Answer 3 for NURS 8210 WEEK 3 BLOG HOW HAS NURSING INFORMATICS AND TECHNOLOGY IMPACTED YOUR PRACTICE
Healthcare technologies have transformed significantly the provision of care services in nursing. Nurses must develop informatics competencies for them to improve the quality and safety of their practice. Informatics competencies will enable nurses to predict and respond appropriately to unforeseen trends in healthcare. Healthcare organizations can leverage nurses’ competencies to ensure the adoption of strategies that align with the actual and potential needs of their populations, hence, profitability. Informatics competencies will also enable nurses to drive quality and safety initiatives in healthcare (Krick et al., 2019; Männistö et al., 2020). For example, nurses can implement nurse-led technology interventions such as telehealth to improve outcomes for diverse patient populations. Evidence shows that technologies can be used in the management of chronic conditions to minimize the risk of complications and improve the safety and efficiency of healthcare services.
Informatics competencies enable nurses to drive excellence in nursing and healthcare. Nurses can utilize their competencies to implement highly interoperable systems in their organizations, which enhance the timeliness of care decisions in health organizations. Interoperability would ensure that healthcare providers could access patient data for decision-making whenever they need it. Informatics competencies also enable nurses to be involved in the generation of evidence that informs nursing practice. Nurses can investigate the use of novel technologies to prevent safety issues such as patient falls and medication errors in practice. Through it, nurses contribute to continuous improvement in healthcare and the delivery of care that optimizes outcomes such as safety, quality, and efficiency. Informatics competencies can also enable nurses to play a crucial role in coordinating multidisciplinary teams involved in the provision of patient care services. For example, nurse informaticists could guide the use of health technologies such as telehealth to deliver interprofessional care to patients (Moore et al., 2020; O’Connor et al., 2023). Therefore, informatics competencies are crucial for the modern nurse.
References
Krick, T., Huter, K., Domhoff, D., Schmidt, A., Rothgang, H., & Wolf-Ostermann, K. (2019). Digital technology and nursing care: A scoping review on acceptance, effectiveness and efficiency studies of informal and formal care technologies. BMC Health Services Research, 19(1), 400. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4238-3
Männistö, M., Mikkonen, K., Kuivila, H.-M., Virtanen, M., Kyngäs, H., & Kääriäinen, M. (2020). Digital collaborative learning in nursing education: A systematic review. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 34(2), 280–292. https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12743
Moore, E. C., Tolley, C. L., Bates, D. W., & Slight, S. P. (2020). A systematic review of the impact of health information technology on nurses’ time. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 27(5), 798–807. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocz231
O’Connor, S., Yan, Y., Thilo, F. J. S., Felzmann, H., Dowding, D., & Lee, J. J. (2023). Artificial intelligence in nursing and midwifery: A systematic review. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 32(13–14), 2951–2968. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16478
