NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Health Care SOLVED

Assessment 1 Instructions: Nursing Informatics in Health Care NURS-FPX4040 Example

Nursing Informatics in Healthcare

The integration of technology in healthcare is increasingly embraced. The reasons for increased incorporation include the demonstrated benefits in improving patient outcomes, improving workflow, and reducing patient and healthcare professionals’ resistance to such innovations. The latter is attributed to the incorporation of information management and patient care technologies in nursing curricula, particularly at the baccalaureate level (Reid et al., 2021).

While the project has assisted nurses in demonstrating knowledge and skills in information management and patient care technologies, they are also expected to use the tools at the bedside or organizational levels. Having attended a meeting where a nurse informaticist conducted a presentation on her roles and impact on patient and organizational outcomes, I realized how the role would impact my organization. Drawing from evidence-based literature on the impact of a nurse informaticist on patient care, workflow, costs, and return on investment, the purpose of this paper is to create a proposal for a new nurse informaticist position.

Nursing Informatics and the Nurse Informaticist

The quest for cost-effective and high-quality patient care has resulted in greater integration of technology in healthcare. With the increased incorporation of technologies comes a new challenge: developing a unified definition of the use of technology in healthcare. Because of the lack of a consistent taxonomy, there has been consensus on definitions within healthcare informatics, with each country developing and adopting its own.

All definitions, however, are heavily influenced by the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA), which defines nursing informatics as a science and a practice that integrates nursing, information communication technologies (ICT), and professional knowledge to promote people’s health (Honey et al., 2022). Honey et al. (2022) state definitions from Australia, the United States, and Canada to gain a common understanding of nursing informatics across diverse geographical contexts.

Nursing informatics is defined by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) in Australia as the knowledge and skills required by registered nurses to integrate nursing practice, computer and information science in data management, communication, and decision-making in nursing practice (Honey et al., 2022). In the United States, the American Nurse Association (ANA) Council of Computer Application in Nursing defines nursing informatics as a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer, and information science in the identification, collection, processing, and management of data to support nursing practice (Honey et al., 2022).

According to the Canadian Organization for the Advancement of Computers in Health (COACH), nursing informatics is the use of any information technology by nurses to influence patient care (Honey et al., 2022). Nursing science, ICT, professional knowledge, and the influence on patient care are consistent themes that appear in all definitions of nursing informatics.

With the global implementation of health informatics projects, the nurse informaticist’s role is expanding in various clinical settings. The need for innovative technological solutions to improve care, such as mobile applications, interactive decision aids, web-based technologies, and electronic health records (EHR), broadens the scope of nurse informaticists and gives them a more defining role. According to King et al. (2020), the primary role of a nurse informaticist is to support technological advances that improve patient care, safety, and quality.

Nurse informaticists contribute to such advancements by educating staff on new yet-to-be-implemented technologies, leading quality and process improvement initiatives, and evaluating the impact of technology on care before its implementation. Their education, certification, training, and practice experience position them more appropriately in designing and implementing technological interventions and fulfilling their other scopes of practice.

Nurse Informaticists and Other Healthcare Organizations

Healthcare organizations have had a variety of heartwarming experiences with nurse informaticists. In one case, Billings Clinic, a Magnet-designated non-profit health organization in Montana, northern Wyoming, and the western Dakotas, shares its experience with nurse informaticists. The Billings Clinic Cancer Center serves over 1800 patients annually and employs more than 70 registered nurses (RNs) in the cancer unit (Billings Clinic, 2018).

The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) observed that the cerebellar toxicity assessment of patients receiving high-dose Cytarabine was inconsistently documented in the medical records by the nursing staff during care for patients receiving high-dose Cytarabine in the cancer unit. As a result, the CNO sought assistance from a nursing informaticist, who created a new evidence-based assessment tool. According to the CNO, the tool improved the assessment and documentation of therapy-related complications (Billings Clinic, 2018). The Billings Clinic scenario is representative of many other healthcare organizations that employ nurse informaticists.

