The challenges nurses are facing with nursing informatics - Essay Example

The challenges nurses are facing with nursing informatics There has been an increase in the efficiency in the provisions of care through the application of the health Information Technology, which has been considered a vital issue in numerous discussions (Fabozzi, 3). Moreover, numerous changes have occurred due to advancement of technology and thus the improvements in the outcomes of the patients. The utilization of technology has thus posed a threat to the entire profession of nursing. This essay will explain the challenges the nurses are facing due to the introduction of informatics. According to Ball (303) Informatics thus refers to the process of modification of a discipline by combining information as well as knowledge to its discipline. In fact, it is an acknowledged specialty for nurses who are registered, but it poses several challenges to the profession of nursing. Nurses have experienced other problems as a result of the innovations in means of communication, improved transport systems as well as the created global economies. This has compelled the nurse to accept the universal perception of health policies, which has led to the changing roles of the nurses, as they have had to incorporate the global phenomena into the primary health care system. The use of technology has been the greatest challenge that the nurses have had to face. They have had to use computers in health care giving, administration duties as well as in education and research (Ericksen, 1). Basically, informatics is incorporated in every task of a nurse. All these challenges facing the nursing profession are caused by advancements in technology, reforms in the healthcare sector, too much workload and little number of professional nurses as well as increased lifespan of the patients. This is because research has shown that the number of healthcare providers has always been less than that of the health seekers. Technology, therefore, becomes the only solution to this growing burden. Nurses must be kept abreast with the all the advances in technology to enhance the quality as well as the price of care given to patients. This is because studies conducted have shown that computer have the ability to report incidences with little mistakes and thus reduced errors. Nursing informatics has helped the nurses in their management of data. Academic disciplines that are data intensive need to be familiar with the usage of computers in recording their information. Several organizations have supported the use of computers in collecting nursing information. According to the same task force, role of the nurses is expected to change if at all they are to include information technology in their working environments. Point-of-care expertise is a computerized record of patients, which are open to health professionals in diverse locations. Such technology can enable the creation of computer software that can enable the health care practitioners get the information of a patient that will enable them make decisions faster with little errors (Stanley, 846). The computerized data about the patients, if well coded, will enable the nurses to track their work and enhance the outcomes of the patients by giving the right interventions to the problems of the patients. Despite the fact that networked electronic health records are kept to provide information about the patient easily, they also inform policy making on a national. Legal and political barriers have a significant effect on effective performance of nursing informatics. Information kept electronically will enable the identification of healthcare patterns and results on large populations. The challenge comes in when it is the nurse to decide what kind of information is to be recorded. They could only decide to record biomedical information, which they think is important to them, and disregard the socio-cultural information. They also decide on what kind of terminology to record. The students of nursing are not taught data recording skills in their training and thus they are bound to make mistakes during data entry. With the accessibility as well as affordability of personal computers, people are able to access information about a particular kind of a disease, before going to the hospital. They are also able to get diagnosis from the internet before they visit the hospital (Fuller, 1). This has posed a challenge to the nurses since they could also give contradictory diagnosis, if they are not told about the initial practices. All these procedures are possible because of the internet and the interactive sites available on them. People are opting for the internet because of its cheapness; they are more aware of the preventive health practices than it was before the technological advancements. The technological era has also seen a reduction in the doctor –patients’ interactions. This is due to advancements of diagnostic procedures such as x-rays, CT scans and angiograms among others. There have been advancements in the treatment procedures such as the radiotherapies, transplants and even surgeries. These treatment and diagnostics procedures have led to the decreased interactions between the patients and the doctors as the doctors and nurses prefer to work with the x-ray forms than with the patients. The era of telemedicine as well as telehealth has reduced the need for physical interactions. The other challenge the nurses have had is about them adopting technologies. The nurses still prefer to use the old methods such book and pen method in taking patient’s data. Due to technology advancement, more revolution in the nursing field is expected (Ball 303). Technology is increasing and thus the nurses should move with speed to catch up with the advancements to bridge nurse-user gap. If the nurses do not update themselves with the current skills, they will not be able to provide quality care to the patients (Kaminski, 1). The other challenge is that not all hospitals have adopted the use of computers. This depends on the hospital management to see to it that computers are purchased and nurses are trained on how to use them in their various duties. Therefore, hospital managements need to integrate information technology in the performance of their duties. Works Cited Axley, Lawrette. The Integration of Technology into Nursing Curricula: Supporting Faculty via the Technology Fellowship Program. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. 2008:13(3) Ball, Marion. Nursing Informatics: Where caring and technology meet. New York: Spinger-Verlag. 1995 Ericksen, Anne. “Informatics: the future of nursing”. RN journal. 2009. Retrieved on 2 Feb 2012 from< www.RNWEB/HER> Fuller, Crystal, “Challenges in nursing informatics”. RN Journal. 2011. Retrieved on 2 Feb 2012 from< http://www.rnjournal.com/journal_of_nursing/challenges_in_nursing_informatics.htm> Fabozzi, Nancy. “Meeting the challenge of next generation nursing: what health IT vendors need to know”. Frost & Sullivan. 2010. Retrieved on 2 Feb 2012 from < http://ihealthtran.com/pdf/iHT2%20November%2030th,%202010%20Newsletter.pdf> Kaminski, Edward. “Organizational management and generation X”. Nursing Informatics.2011. Retrieved on 2 Feb 2012 from< http://www.nursing-informatics.com/GenXpaper.html> Stanley, David. “Multigenteral workforce issues and their implications for leadership in nursing”. Journal of Nursing Management, 2010: 18(7), 846-852. Read More