A common misconception is that a nurse has the same role and uses technology in the same way
in every healthcare institution. But the reality is that a nurse in a hospital does not have the same
role or use technology in the same way as a nurse at a healthcare insurance organization or a
practitioner's office. In the healthcare information technology field, it is extremely important to
understand the roles and users of the technology. In the discussion topic, consider the following:
How are roles and functions of those roles different depending on the industry?
How does this affect the management of information?
The roles and functions vary depending on what role a nurse has in a particular environment. For
Example, Nurse case managers may have only access to certain medical records and certain
results. They are limited to what is seen or viewed by them. They may not have access to certain
departmental records. A triage nurse may not need to have access to billing information or coding
information because their role is solely to determine what course of action is needed to be taken
for the best care of the patient. Research nurses may not require that they have access to all
medical records.
The health clinic that I work at, give access to patient records on a “need to know” basis. They also
have a “broken glass” screen that comes up when you are trying to access certain information on a
doctor or other higher ups. By utilizing the “need to know” process, this allows privacy and stricter
management of who see what or has access to what information. It helps keep the medical record
private. Also, there are monitors built in to the system that can monitor if someone investigates
their own medical records (flags IT and security that something may be deleted or changed in a
medical record). I think that with the technology that we have today, there needs to be more
security and a stronger detections system to avoid any wrongful doings or wrongful access to
personnel that really do not need to know about another. a People have a common perception
that nurses have the same roles and make use of the same technologies in all healthcare settings.
However, the role, as well as the technology used by the nurse, varies in the different settings. For
instance, the emergency room nurses meet the care needs of the patients in the emergency room.
Their main role in this position is to deliver quality care directly to the patients who are sick,
disabled, and injured (Carter et al., 2014). They are responsible for collecting information relating
to the current health of the patients and preparing care plans for the patients accordingly. They
need to take corrective actions whenever the patients show adverse symptoms. The emergency
room nurses record the vital signs of the patients. They are also involved in performing various
exams and diagnostic tests and providing appropriate treatment to the patients. Specialization is
not required for the ER nurses as they must attend to all the needs of the patients. The emergency
room nurses leverage technologies such as smart beds, EHRs, centralized command centres, and
portable monitors to provide quality care to patients in emergency situations. They also make use
of automated dispensing machines (Fung et al., 2009).
However, the role of a nurse in the physician’s office is very different. In a physician’s office, the
nurses offer less clinical services. Their main role is to update the medical information of the
patients on the electronic health records. They are responsible for assisting the physicians. They
may engage in taking certain measurements such as the heart rates and the blood pressure rates
of the patients. The EHR is the main technology that the nurses in the physician’s office use.
Similarly, the role of the oncology and other nurses also differ. The technology they use also varies
based on the sector they work in.
The change in the roles and functions of the nurses also has a significant impact on the
management of information. The higher the technology used by the nurses; the greater will be the
demand for effective management of information. For instance, the emergency room nurses will
be involved in the management of information relating to the health of the patients. On the other
hand, the nurses working in the physician’s office will have to deal more with managing the
records of the different patients visiting the physician. They must make use of the EHRs to manage
information effectively.
References
Carter, E. J., Pouch, S. M., & Larson, E. L. (2014). The relationship between emergency department
crowding and patient outcomes: a systematic review. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 46(2), 106-
115.
Fung, E. Y., Leung, B., Hamilton, D., & Hope, J. (2009). Do automated dispensing machines improve
patient safety? Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, 62(6).