Nurse informaticists must collaborate with other care providers to achieve the goals of a nursing informatics project. In the clinical scenario described above, for example, the nurse informaticist would collaborate with other RNs, a medical oncologist, a gynecologic oncologist, a surgical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, a pediatric oncologist, and a general surgeon. Furthermore, for the assessment and documentation tool to be successfully implemented, oncology nurse informaticists would collaborate with informaticists from other departments, including the pharmacy.

According to the CNO, the oncology nurse informaticist follows regulatory standards in designing, building, and maintaining order sets to ensure smooth operation (Billings Clinic, 2018). The CNO also reported that the system was so efficient that laboratory and vital sign monitoring, therapies, referrals, and nursing orders were all available with a single click (Billings Clinic, 2018). This would make the job of medical oncologists or any other professional who would be reviewing the patient for treatment continuation easier.

Impact of Full Nurse Engagement in Healthcare Technology

The inclusion of nurse informaticists in healthcare has implications for patient care, cost, workflow, and the privacy of patient’s health information. Sensmeier and Anderson (2020) and Williams (2019) assert that nursing informatics provides a platform for solving several patient problems. Technology is used in all processes, from patient triage upon hospital admission to discharge following recovery or any prompting factors.

For example, a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system detects incorrect dosages, frequencies, routes, and durations of therapy in medication prescriptions (Sensmeier & Anderson, 2020; Williams, 2019). Early detection and treatment of cerebellar toxicity caused by high-dose Cytarabine therapy were critical in reducing mortality rates in the clinical scenario at Billings Clinic Cancer Center. Regarding workflow, a nurse informaticist ensures that the majority of the tasks involved in data assessment and documentation are accessible with a single click.

Management of symptoms and toxicities, laboratory and vital sign monitoring, therapies, referrals, and nursing orders are all available with a single click at Billings Clinic Cancer Center (Billings Clinic, 2018). This would improve workflow because all care providers who would need to access the patients’ information for review would be able to do so easily. A nurse informaticist will also implement measures to protect patient’s health information in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and confidentiality rules.

While patients’ privacy refers to the non-disclosure of their health information, confidentiality refers to the avoidance of unauthorized individuals accessing their protected health information (Bani Issa et al., 2020). Nurse informaticists assist in the implementation of patient privacy and confidentiality safeguards such as data encryption, biometrically enabled system logins and password-protected logins. In addition, nurse informaticists may assist in the installation of anti-hack software, which prevents breaches into information systems, to ensure the security of the patient’s health information (Koppel & Kuziemsky, 2019).

Concerning cost implications, recent studies on healthcare systems across the U.S. show that $760 billion to $935 billion, which represents 25% of total U.S. healthcare spending, is wasted annually (Shrank et al., 2019). Nurse informaticists and other health informatics specialists help reduce costs in various ways, one of which is the prediction of health outcomes using analytics, which aids in accurate budgeting for resources required and thus prevents overspending.

Additionally, health informatics drives process improvement initiatives in billing, human resource management, and marketing, lowering costs (Kruse & Beane, 2018). According to a website that analyzes health IT news in the U.S., the Mercy Hospital Network saved more than $4 million in one year by implementing a nursing analytics dashboard (Fox & Ang, 2018). The various examples provided justify the importance of a nurse informaticist to a healthcare organization, which would be used to decide whether or not to hire one.

Opportunities and Challenges

As the field of health informatics expands, so does the number of healthcare professionals working in it. This presents an opportunity for health and technology enthusiasts who want to collaborate with healthcare providers to improve patient outcomes. Furthermore, it has enabled the opportunity to work in close collaboration with other health stakeholders to identify patient needs that would require technology as a solution. However, while health informatics offers promising benefits in resolving patient problems, it also presents challenges.

The flaws in the equipment, techniques, observation, and data collection tools may lead to misleading conclusions (Otokiti, 2019). Further, data artifacts may give misleading impressions or result in an inability to predict trends in specifically identified health issues. Moreover, due to the high likelihood of system breaches, health informatics interventions are increasingly needed to protect patients’ security, privacy, and confidentiality.

