Nursing Informatics: Course Analysis

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

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.

* Reduction of medication errors- Barcode medication administration safeguards against wrong pt/wrong med/wrong dose errors and alerts to potential medication interactions (Goth, 2006).

Informatics Certificate has decided that the 100 bed hospital that she works in would benefit

Informatics is a specialty in the nursing field that is combined with certain science. As stated by ANA (2008) “nursing informatics (NI) is a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice” (p. 65). ANA further focus on the functional areas rather than the role that guides the scope of practice within NI. These functional areas include: “administration, leadership, and management; analysis; compliance and integrity management; consultation; coordination, facilitation, and integration; development; educational and professional development; research and evaluation; policy development and advocacy; and telehealth” (CCN, 2015, para. 1). With these functional areas in mind, a nursing informatics specialist can perform proficiently, depending on the specific task. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to summarize the result of an interview with a NI specialist and analyze the differences and similarities between the interviewee’s functional areas with that of scholarly ones.

American Association College of Nursing. (n.d.). Master’s Education for Advanced Practice Nursing. Retrieved from American Association of Colleges of Nursing: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/education-resources/MasEssentials96.pdfCipriano, P.F., & Murphy, J. (2011). Nursing Informatics, The Future of Nursing and Health IT: The Quality Elixir. Nursing Economics, 29(5), 286-282

The practice experience in MSN Capstone will enhance all competencies related to certification as an informatics nurse. The goal is an evidenced-based project related to my chosen track in informatics, along with a presentation of the project. Completion of this project should enable me to showcase knowledge gained throughout each course and competencies achieved through courses and practice experiences.

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

With the rapid growth in the implementation and use of electronic medical records, there is an increase in how we define the role of nurses and other team member’s (Deese & Stien, 2004). Along with providing optimal care, nurses are also responsible for interpreting and accurately documenting large amounts of information. According to, (Ericksen, 2009) nursing informatics is defined as the integration of nursing, its information, and information management with information processing and communication technology to support the health of people worldwide. In this

Acquiring the BSN without taking informatics in healthcare is a thing of the past. With this score I am hoping to gain additional knowledge to improve my skill sets in the nursing informatics arena, especially on the areas that I am lacking. At this point, I am optimistic that my weaknesses will become my strongest attributes upon completion of this course. The weakest areas of the self- assessment are as follows: numbers 4; 5; 6; 7; 9; 10; 11 and 12 respectively. Notwithstanding, I grade myself on the fact that I am not familiar with most of the informatics terminologies, even though I feel comfortable using the software on my job. My strongest are 1; 2; 3; 7; and 8. (“Demonstrate skills in using patient-care technologies, information systems and communication devices that support safe nursing practice; using telecommunication technologies; Recognize the role of information technology in improving patient care and Upholding ethical standards related to data security…and clients’ right to privacy.”). Hebda & Czar (2015) claimed that “good information management also eliminates redundant data collection.” It is very crucial that in nursing informatics and the

system needs to be approved. In this instance a pop-up tab is requested by nursing that

Later on, she would worked with the University of Maryland to develop the world’s first curriculum in nursing informatics at the graduate level (AMIA, n.d., p. 6). By making nursing informatics a graduate level, it would open up the leadership role to

Nursing informatics is the use of any information technologies by nurses about the care of their patients, the administration of health care facilities or the educational preparation of individuals to practice the discipline (Staggers, Thompson, 2002). The Institute of Medicine (IOM) identified the critical role of information technology in designing safe and effective health care, and to achieve this goal, healthcare professionals must receive the required training during basic and advanced educational programs (Bakkens et al., 2004). Some ways that can promote patient safety through informatics is the use of a personal digital assistant (PDA) to document clinical encounters, computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and to retrieve patient

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