NURS 6401: Informatics in Nursing and Healthcare | Week 10

Think about how health care has changed and progressed throughout the years. What common and accepted practices of the past are not used today? To reflect upon this, consider the following:

• In the 1940s and 50s, lobotomies and electric shock therapy were performed as common psychiatric interventions.
• In the 1950s and 60s, most children received tonsillectomies as a routine treatment to prevent sore throats.
• Prior to the 1990s, smoking was permitted in most public areas, including hospitals.

In light of new research and better evidence, these and many other practices have been discarded or revised to improve health outcomes.

This week, you explore how technologies, such as clinical decision support (CDS) systems, provide nurses with evidence-based research faster than ever before.

 

Learning Objectives – NURS 6401:Week 10: Evidence-Based Research and Decision Support

Students will:

• Evaluate evidence underlying health care practices
• Analyze the use of informatics technologies to promote evidence-based practices
• Evaluate digital communications as a means to support growth as a scholar practitioner

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Saba, V. K., & McCormick, K. A. (2015). Essentials of nursing informatics (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

• Chapter 39, “Translation of Evidence Into Nursing Practice”Evidence-based practice (EBP) synthesizes nursing research with decisions and processes in the practice setting. The chapter introduces current issues and topics related to EBP, including meaningful use, the expansion of practice networks, the use of comparative effectiveness research (CER), and the emergence of electronic EBP tools.
• Chapter 40, “Improving Healthcare Quality and Patient Outcomes Through the Integration of Evidence-Based Practice and Informatics”This chapter details the importance of evidence-based practice (EBP) in health care. The chapter discusses steps in EBP, barriers and facilitators to EBP, and the roles that technology and decision support play in EBP.
• Chapter 41, “Incorporating Evidence: Use of Computer-Based Clinical Decision Support Systems for Health Professionals”In this chapter, the authors explore the use of clinical decision support systems (CDSS) in health care. The authors outline the definition and history of CDSS as well as the future of CDSS in health care.

Starmer, J. M., Pinson, C. W., & Lorenzi, N. M. (2010). Informatics and evidence-based medicine: Prescription for success. Studies in Health Technology & Informatics, 160, 656–660.

This article explains a case study of how one organization developed and implemented an informatics system to improve health care quality. The ways this organization used informatics to incorporate evidence-based practice across many aspects of care is discussed.

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2012c). Evidence-based content [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 7 minutes.

Gail Latimer, Dr. Patricia Button, and Dr. Roy Simpson discuss how and why informatics systems can communicate evidence-based practices to increase the quality of care given to patients. The presenters highlight nurse informaticists’ role in this endeavor, as well as key quality metrics that informaticists should be aware of.

Discussion: Evidence-Based Practice

On occasion, some processes have crept into nursing and medical practice without appropriate evidence to back up their use. For example, consider tetanus shots. In the past, tetanus shots were given to patients who stepped on a rusty nail. It was assumed—at the time—that if the nail was rusty, it must have had some contact with the barnyard soil outside, which meant that it would be contaminated with bacteria. For a while this thinking made sense. As time went on, however, tetanus shots continued to be given to patients who cut themselves on rusty objects, regardless of where the rusty object had come from. And, of course, fewer and fewer people lived within close proximity to barnyards and associated contamination.

As this week’s examples highlight, not all practices that nurses engage in are tied to evidence. For this reason, clinical decision support (CDS) systems have been created. CDS systems support the decision-making tasks of nursing professionals. As the nurse inputs patient information into the CDS system, evidence-based content is provided back to the nurse. The nurse can then combine this content with their own nursing knowledge to diagnose and treat the patient. One of the most useful characteristics of CDS systems is that they are available during the point of care. No longer do nursing professionals have to consult thick research books; a great deal of information can be accessed with a few strategic clicks!.

In this Discussion, you continue to explore CDS systems. In addition, you investigate whether or not a health care practice with which you are familiar is grounded in evidence-based practice.

To prepare:

• Review this week’s Learning Resources and consider how nurses can determine if they are using evidence-based practices in patient care.
• Select one health care practice (e.g., using alcohol swabs before giving an injection) with which you are familiar. Conduct research to determine if this practice is grounded in research.
• Consider how a clinical decision support system provides evidence-based content to its users.
• What are the benefits and challenges of using CDS systems? How can this assist nurses in providing evidence-based care to their patients?

By Day 3

Post a description of the health care practice you selected. Explain whether the evidence you found supports or opposes the practice and whether you believe this process is grounded in evidence-based practice. Next, explain how informatics technologies, such as CDS systems, can facilitate nurses moving toward evidence-based practices. Justify your response.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one or more of the following approaches:

• Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
• Offer and support an alternative perspective, using readings from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.
• Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research. NURS 6401:Week 10: Evidence-Based Research and Decision Support

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Evidence-Based Research and Decision Support

Introduction

Evidence-based research is a rapidly growing field of study that focuses on using evidence to make decisions. This approach has been around since at least the mid-19th century, when Harriet Martineau published her book “Elementary Principles of Political Economy” in 1830. Over time, various disciplines have used evidence-based research to inform decisions about everything from education policy to medical practices and more recently even consumer products like cell phones

Evidence-based research is an emerging field that has gained steam in recent years.