Summary of Recommendations: Takeaways

The increased use of technology in healthcare has broadened the scope of health informatics specialists. Nurse informaticists are best suited to assist hospitals in implementing health informatics projects due to their nursing practice experience and knowledge of ICT. Their impact on improving patient care, lowering healthcare costs, improving workflow, and protecting patients’ privacy and confidentiality are critical in informing their employment in healthcare organizations.

While the opportunities for improving patient care are obvious, potential challenges exist, raising concerns about upgrading measures to protect patient privacy and confidentiality in the event of a system breach. However, as multiple evidence-based studies show, the benefits nurse informaticists bring to healthcare organizations outweigh the risks, justifying their increased importance in healthcare.

NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Health Care SOLVED References

Bani Issa, W., Al Akour, I., Ibrahim, A., Almarzouqi, A., Abbas, S., Hisham, F., & Griffiths, J. (2020). Privacy, confidentiality, security, and patient safety concerns about electronic health records. International Nursing Review, 67(2), 218–230. https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12585

Billings Clinic. (2018). Billings Clinic: Cancer Center 2018 annual report. Billingsclinic.com. https://www.billingsclinic.com/app/files/public/8c09bf04-0e03-40b1-8ac8-b1cc520fd9f9/Cancer-Ctr-Report-3-2019.pdf

Fox, A., & Ang, A. (2018, March 26). How Mercy Hospital Network saved $4.3 million with nursing analytics dashboard. Healthcare IT News. https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/how-mercy-hospital-network-saved-43-million-nursing-analytics-dashboard

Honey, M., Ronquillo, C., & Lee, T. T. (2022). Nurses and midwives in the digital age: Selected papers, posters and panels from the 15th International Congress in Nursing Informatics. IOS Press. https://books.google.at/books?id=0tluEAAAQBAJ

King, B. D., Riemann, L. A., & Brant, J. M. (2020). Oncology nurse informaticists: An evolving role to support nursing practice. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 24(3), 324–327. https://doi.org/10.1188/20.CJON.324-327

Koppel, R., & Kuziemsky, C. (2019). Healthcare data are remarkably vulnerable to hacking: Connected healthcare delivery increases the risks. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 257, 218–222. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30741199

Kruse, C. S., & Beane, A. (2018). Health information technology continues to show positive effect on medical outcomes: Systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 20(2), e41. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.8793

Otokiti, A. (2019). Using informatics to improve healthcare quality. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 32(2), 425–430. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHCQA-03-2018-0062

Reid, L., Maeder, A., Button, D., Breaden, K., & Brommeyer, M. (2021). Defining nursing informatics: A narrative review. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 284, 108–112. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI210680

Sensmeier, J., & Anderson, C. (2020). Tracking the impact of nursing informatics. Nursing Management, 51(9), 50–53. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NUMA.0000694880.86685.c1

Shrank, W. H., Rogstad, T. L., & Parekh, N. (2019). Waste in the US health care system: Estimated costs and potential for savings: Estimated costs and potential for savings. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 322(15), 1501–1509. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.1s3978

Williams, A. (2019). Nursing informaticians address Patient Safety to improve usability of Health Information technologies. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 257, 501–507. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30741247

Also read:

NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 2 Protected Health Information PHI

NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 3 Evidence-Based Proposal and Annotated Bibliography on Technology in Nursing

NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 4 Informatics and Nursing Sensitive Quality Indicators

NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Health Care SOLVED Instructions

• Write a 4-5 page evidence-based proposal to support the need for a nurse informaticist in an organization who would focus on improving health care outcomes.

Introduction

As you begin to prepare this assessment, you are encouraged to complete the Team Perspectives of the Nurse Informaticist activity. Completion of this will help you succeed with the assessment as you explore the nurse informaticist’s role from the different perspectives of the health care team. Completing activities is also a way to demonstrate engagement.

