Design Phase 2
Literature Review
According to Foster (2017) nurses comprise the biggest body of medical professionals worldwide. This fact has led healthcare organizations, researchers, international licensing organizations, analysts, and consulting individuals to all agree that it is important for nurses to participate in decision-making, development, implementation, and assessment of interactive communication technologies in all sectors of health care systems. It is with no doubt the nursing profession has dramatically evolved over the years (Foster and Sethares 2017). Consequently, the changes have led to advances in ICT. According to Lavi, Harper, and Barr (2015), ICT is no longer considered as an additional advantage to the conventional methods of healthcare, but an integral part practice. It is also important to note that the role of the nurse has diversified and intensified with the increased use of information science and communication technology in health care facilities. Nurses are called upon to be competent users of informatics in all (Lavin, Harper, and Barr 2015) aspect of healthcare, not just because it is demanded in the modern quality-based organizations. Once nurses are comfortable with different technologies, they can refine them, shape them, and used them is different ways, just as they have embraced earlier equipment and technologies.
Over the years, different researchers have been attracted to the field of nursing informatics. As cited by Rouleau et al. (2017), the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) also known as eHealth, is an effective way to support healthcare delivery (Rouleau, et al. 2017). According to the author, informatics has changed how nurses deliver, plan, and document clinical care. Lavin, Harper, and Barr (2015) also discuss how health informatics improves the quality of care in nursing practice. According to the author, nursing informatics combines the elements of the science of nursing, technology, and information. Becoming nursing informatics can be attained from different avenues including certifications and education.
Informatics is an integration of fundamental computer skills, information management, and information literacy, which are crucial elements of current nursing practice (Lavin, Harper and Barr 2015). With the changing dynamics of healthcare, nurse educators are facing numerous challenges while preparing students for the increasing intricacies of the work environment. The current widespread use of computer and information systems in healthcare sectors demonstrates that healthcare professionals including nurses will need to interact with multiple technologies to either extract or enter data to help them in caring for the patients (Lavin, Harper and Barr 2015). Therefore, high technology health settings demand that nursing students should be educated to think critically and employ clinical decision-making while promoting safety. Registered nurses need autonomous clinical judgment, critical thinking skills, leadership abilities, organizational skills, and technological understanding to practice in different healthcare settings.
As highlighted by various experts, nursing informatics has become the basis in which quality of care is improved. Improved documentation is one of the areas that has been facilitated by nursing informatics. As cited by Elsayed, El-Nagger, and Mohamed (2016) documentation is one of the important roles in the nursing profession. With the introduction of informatics in the profession, patient’s history and needs are collected and organized electronically making it easier to manage care. The reduction of medical errors is another area that has been promoted by nursing informatics (Bowles, Dykes, and Demiris 2015). The introduction of EHR has significantly helped nursing professions to prevent misdiagnoses, medication errors, and other related issues. For instance, EHR may contain information about a possible allergy or dangerous medical interaction. Therefore, nursing informatics has played an important role in promoting quality of care.
While nursing informatics has numerous benefits, adapting to nursing informatics is still cited below. It is believed that nursing informatics is currently facing some barriers. Lack of integration in computer software and systems is cited as the biggest problem followed by inadequate financial resources (Foster and Sethares 2017). Other barriers include lack of administrative support, user resistance, issues in the organization’s strategic plan, staffing issues, and infrastructure and time management issues. To attain success integration of informatics in the nursing profession, these issues need to be addressed.
Methodology and Design of the Study
The study involves exploring the impact of nursing informatics in improving the quality of care and patients outcomes. To come up with the desired results extensive research was performed using different databases. A structured systematic review was conducted on an article published from 2015 to 2020 to ensure that the information was relevant and up-to-date. Additionally, both manual and automated search methods were utilized to come up with an annotated bibliography database. For an automated search of articles, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) keywords were utilized both in the abstract and tiles to search for the words “nursing informatics” as well as “informatics”. Some of the databases used included PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Ovid, and SID. The automatic search yielded many articles but inclusion criteria had to be applied.
The manual search consisted of an email inquiry to different parties including members of AMIA-NIWG (American Medical Informatics Association, Nursing Informatics Work Group for citation that met the above-mentioned criteria. The members were also regarded as influential in the nursing profession, thinking, and practice. From this e-mail search, 10 articles were identified by AMIA-NIWG members. From this search, duplicate articles were eliminated from the study. The other articles were reviewed by the project team to evaluate the publication journal, topics, methods, research setting, and publication date. The project team members agreed 100 percent eliminate the articles that did not meet the predetermined criteria.