Evidence-based research is a relatively new field that has gained steam in recent years. It combines the best of both worlds: evidence (the data and statistics) with knowledge (the wisdom of experts).

Research using this approach can be used to improve decision making by providing evidence-based answers to questions about different treatments, interventions or outcomes. For example, if you’re looking at a treatment option for your child’s asthma symptoms but don’t know which one is right for them, then evidence-based research will help you make an informed decision based on what other people have found effective for similar patients with similar symptoms. The goal here isn’t necessarily to find something “better” than any other option—it’s simply finding the best one given your specific needs!

Evidence-based research consists of three parts: evidence, knowledge, and application.

Evidence-based research consists of three parts: evidence, knowledge, and application. The first two are straightforward enough: you gather data or information; then you interpret that data or information based on your knowledge of what it means. Lastly, you put this interpretation into practice (i.e., using the results).

Decision support systems help with application by providing customized tools that can be used to solve specific problems in a user’s context—whether they’re medical patients making treatment decisions or engineering professionals trying to design buildings more efficiently than their competitors’.

Evidence can be found through the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods, including surveys and case studies.

You can find evidence through the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods, including surveys, case studies and experiments. Quantitative research is based on numbers, while qualitative research is based on words. Both types of research can be used in evidence-based research.

Let’s say you want to learn more about whether or not children who eat healthy foods at home are more likely to behave well in school than those who don’t have access to affordable fresh food options nearby (i.e., they have a busy schedule and cannot get out of the house). Your best option would probably be a survey—a method that asks questions about attitudes or behaviors rather than collecting data directly from participants themselves—because it allows for greater precision when measuring results compared to other types of survey tools available online today such as polls which ask general questions about topics like whether people enjoy going out with friends (which may not necessarily translate into how well someone behaves during class).

Knowledge is the understanding gained from interpreting evidence.

Knowledge is the understanding gained from interpreting evidence. It is a combination of evidence and interpretation, which can be incomplete, subjective and wrong.

For example: the evidence shows that 50% of people who take part in a study will have their cholesterol level reduced by 15%. Based on this information you may decide to recommend that people take part in your study to reduce their cholesterol levels. However, it’s important to remember that there are other factors which influence how much cholesterol our bodies produce (such as genetics), so even if we do reduce our cholesterol levels by 15%, this doesn’t mean we’ll necessarily live longer or healthier lives!

Application is putting knowledge into practical use.

Application is putting knowledge into practical use.

In the process of evidence-based research and decision support, you may have learned that certain practices are effective at reducing risk or improving outcomes. The next step is to apply those findings in real-world situations. This can be done through training or evaluation of existing programs; it could also mean designing new interventions based on your findings. But what does “applying” mean? If a study finds that one program resulted in lower rates of hospitalization among women with breast cancer than another did, does that mean we should immediately stop using the first one? Or does it make more sense for us to evaluate how well each program has worked over time? As we learn more about how best practices work, their applications will become clearer—but only if they are put into practice!

Decision support is a tool that can help with the application of knowledge.

Decision support is a tool that can help with the application of knowledge. In general, decision support systems are computer programs that help people make decisions. They can be used to aid in many different types of decisions and situations, including health care decisions and business planning.

Decision support systems have been around since the 1950s but only recently have they become an important part of our lives through computer technology and artificial intelligence (AI).

Decision support systems need to incorporate a user’s context to be effective.

The user’s context is an important factor in developing decision support systems. It includes the user’s goals, values, and beliefs. The user’s current situation and environment can also be incorporated into the decision support system so that it is tailored to their needs.

Decision support systems are often used by individuals who have limited time or resources on their hands; therefore they may not have access to all of the information required for making informed decisions on their own (e.g., they may not know what other options are available). In this case, a good way of approaching these users would be through interviews or surveys where we can gather relevant information about our target audience as well as ask questions which would help us understand how they think about certain issues related with their industry/business etc..

Decision support systems can incorporate evidence-based research findings as well as contextual factors unique to the user.

Decision support systems (DSS) are used to help people make better decisions. They can be used by individuals, teams, and organizations to support decision making in many different contexts. DSS are designed to provide the user with contextual information about their environment or situation that supports their decision making process.

Decision support systems need to incorporate evidence-based research findings as well as contextual factors unique to the user’s context in order for them to be effective tools for improving health outcomes or enhancing safety at work sites where workers have been injured on the job

Evidence-based research helps decision makers find new ways to solve problems

Evidence-based research can help decision makers find new ways to solve problems. It’s a way of doing research that is based on the best available evidence, rather than just one person’s opinion or intuition.

Evidence-based research helps decision makers by providing them with information about what works and what doesn’t, as well as how much it costs. This means they can use this knowledge to make better decisions when faced with new situations. As an example: if you want to know whether your company needs more servers for its website but aren’t sure how much it will cost for each server, then evidence-based research might be able to give you an answer!

Conclusion

Evidence-based research can make a difference in your life. It can help you find new ways to solve problems, and it may even save lives. Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll be using evidence-based research to save someone’s life!