Nurses at the baccalaureate level in all practice areas are involved in nursing informatics through interaction with information management and patient care technologies. Nurses must not only demonstrate knowledge of and skills in health information and patient care technologies, but also how to use these tools at the bedside and organizational levels. Moreover, nurses need to recognize how information gathered from various health information sources can impact decision making at the national and state regulatory levels.

Scenario

For this assessment, assume you are a nurse attending a meeting of your state’s nurses association. A nurse informaticist conducted a presentation on her role and its impact on positive patient and organizational outcomes in her workplace. You realize that your organization is undergoing many technological changes. You believe this type of role could provide many benefits to your organization.

You decide to pursue proposing a nurse informaticist role in your organization. You speak to your chief nursing officer (CNO) and human resources (HR) manager, who ask you to prepare a 4–5 page evidence-based proposal to support the new role. In this way, they can make an informed decision as to whether the addition of such a role could justify the return on investment (ROI). They need your proposal before an upcoming fiscal meeting.

This is not an essay, but instead, it is a proposal to create a new Nurse Informaticist position.

One important part of this assessment is the justification of the need for a nurse informaticist in a health care organization and references from relevant and timely scholarly or professional resources to support the justification for creating this nurse informaticist position. The term justify means to show or prove that the nurse informaticist position brings value to the organization. This justification must include evidence from the literature to support that this position will provide a return on investment for the organization.

Preparation for NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Health Care SOLVED

To successfully prepare for this assessment, you will need to complete these preparatory activities:

• Review assessment resources and activities.
  • Conduct independent research on the nursing knowledge and skills necessary to interact with health information and patient care technology.
  • Focus your research on current resources available through peer-reviewed articles, professional websites, government websites, professional blogs, wikis, job boards, and so on.
• Consult the BSN Program Library Research Guide for help in identifying scholarly and authoritative sources.
• Interview peers in your network who are considered information technology experts.
  • Ask them about how information technology advances are impacting patient care at the bedside, at the organizational level, and beyond.

Proposal Format

The chief nursing officer (CNO) and human resources (HR) manager have asked you to include the following headings in your proposal and to be sure to address the bullets following each heading:

Nursing Informatics and the Nurse Informaticist

• What is nursing informatics?
• What is the role of the nurse informaticist?

Nurse Informaticists and Other Health Care Organizations

• What is the experience of other health care organizations with nurse informaticists?
• How do these nurse informaticists interact with the rest of the nursing staff and the interdisciplinary team?

Impact of Full Nurse Engagement in Health Care Technology

• How does fully engaging nurses in health care technology impact:
  • Patient care?
  • Protected health information (security, privacy, and confidentiality)?
    • In this section, you will explain evidence-based strategies that the nurse informaticist and interdisciplinary team can use to effectively manage patients’ protected health information, particularly privacy, security, and confidentiality. Evidence-based means that they are supported by evidence from scholarly sources.
  • Workflow?
  • Costs and return on investment?

Opportunities and Challenges

• What are the opportunities and challenges for nurses and the interdisciplinary team with the addition of a nurse informaticist role?
  • How can the interdisciplinary team collaborate to improve quality care outcomes through technology?

Summary of Recommendations

• What are 3–4 key takeaways from your proposal about the recommended nurse informaticist role that you want the CNO and the HR manager to remember?
  • This is the section where the justification for the implementation of the nursing informaticist role is addressed. Remember to include evidence from the literature to support your recommendation.

Additional Requirements for NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Health Care SOLVED

• Written communication: Ensure written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• Submission length: 4–5 double-spaced pages, in addition to title and references pages.
• Font: Times New Roman, 12 point.
• Citations and References: Cite a minimum of three current scholarly and/or authoritative sources to support your ideas. In addition, cite a minimum of one current professional blog or website to support your central ideas. Current means no more than five years old.
• APA formatting: Be sure to follow APA formatting and style guidelines for citations and references. For an APA refresher, consult the Evidence and APA page on Campus.

