NUR 514 The Evolution of Nursing Informatics Presentation 

NUR 514 The Evolution of Nursing Informatics Presentation 

Introduction

This presentation includes a definition of nursing informatics and discusses the history of nursing informatics and how it has evolved. I will also discuss how nursing informatics impacts nursing leadership, clinical practice, administration, education, and research. In addition, I will explain how government regulation can impact organizational policy on health information systems. I will also explain nurse-led innovation relating to the advances in informatics and how informatics innovation can improve the quality of patient care.

Nursing Informatics

Nursing informatics is a specialty that integrates nursing science with information and analytical sciences. It seeks to identify, define, manage, and communicate information and knowledge in nursing practice. A nurse informaticist uses their clinical skills with knowledge of technology, computers, and data (Asiri, 2018). Nurse informaticists take on complex tasks like utilizing health data to analyze patient care outcomes and training other nursing staff on new patient care technology. Nursing informatics is committed to delivering high-quality patient care through efficient management of data and technology systems. Nurse informaticists use data to analyze trends, monitor for errors, and implement new, more efficient information systems (Asiri, 2018). Nursing informatics focuses on patient care, particularly by optimizing the technology used by nurses. 

History of The Field of Nursing Informatics

The term nursing informatics was first proposed by Scholes and Barber in 1976. The first computer applications in nursing practice appeared in the literature in the early 1970s. In the 70s, nursing informatics was supported by the development of some of the early health information systems (HIS) by multiple agencies in the US (Blažun Vošner et al., 2020). The HIS included nursing care planning and documentation. Besides, nurses were involved in interdisciplinary efforts that sought to develop and implement applications that support health care. Through the ’80s, NI practice, education, and scholarship thrived and grew in the US (Blažun Vošner et al., 2020). In the 1990s, large integrated healthcare delivery systems evolved, which further created the need for information across healthcare organizations within the large systems to regulate processes, control costs, and assure the quality of care.

How the Specialty Has Evolved

Since the introduction of computer applications in nursing, nursing informatics has evolved to become one of the foundation stones of the health informatics field. Nursing informatics has evolved not only in practice but also in education and research.  In 1988, the first graduate program in Nursing Informatics was launched at the University of Maryland School of Nursing focusing on understanding nursing informatics systems and science (Asiri, 2018). In 1990, the University of Utah launched a graduate program for Nursing Informatics targeting the transformation of data into clinical decision-making. In 1992, Nursing Informatics was formally recognized as a nursing specialty by the American Nurses Association. In 1995 Nursing Informatics certification was introduced through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). In 2003, the first doctorate in nursing with a healthcare informatics option was introduced at the University of Arizona College of Nursing (Asiri, 2018). Today, with the advancement in technology, more institutions are offering varied Nursing Informatics degrees as a part of their nursing programs.

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NI Impact on Nursing Leadership

Nursing informatics helps nurse leaders to combine their analytical and clinical skills to provide their patients with the highest quality care. Nurse leaders must demonstrate abilities and develop specific informatics competencies to provide meaningful leadership and support the continuing transformation of the healthcare system (Kennedy & Moen, 2018). They are required to leverage healthcare technology to improve healthcare goals. Research shows that nurse leaders who have adopted healthcare technology have significantly improved outcomes for all stakeholders, including patients, nurses, and healthcare teams (Kennedy & Moen, 2018). Nurse leaders are positioned to adopt informatics research to improve patient care. Furthermore, nurse leaders are now using informatics to analyze trends in patient care and identify potential errors in delivering care.

NI Impact on Clinical Practice

Nursing informatics plays a key role in the nursing process. Nurses obtain patient information and use the data to develop nursing care plans, execute the plan, and communicate findings with other providers. Advances in nursing informatics have enabled nurses to access vital patient data with the click of a button. In hospitals and clinic offices, providers have access to electronic health records, which enable them to access private and confidential patient health information in a secure environment (Al Najjar & Shafie, 2022).  In addition, informatics has impacted clinical practice through services such as telehealth, which provide a channel for client education and medical and healthcare services like health monitoring and clinical diagnosis (Al Najjar & Shafie, 2022). Currently, health providers can communicate and plan care more effectively, in collaboration with patients and other providers, owing to technological advances.

NI Impact on Administration

Nursing informatics is revolutionizing how health care is delivered. Healthcare systems are integrating wireless solutions, high-speed data networks, handheld devices, automated exchanges between organizations/providers and patients, and various social media platforms into their daily interactions (Al Najjar & Shafie, 2022). Informatics has helped healthcare administrators and managers to communicate more efficiently with the medical personnel in their organizations. Furthermore, informatics helps healthcare administrators to customize incentive plans for patients. Health informaticists help managers in the healthcare industry access pertinent information to produce actionable insights that enhance both therapeutic and organizational efficiency (Kennedy & Moen, 2018). Informatics enables health administrators to access patient data that enables them to provide administrative services, like appropriately billing patients.

NI Impact on Education

The evolvement of nursing informatics has led to the establishment of degree programs in informatics to equip nurses with knowledge and skills in this field. Graduate programs at Master’s and Doctorate levels continue to grow. They provide education, certification, and credentialing to expand the knowledge, skills, and vision required for the nursing informatician of today and tomorrow (Singh & Masango, 2020). In addition, nursing informatics has led to the introduction of informatics in the nursing curricula to teach nursing students to use technology and informatics. This ensures that nursing students acquire the necessary psychomotor skills related to the use of technology hardware and software important in healthcare settings.

