understanding, nurse informaticists can identify the most appropriate technology and enhance its implementation to bridge the gaps, thus promoting patient care (Sensmeier & Anderson, 2021). For instance, nurse informaticists can facilitate the adoption of BCMA in a healthcare facility to address medication errors, leading to improved patient safety.
Protected Health Information
Protecting patient health information is among the most vital practices in healthcare. Nurse informaticists and other healthcare professionals can apply different evidence-based strategies to protect patient health information. For instance, nurse informaticists can facilitate the adoption of electronic health record systems (EHRs) rather than using manual documentation (Sensmeier & Anderson, 2021). Through EHRs, patient information cannot be accessed by a third party other than the patient and the primary healthcare provider. This would significantly promote the protection of patient health information.
Workflow
Technologies such as EHRs significantly facilitate workflow in a clinical setting. Through EHRs, patient information can be accessed easily compared to when using manual documentation. Easy access to patient information using this technology can enhance efficiency in workflow by reducing patient waiting times. Besides, when using this technology, patient information can be passed easily from one department to the other, such as from nurses to pharmacists for medication dispensing (Sensmeier & Anderson, 2021). This enhances efficiency in service delivery rather than nurses moving physically to the pharmacists for medications to be administered to patients.
Costs and Return on Investment
Nursing informatics has been one of the ways through which costs and return on investment are improved in healthcare. Nursing informatics has streamlined nursing workflows by automating routine tasks and reducing manual documentation (Pongco, 2020). This has, in turn, led to the maximization of nursing resources, thus promoting productivity and reducing overtime costs.
Nursing informatics has also contributed to a significant reduction in adverse events and errors in a clinical setting. This has been achieved through clinical decision-making systems, reminders, and real-time alert notifications. By reducing the occurrence of errors and adverse events, increased costs of treatment can be reduced, leading to cost savings.
Opportunities and Challenges
Nursing informaticists are required to collaborate with other healthcare professionals to promote quality care outcomes using technology (Pongco, 2020). There are several opportunities and challenges associated with interdisciplinary collaboration in technology use. The first opportunity is that nurse informaticists are equipped with adequate knowledge that they can share with other healthcare professionals to promote effective outcomes. For instance, they understand the type of technology that can be applied in case of increased medication errors in a clinical setting. They can share such knowledge with other professionals. The second opportunity is that there are numerous healthcare technologies that can be adopted in clinical practice (Pongco, 2020). Nursing informaticists can take advantage of numerous technologies and discuss with the interdisciplinary team the most appropriate technology that can be adopted in a given setting, depending on the available resources. On the other hand, the challenge that may be experienced is that most people do not embrace technology. Therefore, although nurse informaticists may facilitate the adoption of various technologies in a clinical setting, most healthcare providers may not embrace the change, leading to poor outcomes. Lastly, the most effective way the interdisciplinary team can collaborate to promote quality outcomes through technology is by developing an education and training program. Nurse informaticists can train other professionals to use various technologies in such programs.
Summary and Recommendations
There are several takeaways that can be obtained from the proposal. First, technology is critical in healthcare; therefore, nurse informatics should be introduced in every healthcare setting. Secondly, the most critical healthcare professionals who can enhance the use of information systems and technologies in healthcare are nurse informaticists. Therefore, these professionals cannot be avoided in a healthcare setting. In addition, nurse informaticists cannot work alone for effective and efficient outcomes. They require other healthcare providers whom they can train on how to use various types of technologies.
References
Anderson, C., Sensmeier, J., & Kwiatkoski, T. (2020). Results of the 2020 HIMSS Nursing Informatics Workforce Survey—Growth in Education and Leadership. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 38(9), 431-432. 10.1097/CIN.0000000000000679
Jeffery, A. D. (2019). ANI emerging leader project: Identifying challenges and opportunities in nursing data science. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 37(1), 1–3. 10.1097/CIN.0000000000000504
Pongco, T. (2020). The Year of the Nurse: Honoring the Past, Enabling the Future. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 38(8), 381. 10.1097/CIN.0000000000000676
Sensmeier, J., & Anderson, C. (2021). Tracking the impact of nursing informatics. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy, 19(1), 49-53. 10.1097/01.NME.0000723408.80090.47
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