Difference between revisions of "Nursing informatics"

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References
 
References
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1. American Nurses Association. (2001, October). Scope and Standards of Nursing Informatics Practice (Education Standards). Washington, D.C.: American Nurses Publishing.
 
1. American Nurses Association. (2001, October). Scope and Standards of Nursing Informatics Practice (Education Standards). Washington, D.C.: American Nurses Publishing.
  

Revision as of 14:19, 23 November 2010

The Role of Nursing Informatics

Informatics is an area of nursing whose presence is growing in healthcare. In 1992, the American Nurses Association (ANA) formally recognized nursing informatics as a specialty of nursing. The ANA defines nursing informatics as a “specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, and knowledge in nursing practice. Nursing informatics facilitates the integration of data, information, and knowledge to support patients, nurses and other providers in their decision-making in all roles and settings.” (1)

A 2009 HIMSS survey on the impact of informatics nurses shows that nursing informatics is involved in a variety of roles related to information technology. This includes workflow analysis, education, HIT implementation and support. On a 1-7 point scale, with 7 being the highest, survey respondents rated the value of nursing informatics an average 6.29 This value is seen in patient safety, workflow, facilitating user acceptance and change management. (2)

In the last few years, hospitals have been shifting their focus from operations to outcomes. This shift translates into reimbursement. Leveraging information technology (IT) will facilitate this process. IT can be used in the collection of data to determine which quality outcomes an organization should emphasize. Nursing informaticists play a role in the collection and interpretation of this data. (3)

With the focus of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on electronic health records and financial incentive, the role of nursing informatics is becoming more important. Meaningful use criteria must be met by 2015 in order to receive full reimbursement. Nursing informaticists can help organizations achieve this goal. Their knowledge on the integration of evidence-based knowledge and information systems that promote patient safety and quality outcomes is essential to meet meaningful use. (4)

The Alliance for Nursing Informatics (ANI) is a group of organizations that represent more than 5000 nursing informaticists. In a statement to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing, the ANI states that nurses are in a position to positively affect quality in healthcare. Nursing informatics brings skills in information technology, change management and quality improvement. With technology so integrated into nursing care, the ANI proposes that funding be dedicated to the partnership of nursing and nursing informatics in shaping the future of nursing. (5)

References

1. American Nurses Association. (2001, October). Scope and Standards of Nursing Informatics Practice (Education Standards). Washington, D.C.: American Nurses Publishing.

2. Healthcare Informatics and Management Systems Society. (2009, April 2). HIMSS 2009iInformatics nurse impact survey (Executive Summary). Retrieved from HIMSS website: http://www.himss.org/content/files/HIMSS2009InformaticsNurseImpactSurvey.pdf

3. Murphy, J. (2010, August). The journey to meaningful use of electronic health records. Nursing Economics, 28, 283-286.

4. Sensmeier, J. (2009, September). The latest? A shift from operations to outcomes. Nursing Management, 2-9.

5. Sensmeier, J. (2010, January/February). Alliance for nursing informatics statement to the Robert Wood Johnson foundation initiative on the future of nursing: Acute care, focusing on the areas of technology, October 19, 2009. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 63-67.

Submitted by: Kathy Gaines