Interview With Nursing Informatics Practitioner

The objective of this synthesis paper is to present my readers what I have achieved during my graduate program at American Sentinel University (ASU). It assimilates all my course work, clinical experience, and nursing practice during this time, which presents a complete picture of how I accomplished my Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) consequences and Nursing Informatics track competencies. This paper will pinpoint my personal philosophy of nursing informatics and give a concise summary of my professional achievements, competencies developed during program of studies, and goals for life-long learning as an informatics nurse. The occupation of nursing is considered as both an art and science. Development of nursing comprises evidence‐based practice and fast integration of advances in technology. It is a field that has extensive uses in healthcare, as well as specialty practice. Educational curriculum and degree/certification are choices for nurses to pursue in this exciting field.

Nursing informatics really gained momentum in the 1980’s. The first national conference on computer technology and nursing was held (Ozbolt, J.G., Saba, V.K. 2008). Scholarships and the first educational courses on Nursing Informatics were introduced into the nursing programs at Boston College, University of New York and University of Utah (Ozbolt, J.G., Saba, V.K. 2008). The growing record of accomplishment allowed nurses to move into managerial roles (Edwards, H. 2011). By the mid ‘80’s, nearly three decades after Nurse Werley pushed for minimum data sets, was the idea finally embraced by nurse professionals (Ozbolt, J.G., Saba, V.K. 2008). Four specific elements of the minimum data set became a standard for nursing care: nursing diagnosis, nursing intervention, nursing outcome and the

The nursing field is caring, dependable, and effective. None of which could be accomplished without teamwork, collaboration and informatics. I believe these concepts are fundamental in the nursing profession. Nurses must work with other healthcare staff, the patients and their families to provide patient-centered and quality care. The use of informatics enhance both the quality of care the clients receive and the teamwork and collaboration aspect of nursing. No one nurse can do it all on their own. Nursing requires the use of teamwork and new technology.

Technological advancement is very rapidly affecting every aspect of life and is making an immense impact in Health Care. My clinical experiences as a staff nurse caring for patients can be effectively integrated with technology in the Nursing Informatics field. To make valuable contributions to the field of Nursing Informatics, I realized that a Graduate degree would be very beneficial. Therefore, I decided to pursue my MSN in Nursing Informatics to achieve my goal of using my skills and knowledge in the best possible way to make effective advancements in the field of nursing informatics for a constructive impact on my patients’ health and my colleagues.

In order to practice as a nurse informatics or NI specialist, one must know and understand the standard to which he or she is held. The purpose and function of scopes and standards of practice for nursing informatics is to provide an overview of the specialty, assist future specialists understand their scope of practice, and practice at a competent level to guide and support nursing care. The scopes and standards of practice further provides an insight into the foundation of clinical decision making processes and cognitive concepts as the nurse moves data to wisdom in the clinical setting. As a NI specialist, the informatics nurse follows the concepts, scopes and standards of practice to guide and define their profession. This paper will further discuss the principles that guides nurse informatics specialist, the scope and standards of practice, professional performance, functional areas for nurse informatics, competencies, evolution, progress, and the future the specialty.

Nurses are moving from a traditional method of performing task into the technological era. As informatics nurses recognize the need to move from the traditional to a progressive approach. There are many theorist that propose change; however, Kurt Lewin the father of psychology, introduces the theory concepts, emphasizes that the group differ from the sum of its parts. The change theory presents the three-stage model of change. The Lewins model (2011) consist of the unfreezing-change-refreeze theory. The purpose of this discussion is to examine the theories and conceptual frameworks applicable to nursing informatics, view and summarize the video, and Evaluate Applications of Theories or Conceptual Frameworks to Nursing Informatics Initiative.