Competencies Measured in NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Health Care SOLVED

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Describe nurses’ and the interdisciplinary team’s role in informatics with a focus on electronic health information and patient care technology to support decision making.
  • Define nursing informatics and the role of the nurse informaticist.
  • Explain how the nurse collaborates with the interdisciplinary team, including technologists, to improve the quality of patient care.
  • Justify the need for a nurse informaticist in a health care organization.
• Competency 2: Implement evidence-based strategies to effectively manage protected health information.
  • Explain evidence-based strategies that the nurse and interdisciplinary team can use to effectively manage patients’ protected health information (privacy, security, and confidentiality).
• Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly communication to facilitate use of health information and patient care technologies.
  • Follow APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.
  • Create a clear, well-organized, and professional proposal that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

Nursing Informatics in Health Care Scoring Guide

Criteria	Non-performance	Basic	Proficient	Distinguished
Define nursing informatics and the role of the nurse informaticist.	Does not define nursing informatics and the role of the nurse informaticist.	Defines nursing informatics and the role of the nurse informaticist, but the description lacks detail or is missing important information.	Defines nursing informatics and the role of the nurse informaticist.	Defines nursing informatics and the role of the nurse informaticist. References current data, evidence, or standards to support and refine definition.
Explain how the nurse informaticist collaborates with the interdisciplinary team, including technologists, to improve the quality of patient care.	Does not explain how the nurse informaticist collaborates with the interdisciplinary team, including technologists, to improve the quality of patient care.	Identifies but does not explain how the nurse informaticist collaborates with the interdisciplinary team, including technologists, to improve the quality of patient care.	Explains how the nurse informaticist collaborates with the interdisciplinary team, including technologists, to improve the quality of patient care.	Explains how the nurse informaticist collaborates with the interdisciplinary team, including technologists, to improve the quality of patient care. Makes explicit reference to scholarly or professional resources to support explanation.
Justify the need for a nurse informaticist in a health care organization.	Does not justify the need for a nurse informaticist in a health care organization.	Proposes but does not justify the need for a nurse informaticist in a health care organization.	Justifies the need for a nurse informaticist in a health care organization.	Justifies the need for a nurse informaticist in a health care organization and references relevant and timely scholarly or professional resources to support the justification.
Explain evidence-based strategies that the nurse informaticist and interdisciplinary team can use to effectively manage patients’ protected health information (privacy, security, and confidentiality).	Does not explain evidence-based strategies that the nurse informaticist and interdisciplinary team can use to effectively manage patients’ protected health information (privacy, security, and confidentiality).	Describes but does not explain evidence-based strategies that the nurse informaticist and interdisciplinary team can use to effectively manage patients’ protected health information (privacy, security, and confidentiality).	Explains evidence-based strategies that the nurse informaticist and interdisciplinary team can use to effectively manage patients’ protected health information (privacy, security, and confidentiality).	Explains evidence-based strategies that the nurse informaticist and interdisciplinary team can use to effectively manage patients’ protected health information (privacy, security, and confidentiality), with reference to specific data, evidence, or standards to support the explanation.
Follow APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.	Does not follow APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.	Partially follows APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.	Follows APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.	Follows APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references with flawless precision and accuracy.
Create a clear, well-organized, and professional proposal that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Does not create a clear, well-organized, and professional proposal that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Creates a proposal that lacks clarity and/or has errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Creates a clear, well-organized, and professional proposal that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Creates a clear, comprehensive, well-organized, and professional proposal that is error-free in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Health Care SOLVED Example 2

McGonigle and Mastrian (2021) defined nursing informatics as the nursing subspecialty that enables nurses to master data, information, know-how, and wisdom through subspecialties that combine nursing science with information and computer science (p.56). Information technology has changed nursing care and transformed healthcare practice by assisting care delivery, supplementing decision-making, and predicting future trends in care using data. The used potential of technology to improve patient safety and quality of care is enormous (Schoenbaum & Carroll, 2020). 

