Technology can be very helpful in improving safety and quality of health care. Nursing informatics refers to the combination of technology, nursing as well as the assimilation of data. It deals with the use of technology in order to organize and provide health care in the best and most resourceful manner. Computerized systems allow quicker and more accurate charting or record keeping. These systems save time and improve the quality of information furthermore improving patient safety.
Nursing informatics contains a large number of tools which range from being very meek computers to being extremely difficult medical record systems which are more generally known as Electronic Medical Record or EMR. In this paper, nursing informatics will be completely explained, the pros and cons will be extended, and the practice of nursing will be connected with nursing informatics. What is Nursing Informatics? Nursing informatics (NI) has been evolving for many years and essentially has a variety of definitions.
According to Toni Hebda and Patricia Czar (2005), “nursing informatics may be broadly defined as the use of information and computer technology to support all aspects of nursing practice, including direct delivery of care, administration, education, and research” (p. 9). This definition which has been modified several times is the current edition of the NI Scope and Standards of Practice presented by the American Nurses Association (Murphy, 2012, p. 205).
The Nursing Economics journal states that in a classical article, nursing informatics is defined as a “combination of nursing, information, and computer sciences to manage and process data into information and knowledge for use in nursing practice” (Murphy, 2012, p. 204). This journal also states that in 2009, the Nursing Informatics Special Interest Group of the International Medical Informatics Association tuned the NI definition by basically stating that the focus of nursing informatics is integrating nursing and its information and knowledge with technology to promote and improve the health of people (Murphy, 2012, p. 05). Furthermore, I conclude that nursing informatics is an integration of nursing science and current technology by applying computerized systems and as well as data to advance health care across the world. Two Advantages of Using Nursing Informatics Nursing informatics is essential for protection and accuracy in the nursing field. NI benefits from software and computer systems such as word processing, spreadsheets, e-mail, podcasts, virtual environments, and a host of other forms of technology.
One example is “telehealth via closed-circuit television or the telephone is perhaps the most proven application to date, but it has limitations. With the current technology, rural health, home care, and telehealth nurses can expand their practice capabilities” (Ericksen, 2009, p. 37). For example, homecare nurses can take their laptops with patients’ records instead of bringing mounts of paper everywhere they go. Another advantage of using nursing informatics is the prevention of accidents.
Instead of doctors writing prescriptions in not so legible handwriting, the use of technology will prevent accidents with medications. Two Disadvantages of Using Nursing Informatics Although nursing informatics is very beneficial it can also have its disadvantages. There are often security breaches in technology and if that was ever to occur with all of the patient data, there would be a great number of problems. Patients would be able to sue health professionals and a number of other things.
Another disadvantage is limited funds. The cost of technology is exceptionally expensive and without funds, nursing informatics would not be able to advance. Nursing Informatics and Nursing Nursing informatics ultimately benefits from the potential of technology used in today’s society and with the rapid growth of equipment, the opportunities of nursing will become endless. Nurses are on a face paced schedule each day and with the use of informatics, charting and record keeping will become somewhat easier.
Nurses are responsible for caring for patients and nursing informatics will allow them to do so by keeping their information safe, research, accuracy, and a host of other things. In the end, nursing informatics is evolving and will continue to evolve furthermore improving healthcare. NI is an integral part in health care delivery which supports safe and high quality patient care. In the future, with new and old knowledge, there is an endless amount of possibilities for nursing informatics and the advancement of health care.