The healthcare sector’s functions have undergone important transformations and technological improvements. To better manage patient information and enhance patient care, healthcare facilities are using more advanced technologies. Healthcare facilities must have the necessary personnel who can assure an effortless integration of technology for the benefit of both patients and the organization to make the most of these innovative instruments and handle health information appropriately. Healthcare firms should consider expanding their team by hiring an internal nurse informaticist. Technology, health information management, and patient care are just a few areas where this individual may be extremely influential in encouraging teamwork. I have developed a proposal highlighting the importance of hiring a nurse informaticist inside our business, drawing on my expertise as an attending nurse within this healthcare facility.
Nursing Informatics and the Nurse Informaticist
Nursing Informatics Definition
The field of nursing informatics is an area of healthcare technology. Nursing informatics is a healthcare field that integrates nursing skills with analytical knowledge and health information (Wilson et al., 2020). Its main objectives are identifying, clarifying, interpreting, overseeing, and exchanging health-related information, data, and insights essential to nursing practice.
Role of the Nurse Informaticist
Nurse informaticists are essential to the management of data in healthcare institutions. Data and technology are crucial in today’s healthcare environment for making judgments about health systems and patient well-being. According to Batko and Lzak (2022), this dependence highlights the significance of hiring information, data, and technology specialists who can assess, understand, and explain technological processes to clinical staff. Nurse informaticists help establish a connection between the world of data science and nursing practice. A nursing informaticist’s primary responsibility is to combine clinical knowledge with data competence. This includes collecting, evaluating, and effectively communicating information. Nurse informaticists are also responsible for implementing new policies, maintaining data quality through careful analysis, and certifying accuracy. Nurse informaticists should also instruct other nurses. Giving nurses a thorough understanding of and familiarity with the available tools would enable them to thrive in the data-driven procedures made possible by data analytics and managing health information (Haleem et al., 2022).
Nurse Informaticists and Other Healthcare Organizations
Experience of Other Healthcare Organizations with Nurse Informaticists
Healthcare organizations that have employed nurse informaticists have experienced significant benefits. The presence of nurse informaticists in certain healthcare settings has made it easier to incorporate modern solutions to nursing-related problems (Hajizadeh et al., 2021). Carefully examining data and information relevant to nursing concerns allows nurse informaticists an opportunity. It is crucial to emphasize that nurse informaticists work alongside nurses rather than replace them. The benefits of this cooperative strategy include improved patient outcomes, satisfaction, and general care quality. Healthcare organizations that have oncology nurse informaticists on their teams provide a useful illustration of this. These informaticists provide crucial assistance in tasks including maintaining electronic health records (EHR), administering chemotherapy, recording nursing care, and providing patient care (Melton et al., 2021).
How Nurse Informaticists Interact with the Rest of the Nursing Staff and the Interdisciplinary Team
Nurse informaticists play a significant role in healthcare organizations, advancing the field through their engagement and collaboration with varied teams. In order to spot problems in nursing practice, nurse informaticists need to have the necessary technical knowledge. They may not only identify these problems through collaboration with teams from various disciplines but also validate and put into practice the required fixes to address nursing challenges. The communication between various teams with different backgrounds, particularly those incorporating clinical and technological components, is further supported by nursing informaticists who serve as communication instructors. They act as an important conduit between these teams. In this role, nurse informaticists use their knowledge of technology and experience to persuade interdisciplinary teams to support initiatives that will improve patient care (Melton et al., 2021). Additionally, nurse informaticists offer their assistance in decision-making to the interprofessional teams inside healthcare institutions. They continue to prioritize attaining the desired results consistent with better patient care, highlighting the value of cooperation and innovation.
Impact of Full Nurse Engagement in Health Care Technology
How Engaging Nurses in Healthcare Technology Impact;
Patient Care
Through the impact of nurses, advancements in healthcare technology have improved patient care. Enhancing patient safety is only one of the many ways that nurses may use healthcare technology to improve patient care. Electronic health records, which give nurses quick and precise access to patient data and information, are made possible by modern healthcare technology. Patient safety is increased as a result, as these electronic health records assist in lowering the probability that nurses will make mistakes while providing patient care (Upadhyay & Hu, 2022). Healthcare organizations and individuals can save money and reduce unnecessary expenses by reducing errors and incidents. Furthermore, nurses may maximize their time thanks to healthcare technology integration. This may include delivering care remotely adding a dimension of adaptability and effectiveness to their responsibilities.
Protected Health Information
The nurses protect patient information since maintaining patient privacy is the utmost priority (Yaacoub et al., 2020). The need to maintain patient information confidentiality and the best practices for protecting patient health information privacy are two topics that nurse informaticists focus on while training nurses. Protected health information (PHI) about patients must only be revealed to people with permission. Nurses rely on medical technology to limit access to patient information to only authorized persons. This strategy protects patient information’s confidentiality and health information’s integrity.
