CIS450 Assignment Mod 8:

Running head: NURSING INFORMATICS 1

NURSING INFORMATICS 8

Nursing Informatics

Jadiam Lopez

Aspen University

Dr. Bonny Kehm

CIS450

09/18/20

Nursing Informatics

Mitchell & Hull (2020) stated that informatics has drastically changed the face of healthcare organizations. The same author noted that nurses have ventured into the field of informatics for almost four decades. Since 1985, nursing informatics has been considered as one of the specialization fields in nursing resources. Odongo et al. (2019) stated that nursing informatics is a specialty field that integrates computer application, nursing science, and information science to provide data communication management. Therefore, the integration of information technology is an essential aspect of nursing informatics.

Role of Informatics in Nursing

In nursing, just as in healthcare, in general, informatics is used to address numerous issues in day to day. Informatics has changed how nurses function patient care. The first role of informatics in nursing is the reduction of paperwork in the process of documentation. According to Mitchell & Hull (2020), gone are the days when the nursing field was using paper charts that could not be updated regularly. In the current world, nurses use electronic health records and other systems that store a patient's medical history. The advantage of the system is that the medical records for the patients are available and easily accessible.

The efficiency of accessing the data improved by informatics is useful in improving the daily workflow. Similarly, the process of storing information electronically improves the availability of medical information to all members of the healthcare team, including physician and staff teams at other organizations that visit patients. As the world's population becomes more mobile, it is essential to introduce a national wide personalized medical record for different patients. According to Kalsy et al. (2018), data availability assists individuals in having access to medical information in every medical organization they visit.

The second role of informatics in nursing is care coordination. Informatics has improved the tracking process of the staff. According to Odongo et al. (2019), the ability to track workflow and communication is essential in identifying areas where the nursing role can improve. The process is essential in ensuring that the best staff level is maintained in health facilities, which is critical in providing the patients with the best possible care. Similarly, the process has been essential in measuring the nurse-to-patient’s ratio with the aim of striking a balance to ensure that patients do not suffer.

Future of Informatics in Nursing

In the future, informatics nurses will be essential to the healthcare system. In the future, the nursing field foresees the use of information technology in communicating with patients. Likewise, the use of informatics in nursing in the future will be used to train the nurses. The world is facing the introduction of new diseases that require the introduction of new treatment systems. For instance, after the Covid 19 pandemic's emergence, the nurses were required to learn new ways to deal with the pandemic. Lastly, informatics in nursing will be essential in educating the patient on ways to improve their health. The patients should be engaged in the health facilities are to meet improved care and management of diseases.

Connected Health

According to Zhou (2018), connected health is a model for managing healthcare and delivery through technology application. The connected health cannot be ignored in healthcare as the new technology dictates changes in the ways things were done in the past. The introduction of connected health changes the way health professionals and health practices are connected. The patients are given a chance to contribute their input towards healthcare. Furthermore, connected health has been used to assist the patients in following their medical history, thereby understanding the first symptoms that may indicate the presence of chronic disease. Connected health is the root of improved patient adherence, lifestyle, preventative health care, and contact between the patient and doctor. The objective of the connected health is to strengthen and support the patient-doctor relationship.

Examples of Connected Health

The ongoing advancement in health has been facilitated by growth in information and communication technology across the world. The technology foretells the emergence of paradigm in the delivery of health services to patients. According to Dowd et al. (2017), connected health is fluid and dynamic in digital healthcare management involving the sociotechnical model for delivering services to different patients. The first example of connected health is predictive services. The process involves the application of digital technologies that automated the capturing process of information that can proactively predict, diagnose, manage, and deliver preventive and therapeutic care for the health conditions that can be prevented. According to Zhou (2018), the process uses information technology to deliver essential information is engaging both the patient and the doctor. The benefits of the predictive connected health are that it determines the medication to be offered to a patient before it advances to high levels. Similarly, the system is essential in the provision of medical information that assists in preventing certain diseases. However, the system has a drawback of a lack of adequate information to establish different patients' medical health.