However, technology keeps advancing and better methods are incorporated into practice. However, these technologies still require human interaction and human input to influence patient care. This proposal describes the role of a nurse informaticist, especially in an interdisciplinary team, explains the impact of full nurse engagement in technology, and finally suggests opportunities and predicts challenges that including a nurse informaticist in an interdisciplinary team creates.

Nursing Informatics and the Nurse Informaticist

Recent developments in healthcare, including the COVID-19 pandemic, opened our eyes to the need to harness the potential of technology in making healthcare efficient and meeting the needs of many patients remotely. Before this, the National League for Nursing, through their new vision, had urged nursing education programs to teach and prepare them for practice in the era of healthcare technologies (McBride & Tietze, 2022). However, the workload from clinician care needs and care efficiency needs can overwhelm the individual nurses, thus the need for interdisciplinary collaboration. 

Nurse informaticists are specialists trained with scientific and artistic knowledge and skills in utilizing data science to influence care through communication, decision-making, and daily monitoring workflow in healthcare systems. Their role is crucial in an interdisciplinary team approach to care because they enable the interdisciplinary teams to work efficiently. Nurse informaticists can influence policymaking and implementation, technical capacity, and patient outcomes.

Nurse informaticists have played an important role in the selection and implementation of appropriate technologies to meet patient care needs in various hospitals. Enhancing technology usability by matching user needs and vendor software features is another way nurse informaticists have ensured that organizations get worth for their expenditures on technologies and that patients have received safe care by using appropriate, safe, and high-yield technologies.

Nurse Informaticists and Other Health Care Organizations

Various institutions have implemented the informaticist role in the clinical and administrative care hierarchies. Nurse informaticists support other nurses, healthcare professionals, patients, and other stakeholders by enabling information structures, information processes, and information technologies.

According to (McBride & Tietze, 2022), nurse informaticists have improved patient safety and reduced care-associated costs (P.10). The achievements of these outcomes have been possible through safe medication administration systems using technology, predicting patient care changes through the prediction of patterns of previous outcomes, and easy documentation, retrieval and access of patient records.

Nursing Education for the Healthcare Informatics (NEHI) developed a model in 2013 through which nurse informaticists interact with other providers and care processes to achieve desired outcomes. According to the NEHI model, nurse informaticists influence public policy formation and the healthcare delivery environment by improving point-of-care technology, patient safety and care quality, and data management (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2021). Therefore, these nurses bridge the clinical and technological care delivery to meet efficiency and safety needs. Nurse informaticists in an interdisciplinary team initiate communication and champion communication technologies to facilitate team activities.

Informaticists also ensure that the team gets access to a high-quality electronic source of health information that would influence evidence-based decision-making. More importantly, they safeguard the security and privacy of patients’ protected health information (PHI) (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2021). Nurse informaticists ensure that members of the interdisciplinary team use technologies and patient information in a well-coordinated manner so that interruptions and distractions do not breach care continuity and give more room for medical and medication errors. By developing protocols and procedures for the use of these technologies, nurse informaticists ensure that uniform technology use empowers members to maintain patient safety and meaningful use.

Impact of Full Nurse Engagement in Health Care Technology

Patient Care

Fully engaging nurses in health care technology impacts patient care, workflow, and costs. Evidence-based practice is the current nursing care paradigm shift. Practice guidelines and decision-making require clinical evidence to improve patient safety and quality of care. Fully engaging nurses in health care technology will enable them to stay abreast of the current practice guidelines and information for decision-making. Healthcare technologies will enable nurses to access evidence-based information from online databases and also enable them to analyze future outcomes of practice using current and past data and information. Therefore, patient care outcomes result from safe and current evidence-based practices. 

Protected Health Information

Protected health information (PHI) can be used to identify patients; inappropriate handling of this information can lead to a breach of patient privacy, confidentiality, and data security. As aforementioned, nurse informaticists enable communication between interdisciplinary team members to ensure successful care coordination. However, coordination requires the collection and sharing of patient information that can include PHI.

