NURS 6401: Informatics in Nursing and Healthcare | Week 3

Technology has indeed taken a place next to war, death, divorce, and taxes as a prime cause of bone-shuddering anxiety.

—John Seymour

The above quote speaks to the initial hesitation that many experience when using new technologies. Becoming accustomed to a new system takes time, planning, and communication. To better facilitate the implementation of new technologies, nurse informaticists can employ a variety of theories and conceptual frameworks. These theories and frameworks can increase the efficiency of implementations, while also decreasing the uneasiness felt by end users.

This week focuses on theories and conceptual frameworks relevant to change management and the implementation of informatics systems.

 

Learning Objectives – NURS 6401: Week 3: Theories and Conceptual Frameworks Essays

Students will:

• Analyze theories and conceptual frameworks pertinent to nursing informatics initiatives
• Evaluate applications of theories or conceptual frameworks to informatics initiatives

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

Adams, R., Tranfield, D., & Denyer, D. (2011). How can toast be radical? Perceptions of innovations in healthcare. International Journal of Clinical Leadership, 17(1), 37–48.

This article examines four case studies that present successful innovations in the NHS. The authors propose a descriptive framework of innovation attributes to convey the perceptions of health care innovators.

Doran, D. M., Haynes, R. B., Kushniruk, A., Straus, S., Grimshaw, J., Hall, L. M., & … Jedras, D. (2010). Supporting evidence-based practice for nurses through information technologies. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 7(1), 4–15.

The authors of this article discuss the practicality and usability of mobile technologies. In addition, they detail how mobile technologies can help to provide evidence-based practice and ultimately benefit the work of nurse informaticists.

Rahimi, B., Timpka, T., Vimarlund, V., Uppugunduri, S., & Svensson, M. (2009). Organization-wide adoption of computerized provider order entry systems: A study based on diffusion of innovations theory. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 9(1), 52.

The effectiveness of a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system implementation is examined in this article. The attitudes, reactions, and thoughts of nurses and physicians involved in the implementation are also discussed.

@Current. (2012). Jean Watson’s philosophy of nursing. Retrieved from http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/Watson.html

Access this website to explore one prominent philosophy of nursing, Watson’s philosophy of caring.

Connelly, M. (n.d.). Kurt Lewin change management model. Retrieved from http://www.change-management-coach.com/kurt_lewin.html

Kurt Lewin’s change theory consists of a three stages: unfreeze, change, and freeze. Access this website to learn more about each phase.

Lewin, K. (2011). Change theory. Retrieved from http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/change_theory.html

This website provides a brief overview of the concepts and stages of Lewin’s change theory.

Required Media- NURS 6401: Week 3: Theories and Conceptual Frameworks Essays

Laureate Education (Producer). (2012i). Theories and conceptual frameworks [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 8 minutes.

In this week’s media presentation, Gail Latimer, Dr. Patricia Button, and Dr. Roy Simpson discuss the importance of using theories and frameworks to guide informatics initiatives. In addition, Dr. Simpson provides an overview of two frameworks he commonly uses in his position, Moore’s Law and the Integrated Research Operational (IRO) model, as well as two well-known theories, Roger’s diffusion of innovation and Watson’s theory of caring.

Discussion: Translating Theory Into Practice

When water is in a solid state, particles are packed in a rigid pattern, conforming to the shape of its container. As the water turns into a liquid, the particles regain their fluidity, moving as the other particles around them begin to shift. Kurt Lewin’s change theory is much like the changing state of water. Applying this theory, Lewin describes workplaces as being frozen in their procedures. In this state, it is impossible for change to occur successfully because people are “frozen.” Informaticists must recognize this rigid culture and begin to implement strategies that will unfreeze the opinions and procedures of the setting. According to Lewin, only then will staff begin to accept new processes over old ones.

This process of moving from “freezing” to “unfreezing” can be a turbulent one. In fact, many nurses have equated this to “working in slush.” By applying theories and frameworks developed by Lewin and others, nurse informaticists can better facilitate informatics implementations. In this Discussion, you explore how theories and conceptual frameworks can be applied to informatics implementations.