Sampling Methods
The inclusion criteria for this study were articles published in 2015 to the current date and related to nursing informatics. Further refined, the study was looking for articles that discussed the role of nursing informatics in improving safety and quality of care. This included journals from the United States and across the world. The exclusion criteria included journals that were not peer-reviewed and any that was over five years old. Additionally, only the articles that were published in English were included in this study. Both the inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed to get the most appropriate article to be used for this study. The final articles were scrutinized to determine the level of evidence. All of the articles that were available only five the inclusion criteria and were included in this study.
Necessary Tools
Various technologies and tools are used in the research process. Nevertheless, the primary consideration of health IT tools would help to improve the quality of care and patients outcomes. It is important to note that nursing informatics involves several technologies like electronic health records (EHR). The EHR is a contemporary strategy used to save patients information electronically making it easily accessible. Additionally, nursing informatics tools such as EHR supports clinical decision-making as it enables nurses to make an informed decision by ensuring that patients are handled with care and the decisions they make help to improve their health.
Essentially, nursing informatics plays a critical role in enhancing patient outcomes. By capturing patient information in an electronic form, it helps the nurse to understand crucial details such as past medical histories, allergies, interventions, and medicines given (Riba, Parikh, & Greden, 2019). Particularly can support the transition process, especially for patients in the transition process. With nursing informatics, nurses can connect with other healthcare professionals to share ideas and information in regards to an intervention or a condition.
Any algorithms or flow maps Created
An algorithm is defined as a systematic formula created for solving problems. Essentially, algorithm schematic representation of the decision-making process that involves the use of flow diagrams with branching trails that lead to the desired outcome. Algorithmic decision-making needs the nurse to assess the patient’s condition using several questions with “Yes” or “No”. During the research, different algorithms were used. Machine learning is one of the algorithms that were used. Since the 1950s, the primary goal of Machine Learning (ML) was to learn from data, obtain knowledge from experience while making the necessary predictions. Today, ML is a growing subfield, especially in health informatics and science. It is important to acknowledge the fact that the nursing profession is confronted with uncertainties, probabilistic, and incomplete data set, which may endanger the modeling of artifacts. Nurses can use ML to look at data patterns and make informed decisions. Essentially, it will allow medical practitioners to analyze massive quantities of data in a short time.
Another algorithm that was suitable in this research is Mumps. The algorithm was developed in the 1960s, but it has been lately improved to meet the current needs in the nursing profession. Mumps is defined as a computer program, which is used in the healthcare setting to run several programs helping the nurse to understand the conditions of different patients and decide on the best intervention. Additionally, the operating systems help to power the various hospital departments and allowing effective management of records. The systems allow facilities to save used to retrieve records hence improving workplace efficiency.
Probabilistic data matching is another system, which enables several computer searches to be performed. A byte-by-byte comparison is carried out, which is mainly used in the data entry process and typographical processes. Mostly, a probabilistic algorithm is used to search for various bits of information, mostly in medical records while ranking them according to the probability of a patient adapting well to the given intervention (Stewart n.d). Further, the probabilistic data assist in obtaining crucial data that can be used in research. Medical algorithms and aids for decision-making will also help to promote safety in healthcare while improving patient’s outcomes (Stewart n.d). In the modern healthcare system, medical professionals are aware of medical errors that are likely to happen in their line of duty. Consequently, they are using these techniques to guide to provide quality healthcare services while identifying the patients who need custom made interventions. Therefore, a medical algorithm can be used to make a complex decision through the aid of programming. These algorithms remove medical uncertainties, which enhance efficiency.
References
Bowles, K, P Dykes, and G Demiris. 2015. “The use of health information technology to improve care and outcomes for older adults.” Res Gerontol Nurs 5-10.
Elsayed, J, N El-Naggel, and H Mohamed. 2016. “Evolution of nursing informatics: A key to improving nursing practice.” Research Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences.
Foster, Marva, and M Sethares. 2017. “Current strategies to implement informatics into the nursing curriculum: An Integrative Review.” Online Journal of Nursing Informatics.
Lavin, M, E Harper, and N Barr. 2015. “Health information technology, Patient Safety, and Professional Nursing Care Documentation in Acute Care Settings.” Online Journal of Issues in Nursing 20 (2).
Rouleau, G, M Gagnon, J Cote, J Payne-Gagnon, E Hudson, and C Ardy Dubois. 2017. “Impact of information and communication technologies on nursing care: Results of an overview of systematic reviews.” Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Stewart, Kristen. n.d. 10 algorithms that are changing health care. https://uofuhealth.utah.edu/innovation/blog/2015/10/10AlgorithmsChangingHealthCare.php.