Workflow
The incorporation of healthcare technology has made nurses’ workloads easier and more simplified. With the development of electronic health records, nurses now have quick access to a patient’s medical history and past experiences. Nurses are better equipped to provide effective and efficient patient care with less time spent looking for information. As a result, healthcare technology helps nurses carry out their regular nursing duties with accuracy and high performance. This beneficial influence greatly improves the overall workflow in healthcare environments.
Cost and Return on Investment
Healthcare technology is expensive but has many benefits for a hospital or other healthcare facility. Professionals and nursing staff use informatics solutions to improve workflow effectiveness, protect patient data, and improve patient safety and care quality (Benedictos, 2023). These results are crucial for maintaining the standing and competitiveness of healthcare organizations within the sector. Adopting innovative medical equipment unquestionably involves a significant financial commitment. However, the benefits and returns from this technology’s favourable influence on nursing practice outweigh the initial costs. Consequently, enhanced nursing practices and general healthcare delivery show the cost-effectiveness of such investments. Therefore, it becomes crucial for healthcare companies to adopt technology with the conviction that the return on investment (ROI) will be more than adequate.
Opportunities and Challenges
The adoption of technology is reaping significant rewards for healthcare businesses. These businesses can now improve and reinforce data security and protect the privacy of patient data thanks to the adoption of healthcare technology. Additionally, healthcare institutions have used technology to streamline their processes, improving the standard of patient care and overall results. However, healthcare organizations need help with the use of technology. The firm must make a sizable financial investment due to the high costs connected with the adoption and upkeep of technology (Tortorella et al., 2021). In addition, introducing technology into healthcare settings exposes patient data and information to potential violations, increasing the risk of it getting into the wrong hands, particularly those engaged in illegal activities.
How Interdisciplinary Teams Can Collaborate to Improve Quality Care Outcomes through Technology
Within healthcare organizations, successful relationships and cooperation between various healthcare experts play a vital role in improving the standard of care and attaining success. Interdisciplinary teams operating in healthcare facilities can speed up patients’ treatment and care through cooperative efforts (Guerra et al., 2022). This quick reaction to patients’ requirements helps cut down on potential delays and raises patient satisfaction levels. Teams of professionals must become familiar with new technologies as individuals and work together to make the most use of them to improve patient care when they are introduced to healthcare organizations. This strategy guarantees that the potential advantages of the technology are fully realized for improving patient care.
Summary of Recommendations
Our lifestyles now include technology. Healthcare institutions must understand the continual value of putting money into innovative medical equipment. The importance of hiring a nurse informaticist is further highlighted by this expenditure. This professional’s duty to provide authoritative clinical judgment when caring for patients relies on integrating data science with nursing practice. Nurse informaticists also take on the duty of instructing nurses and fostering teamwork among various patient care teams. With improved communication and interdisciplinary interaction, healthcare organizations can improve the quality of patient care. The ability of the healthcare organization to make prompt, informed decisions is ultimately facilitated by hiring a nurse informaticist. The locating, analyzing, communicating, and applying of vital facts and data strengthens these decisions. It is an undisputed fact that having a nurse informaticist on staff has numerous advantages for the organization and its staff, as well as for patients and the larger healthcare industry.
References
Batko, K., & Ślęzak, A. (2022). The use of Big Data Analytics in healthcare. Journal of Big Data, 9(1), 3. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40537-021-00553-4
Benedictos, A. (2023). Improving Patient Safety for Surgical Clearance: A PreOp One Stop Shop. https://repository.usfca.edu/dnp/331/
Guerra, S., Lambe, K., Manolova, G., Sadler, E., & Sheehan, K. J. (2022). Multidisciplinary team healthcare professionals’ perceptions of current and optimal acute rehabilitation, a hip fracture example A UK qualitative interview study informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework. Plos One, 17(11), e0277986. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0277986
Hajizadeh, A., Zamanzadeh, V., Kakemam, E., Bahreini, R., & Khodayari-Zarnaq, R. (2021). Factors influencing nurses participation in the health policy-making process: a systematic review. BMC Nursing, 20, 1-9. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12912-021-00648-6 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12912-021-00648-6
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Melton, G. B., McDonald, C. J., Tang, P. C., & Hripcsak, G. (2021). Electronic health records. In Biomedical Informatics: Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine (pp. 467-509). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-58721-5_14
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Yaacoub, J. P. A., Noura, M., Noura, H. N., Salman, O., Yaacoub, E., Couturier, R., & Chehab, A. (2020). Securing internet of medical things systems: Limitations, issues and recommendations. Future Generation Computer Systems, 105, 581-606. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167739X19305680
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