The second example of connected health is preemptive healthcare. The process involves the intelligence and interconnection of solutions designed with the results delivered by the patient and the doctor. The results are essential in identifying individuals at risk before developing symptoms through the application of mobile apps. The mobile app assists in monitoring the symptoms and any changes experienced by the patient. The main advantage of the system is that it gives an integrated solution to the medical sector. Similarly, the system allows for patient’s engagement, where the doctor understands the conditions affecting a patient. The drawback of the preemptive system is that it totally depends on the internet.

The last connected health is personalized medicine, which is concerned about offering the best possible medical solution to a patient. The idea behind the system is to introduce the best innovative medical treatment resulting in precision medicine. Personalized medicine is essential in the introduction of innovative medicine records that assists in medical treatment. Similarly, it ensures that the patients get the best possible medical solution. On the other hand, the system has a drawback of a lack of adequate medical staff to walk with the patients through their medical history.

Informatics on Public Health

According to Mitchell & Hull (2020), technology is rapidly transforming the healthcare sector as it has done to other industries such as business. For instance, healthcare has undergone robotic improvement in the manner different activities are undertaken. For example, the world of surgery has changed to incorporate nanorobots that ensure the medicine is delivered through the bloodstream. The informatics in public health has combined information technology, communication, and health care intending to improve patient care. Likewise, informatics is essential in ensuring a technological shift in the field of medicine.

Impacts of Informatics in Public Health

The first impact is drastic savings. According to Odongo et al. (2019), health services are wasteful in terms of money and very expensive. The same author noted that about half of all the medical costs are associated with repeated procedures. Similarly, the cost is associated with applying traditional methods of sharing information, errors in care, and delays in care. The introduction of informatics in the healthcare sector that involves electronic and connected systems reduces wastages in the funds. Similarly, the use of information technology in health has facilitated timely care delivery to lab results while reducing malpractices and increasing communication. The process drives efficiency that was not present before, as all the activities were associated with costly obstruction and incompetence.

The second impact of informatics in public health is increased patient participation. According to Mitchell & Hull (2020), the patients who have access to their medical history and doctor's recommendations are empowered to take a role in maintaining and improving their health. Moreover, the patients who get access to care portals get high levels of education and training pertaining to their diagnoses and prognoses. Informatics enhances the relationship and interaction between the patient and the doctor, which is essential in yielding the best outcomes. According to Odongo et al. (2019), health informatics makes people feel valuable assets in safeguarding their own health. The efforts put in place by the informatics empowers the patients to have a share in their medical treatment. Therefore, the patients are in a position to monitor their medication usage. Lastly, the informatics assist the patients' engagement with numerous web sites or apps that are essential in providing medical information from the doctor.

Lastly, informatics impacts public health by sharing knowledge in the field of medicine. The use of informatics in the health sector has facilitated the sector's naming as "practices." The factor that health care providers keep learning through their daily activities facilitates the process of uplifting the health sector's skill. Health informatics has provided a learning process that boosts knowledge about diseases, medicine, patients, and easily shared therapies. The information is passed between patients and health providers that make the medical field better. Every person within the chain of medical care is facilitated by health informatics.

References

Dowd, W., Cowell, A., Regan, D., Moran, K., Slevin, P., Doyle, G., & Bray, J. (2017). An Exploratory Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Connected Health Intervention to Improve Care for People with Dementia: A Simulation Analysis. Health Services And Outcomes Research Methodology, 18(1), 47-62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10742-017-0175-y

Kalsy, M., Lin, J., Bray, B., & Sward, K. (2018). Role of Nursing Informatics in the Automation of Pneumonia Quality Measure Data Elements. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 1. https://doi.org/10.1097/cin.0000000000000451

Mitchell, M., & Hull, S. (2020). The Alliance for Nursing Informatics. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 38(1), 5-7. https://doi.org/10.1097/cin.0000000000000614

Odongo, W., Ransom, R., & Henao, O. (2019). Informatics & Surveillance in Global Health: Informatics Capacity for Zika Outbreak. Online Journal Of Public Health Informatics, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v11i1.9839

Zhou, G. (2018). Special issue on “Connected health: Applications, systems and engineering technologies (CHASE 2018)”. Smart Health, 9-10, 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smhl.2018.10.001