NI Impact on Research

Informatics literacy is considered a vital issue in improving nursing evidence-based practice (EBP). Informatics and computer skills are crucial components that support and reinforce the EBP framework. Nurses and other health providers are expected to have high-level information literacy to improve their science-based performance (Abdekhoda & Khezri, 2021). The clinical team particularly nurses who have a crucial role in caring for patients, use informatics to obtain information on the latest changes related to clinical care. They also use informatics to update themselves on the latest clinical information to better patient care.  Health providers use online databases to stay up-to-date on current research and make decisions based on that research, thus increasing the chances of improved health care. To effectively search databases, nurses must have information literacy skills like how to organize information in databases, create and arrange search terms, and create search strategies to obtain high-quality literature in research (Abdekhoda & Khezri, 2021).

Impact of Government Regulation on Health Information Systems

Government regulations lay the foundation for the documenting, storing, and use of electronic health information (EHI). Government laws play a key role in enabling health departments to use HIT to optimize systems that use patient information to monitor population health trends and interface with similar HIT systems used by healthcare providers and hospitals (Ramanathan et al., 2018). The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) creates regulations that outline the standards and certification criteria that EHRs must meet to assure health providers and hospitals that the systems they take on can perform various functions (Ramanathan et al., 2018). Thus, this regulation can affect organizational policies on EHR systems since hospitals must comply with and adopt EHR systems that meet the ONC’s regulations. Government regulations like the HITECH Act drive health organizations to adopt security that promotes secure electronic health information exchange.

Nurse-Led Innovation

The rapid development of healthcare technology gives opportunities for innovations to transform healthcare practices. Nurse-led innovation is vital for enhancing workflow. It should be encouraged and backed up by health systems, and academic settings. Nurse informatics brings added value to the innovation space by consistently focusing on patient quality and safety while promoting a high standard of care (Kelley, 2019). With the widespread use of EHR and clinical information system, nurses have been introduced to the change-making process that involves diffusing innovation in healthcare. Nursing informatics innovations are anticipated to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency, safety, timeliness, and patient-centeredness in patient care and improve patients’ access to healthcare services (Kelley, 2019). However, adopting nursing informatics innovations should be guided by evidence and there should be careful deliberation of anticipated and possibly unintended outcomes.

Informatics Innovation to Improve the Quality of Care

Informatics innovations can be used to develop healthcare systems that help providers to identify potentially harmful treatment or prescription errors, refine retrieval of patient records, and increase the safety of patient information. Informatics innovation can be used to improve documentation, which is a vital part of the nursing profession (Kelley, 2019). Innovations that enable nurses to document a patient’s condition and share the information electronically can enable nurses more effectively manage patent care, and improve the quality of care.

Health informatics innovation can also help to obtain important patient data that can prevent medical errors. For example, innovations in electronic records can provide information about a potential medication interaction or allergy that may not otherwise be immediately evident. Furthermore, informatics innovation can improve the coordination of patient care (Kelley, 2019). This is by enabling providers to incorporate data into their workflow, making them more productive and improving their ability to provide better care.

Nurse’s Role in Transforming Health Care Data into Knowledge

The nurse informatician has the role of using data to generate knowledge that improves patient care and administrative functioning.   The nurse can access information databases and link the information with patient records to make data-driven decisions about patient care. The information from the databases and patient records can be used to generate knowledge that helps to predict patients at high risk for certain diseases or medical events (Kennedy & Moen, 2018). This can result in precautionary actions and increased screening in the patient population.

For instance, the nurse can use EHRs to access patient data and transform it into knowledge that helps to identify patient disease patterns. This can help identify approaches to increase preventative care and reduce ER visits by directing attention to patients at risk of specific chronic conditions and providing appropriate disease-prevention plans.

Conclusion

Nursing informatics is a specialty that integrates nursing science with information and analytical sciences. The term nursing informatics was first proposed by Scholes and Barber in 1976. In 1992, Nursing Informatics was formally recognized as a nursing specialty by the American Nurses Association. Nurse leaders are required to leverage healthcare technology to improve healthcare goals. Nursing informatics helps administrators to access pertinent patient information to produce actionable insights. Informatics innovations can be used to identify medical errors and improve documentation. Information from databases and patient records can be used to generate knowledge that helps to predict patients at high risk for certain diseases or medical events.

References

}Abdekhoda, M. & Khezri, H. (2021). Investigating the impact of health informatics literacy on the evidence-based practice of nursing. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics (OJNI), 25(2).  https://www.himss.org/resources/online-journal-nursing-informatics

}Al Najjar, R. I., & Shafie, Z. M. (2022). Impact of Nursing Informatics on the Quality of Patient Care. International Journal Of Medical Science And Clinical Research Studies, 2(5), 418-421. https://doi.org/10.47191/ijmscrs/v2-i5-19

}Asiri, H. (2018, February). An overview of nursing informatics (NI) as a profession: how we evolved over the years. In International Conference on Health Informatics (Vol. 6, pp. 200-212). SCITEPRESS.

}Blažun Vošner, H., Carter-Templeton, H., Završnik, J., & Kokol, P. (2020). Nursing Informatics. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, Publish Ahead of Print. doi:10.1097/cin.0000000000000624

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}Kelley, T. (2019). The emergence of Nursing Innovation Influenced by Advances in Informatics and Health IT. Nurse Leader. doi:10.1016/j.mnl.2019.09.012 

}Kennedy, M. A., & Moen, A. (2018). Nurse Leadership and Informatics Competencies: Shaping Transformation of Professional Practice. Studies in health technology and informatics, 232, 197–206.

}Ramanathan, T., Schmit, C., Menon, A., Sunshine, G., & Pepin, D. (2018). Federal public health laws supporting data use and sharing.

}Singh, F., & Masango, T. (2020). Information technology in nursing education: perspectives of student nurses. The Open Nursing Journal, 14(1). DOI: 10.2174/1874434602014010018

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