Response to decision making
Role of Nursing in Information Systems
Jeisy Alonso
4/7/2021
An information system is an essential part of the modern nursing practice. For a long time, the healthcare sector has struggled with the collection, storage, and transmission of medical information (Lin, 2017). It is essential to note that this was the leading cause of increasing medical errors in most healthcare facilities. We cannot understate the severity of medical mistakes because it is one of the country's main courses of death. Medical physicians mainly engage in medical errors because they do not have the requisite information to undertake the correct diagnosis or treatment process (Lin, 2017). Most medical error cases come about at the stage of transfer of a patient. When one unit performs a particular procedure on a patient, they usually transfer the patient to the next unit to continue with the diagnosis process or the treatment process. During this transfer, if the information about such a patient is not adequately transferred to the next unit, there are high chances that medical error might occur because the physicians will be acting on inadequate or inaccurate information (Khajouei & Abbasi, 2017). At this stage, all the requisite information about a patient must be adequately recorded, stored, and transferred to the next unit to enhance efficient medical care (Lin, 2017). To avoid instances of medical errors on the rise in the country, medical service providers need to adopt efficient information systems.
Healthcare facilities are adopting the new technology in creating an effective information system within their premises to enhance better medical service delivery (Khajouei & Abbasi, 2017). In adopting these emerging modes of information systems, the medical facilities are equipping the new technological advancement such as computers, tablets, and hard drives, which endeavor to improve the recording, storage, and retrieval of medical information for better service delivery in these institutions (Lin, 2017).
With the adoption of these enhanced technologies to improve healthcare facilities' information systems, it is essential to note that the role of nurses in medical provision is also evolving to accommodate such changes (Khajouei & Abbasi, 2017). As much as a healthcare facility might adopt these new technologies to enhance its processes and create better information systems, they must acknowledge that it is the nurses that interact with these processes daily. Therefore, it is the nurses who are better equipped to educate the healthcare facility's management about the changes that they are to adopt in their processes.
In creating information systems within an institution, it is crucial to engage the nurses from the initial stages of deciding which technological advancement is required within the institution to implement such changes (Khajouei & Abbasi, 2017). Nursing is a complex practice. In all its operations, it might demand certain advancements to facilitate efficient practice within its various departments, given that out of all the medical practitioners in a healthcare institution. It is the nurses that interact the most with the processes of the facility. It is essential to note that the nurses are better placed to understand the entity's needs, which is aimed at improving its internal processes and service delivery (Khajouei & Abbasi, 2017).
Therefore, the nurses should first inform the healthcare facility about the shortcoming of their current information systems because they are better placed to understand such essential issues (Lin, 2017). After that, the nurses can inform healthcare institutions' management about the most efficient alternative information systems that they should adopt to enhance their processes. The nurses should be privy to the fact that they need to possess the requisite technical knowledge to operate these advanced devices. Therefore, in suggesting the most efficient information system to adopt, the nurses can also demand adequate training on the usage and application of these technologies, which will enhance their service delivery to the patients.