Nurse informaticists ensure that this information is protected by implementing access controls such as ensuring secure communication in the team and regularly assessing and emulation the system communication methods to ensure that PHI privacy and security are not breached (Lindley et al., 2020). In-service staff session updates ensure that nursing staff and other healthcare professionals’ knowledge and information skills are up-to-date with PHI privacy rules and guidelines (Park & Jeong, 2021). This increases professionalism that increases awareness levels.

Workflow

Nurse engagement in healthcare technology improves workflow by enhancing care flexibility, improving care efficiency, and facilitating collaboration. Nurses can deliver care remotely to their patients by using technology. Additionally, they can deliver care in a shorter time using technology to care interventions and prevent errors. Finally, nurses’ full engagement in technology enables them to collaborate with other care professionals through effective communication.

Costs and Return on Investment

As aforementioned, fully engaging nurses in healthcare technology improves car efficiency. Efficiency improvement reduces the work input required to achieve care outcomes. However, the costs of the initial implementation strategies will increase due to the costs of purchasing these technologies and training nurses on how to use them. When used efficiently and successfully, technologies could improve patient outcomes in terms of safety, costs, and quality. 

Opportunities and Challenges

Adding a nurse informaticist’s role would improve care efficiency by improving technology uptake and use among team members. This technology would enhance interdisciplinary collaboration to improve workflow and team outcomes, such as work efficiencies. Therefore, the addition of a nurse informaticist role would generally improve care delivery in the interdisciplinary approach.

However, adding a nurse informaticist role would change the workflow in the healthcare organization because they would take up some of the current roles in the work. Role overlap can lead to conflicts that would deter successful collaboration. Therefore, team planning and nursing leadership are required to ensure successful collaboration within the team. Team communication and regular monitoring of team outcomes would improve collaboration. Team decision-making could ensure that every member owns the outcomes of the team activities. 

Summary of Recommendations

This proposal has analyzed the benefits and shortcomings of adding a nurse informaticist role into the organization’s workforce structure. These are the four key takeaways from the proposal about the nurse informaticist role. Nursing informatics is a field that combines nursing science with information and computer science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice.

The role of the nurse informaticist is to support the use of technology in nursing practice and facilitate the integration of technology into the daily work of nurses and other healthcare providers. Fully engaging nurses in health care technology can have several positive impacts on patient care, including improved patient outcomes, reduced errors, and increased patient satisfaction. 

The addition of a nurse informaticist role to an interdisciplinary team can bring both opportunities and challenges, including initial costs, changes to workflow, and resistance to change. However, with careful planning and support, these challenges can be overcome and the use of technology can ultimately lead to improved patient care and better patient outcomes.

Nurse informaticists can play a key role in improving the usability and effectiveness of healthcare technology by matching user needs and vendor software features and by influencing the selection and implementation of appropriate technologies. This can help to ensure that this organization gets value for its investments in technology and that patients receive safe, high-quality care.

NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Health Care SOLVED References

Lindley, L. C., Svynarenko, R., & Profant, T. L. (2020). Data infrastructure for sensitive data: Nursing’s role in the development of a secure research enclave. Computers, Informatics, Nursing: CIN, 38(9), 427–430. https://doi.org/10.1097/CIN.0000000000000677

McBride, S., & Tietze, M. (2022). Nursing informatics for the advanced practice nurse: Patient safety, quality, outcomes, and interprofessionalism. Springer Publishing.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. (2021). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett.

Park, H.-K., & Jeong, Y.-W. (2021). Impact of nursing professionalism on the perception of patient privacy protection in nursing students: Mediating effect of nursing informatics competency. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 9(10), 1364. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9101364

Schoenbaum, A. E., & Carroll, W. M. (2020, September 30). Nursing Informatics Key Role in Defining Clinical Workflow, Increasing Efficiency and Improving Quality. HIMSS. https://www.himss.org/resources/nursing-informatics-key-role-defining-clinical-workflow-increasing-efficiency-and