Discussion WK 1

DISCUSSION 1 WK 1

In the modern era, there are few professions that do not to some extent rely on data. Stockbrokers rely on market data to advise clients on financial matters. Meteorologists rely on weather data to forecast weather conditions, while realtors rely on data to advise on the purchase and sale of property. In these and other cases, data not only helps solve problems, but adds to the practitioner’s and the discipline’s body of knowledge.

Of course, the nursing profession also relies heavily on data. The field of nursing informatics aims to make sure nurses have access to the appropriate date to solve healthcare problems, make decisions in the interest of patients, and add to knowledge.

In this Discussion, you will consider a scenario that would benefit from access to data and how such access could facilitate both problem-solving and knowledge formation.

Post a description of the focus of your scenario. Describe the data that could be used and how the data might be collected and accessed. What knowledge might be derived from that data? How would a nurse leader use clinical reasoning and judgment in the formation of knowledge from this experience?

RESOURCES

· McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2022).  Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

· Chapter 1, “Nursing Science and the Foundation of Knowledge” (pp. 7–17)

· Chapter 2, “Introduction to Information, Information Science, and Information Systems” (pp. 21–32)

· Chapter 3, “Computer Science and the Foundation of Knowledge Model” (pp. 35–64)

· Nagle, L., Sermeus, W., & Junger, A. (2017).   Evolving Role of the Nursing Informatics Specialist  Links to an external site. . In J. Murphy, W. Goosen, &  P. Weber  (Eds.),  Forecasting Competencies for Nurses in the Future of Connected Health (212-221). Clifton, VA: IMIA and IOS Press. Retrieved from https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_4A0FEA56B8CB.P001/REF

· Sweeney, J. (2017).  Healthcare informatics  Links to an external site. .  Online Journal of Nursing Informatics, 21(1).

· Walden University, LLC. (Producer). (2018).  Health Informatics and Population Health: Trends in Population Health [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

· Public Health Informatics Institute. (2017).  Public Health Informatics: "translating" knowledge for health   Links to an external site.  [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLUygA8Hpfo

Respond to at least  two of your colleagues * on two different days, asking questions to help clarify the scenario and application of data, or offering additional/alternative ideas for the application of nursing informatics principles.

RESPONSE 1

I work in a small rural hospital that serves a large area. Our hospital has struggled to keep up with the service demand, and the staff is overworked. The hospital administration has been trying to find ways to improve efficiency and make better use of our resources. One idea that has been floated is to use data to help us decide how to allocate our resources (Tripathy & Swarnkar, 2020). For example, we could use data to track how often patients use the emergency room, how often they are admitted to the hospital, and what treatments they receive. This data could help us decide which areas of our hospital are busiest and how we can improve our services.

We would also use data to make decisions about staffing. For example, we could track how many patients we can treat in a day or week without calling in extra staff. This data could help us decide which nurses to hire or whether we need to expand our hours. This is just one example of how data could be used to improve the efficiency and quality of services at our hospital (Tripathy & Swarnkar, 2020). There are many other possibilities, and data could play a role in almost every decision we make.

Also, hospitals always look for ways to improve their services and save money. By using data, hospitals can make better decisions about how they should spend their resources and track the effects of their policies and programs (Carter-Templeton & Sensmeier, 2019). For example, hospitals might use data to identify patients waiting the longest for care. This information could be used to create better patient care plans or to allocate resources more efficiently.

Likewise, hospitals might use data to measure the effectiveness of their policies and programs. This information could help them improve the quality of services they provide to patients. Data can also be used to track patient satisfaction with hospital services (Carter-Templeton & Sensmeier, 2019). By understanding what patients want and how they feel about the hospital's care, hospitals can make improvements that will benefit everyone involved.

References

Carter-Templeton, H., & Sensmeier, J. (2019). The Value and Impact of the Alliance for Nursing Informatics Emerging Leaders Program. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 37(12), 612–614.  https://doi.org/10.1097/CIN.0000000000000603 Links to an external site.

Tripathy, S., & Swarnkar, T. (2020). Application of Big Data Problem-Solving Framework in Healthcare Sector—Recent Advancement. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, 819–826.  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5971-6_88