Nursing informatics and technology are quickly becoming the hot buzz words for nursing in the twenty-first century. While performing research for this specific paper, the observations of how far technology has come from its inception is mind boggling. When looking back to the mid 1990’s every patient had paper charting. Nurses manually charted vital signs, nursing notes, treatments and all orders were manually written in the chart. The patient’s name, insurance information, and billing items were stored electronically. Fast forward twenty plus years and everything nurses do with, for or to a patient is filed electronically. This file today is known as the electronic health record (EHR) (Lavin, Harper, & Barr, 2015). This paper will be delving into the history of nursing informatics and technology, the pros and cons for nurses and what will be the big picture for informatics and technology in nursing today and in the future. Nursing informatics and the technology that has evolved over time are changing and quickly affecting how nurses treat, communicate, plan and document everything that they do for their patients.

In choosing one of the QSEN competencies to describe and how it impact our practice, and the future of our practice teamwork and collaboration and informatics both came to mind. It was difficult to separate the two, because for many of us technology (informatics), has changed the way we all communicate in our individual practices, and many nurses feel that health informatics and its clinical application at the bedside in some instances actually take away from patient care, some facilities have not yet made the integration from paper to electronic records and documentation.

Many job titles or description can be associated with the position of an informatics nurse specialist (INS). According to Sweeney (2010), there is no single job description for an individual with a graduate level of education in the informatics field. Furthermore, the author stated that job titles and/or description of an INS varies with each employing organization. However, expected activities should include responsibilities such as administration, project management, software development, analysis, designing and implementing educational programs, consulting, program evaluation and research, and management and leadership (Sweeney, 2010). This implies that an INS should have the skills and knowledge to meaningfully use current technologies to convey and coordinate care across various settings. The purpose of this paper is to summarize three job descriptions, analyze these job descriptions, and make recommendations for improving one of the summarized job description to meet current employer recruitment strategies.

Nursing informatics is a branch of nursing or area of specialty that concentrates on finding ways to improve data management and communication in nursing with the sole objective of improving efficiency, reduction of health costs, and enhancement of the quality of patient care (Murphy, 2010). It is also described as a growing area of nursing specialty that combines computer science, information technology, and nursing science in the management and processing of nursing information, data, and knowledge with the sole objective of supporting nursing practice and research. Various nursing theorists have formulated various theoretical frameworks or models related to nursing informatics (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013), and they are defined as a

During the first week, we were tasked with a self-assessment of nursing informatics (NI) competencies. Based on The Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform (TIGER) Initiative, Flood, Gasiewicz, and Delpier (2010) stated that the purpose of the TIGER initiative is to identify information and knowledge management best practices and effective technology capabilities for nurses. Thus, it will enable nurses to create and distribute action plans that can be replicated within nursing and other multidisciplinary healthcare training and workplace settings. Both experienced nurses and student nurses will be involved in this technological era. In addition, the TIGER initiatives consist of clinical information management, information literacy,

In the interview the question about any advice she wanted to offer was asked, with a big smile on her face, I am sure, she responded that the field is “wide open” ("Nursing Informatics as a Career," 2011) she continued on to say, if you are a self-starter it

Sir, can you please step up to the glass, put your palm on the screen and follow the directions from the computer? This is where our future lies…in biometrics, computers, and science. Soon there will be no need to fill out tedious paperwork, to try to remember medications or past medical history. I know it exists in hospitals across America, I have seen it in action many times. Are we as nurses changing with the times? What is nursing informatics? Why is it important to me? How do I rate on the nursing informatics knowledge scale? What is my plan to increase my knowledge base? These questions should be at the forefront of every nurse’s thoughts. The information age has come crashing down on us from every possible angle in our lives, it

Summarize how informatics has impacted or changed nursing practice. Provide an example from your professional experience.

Technology and innovation have transformed the way people function personally and professionally. In the past, writing and mailing a letter was standard but now most people send electronic messages and text messages to phones. Healthcare has been changing tremendously as well, not only are paper charts and records becoming obsolete, but now many facilities are sharing test results, visit information details, and prescribed drug lists. This move into the digital age has helped improve healthcare by cutting costs in the long-term, increasing efficiency with decreased wait times, and reducing medical errors. This evolving technology expansion, commonly referred to as nursing informatics has created many