 

To prepare:

• Review this week’s media presentation, Theories and Conceptual Frameworks, and consider how a nurse informaticist can use theories to guide informatics initiatives. What are the benefits of using theories?
• Review the article “Organization-Wide Adoption of Computerized Provider Order Entry Systems: A Study Based on Diffusion of Innovations Theory” in this week’s Learning Resources. Consider how Roger’s diffusion of innovation theory impacted the adoption of the informatics system.
• Conduct research in the Walden Library to locate a peer-reviewed article that (1) focuses on implementing a new informatics project or procedure and (2) discusses how a theory was used to guide this implementation.
• Consider alternative theories that might also be applicable to that specific implementation.

By Day 3

Post the APA citation for your article and a brief summary that includes the setting of the implementation, what was being implemented, the need for the implementation, and the titles of the staff who spearheaded the project (if provided). Identify the theory that drove the implementation, and explain how this theory was translated into practice by the planning team. Finally, suggest alternative theories that could have been used and support your response with references to the research literature.

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:

• Provide insight into how two similar implementations differed in execution and/or theory.
• Share an insight about how your own health care organization implemented a new informatics initiative, and the theories that were explicitly or implicitly used.
• Contrast how health care settings used the same theory differently to drive an implementation. NURS 6401: Week 3: Theories and Conceptual Frameworks Essays.

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFO 

Informatics in Nursing and Healthcare

Introduction

Informatics is the application of information technology to solve problems in healthcare. It encompasses a wide range of fields, including healthcare management, electronic health record (EHR), electronic medical records (EMR), health informatics and others. The use of informatics in nursing has been steadily growing due to its importance in improving patient safety and quality of care. It’s vital that all nurses understand how they can apply information technology to improve their practice

Definition of Informatics

What is Informatics?

Informatics is the study of information and its use, as well as how systems work to transform data into knowledge. It’s a multidisciplinary field that draws on knowledge from computer science, engineering and the life sciences.

Informatics is often described as “the science of information”, but this definition can be misleading because it suggests that there are only two separate aspects to informatics: “information” and “science”. In reality, many aspects within informatics fall under one or both of these labels (e.g., data processing).

Scope and Knowledge of Nursing Informatics

Informatics is the study and application of information technologies for advancing healthcare. It encompasses all aspects of health care, including clinical research and development, patient safety initiatives, delivery system improvement, and public health programs.

Nursing informatics refers to the use of computers or other digital devices in order to facilitate communication between nurses and patients. This can include collecting data from monitoring equipment such as EKGs or blood pressure cuffs; storing this data securely; accessing it at any time; sharing this information with others who need access (e.g., physicians); analyzing trends over time so that caregivers can make informed decisions about patient care based on results rather than guesswork alone (e.g., determining whether a medication is working appropriately based on changes in vital signs).

Healthcare Information Systems

Healthcare information systems are used to store and process patient data. They are also known as health records, clinical databases or electronic health records (EHRs). EHRs can be used to store patient information such as medical history, vital signs, medications and allergies. They may also contain data regarding a person’s entire medical history including details of past surgeries or hospitalizations.

Healthcare information systems have many uses in healthcare settings including:

• Preventing errors caused by human error

• Improving workflow efficiency by automating tasks like charting or billing

• Managing risk factors for disease outbreaks through real-time monitoring

Healthcare professionals like nurses use these technologies to aid in their day-to-day workflows. For example: nurses may use an EHR system when entering patient records into the system so they don’t have to manually fill out forms that require multiple steps such as identifying allergies or blood type; or when ordering prescription drugs through electronic medical records (EMRs).

Healthcare Information Technology

Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) is the technology that is used to create, collect, store, retrieve, communicate and analyze information in healthcare. HIT can be classified as clinical or administrative. Clinical HIT includes medical devices such as PACS (picture archiving and communication systems), EMRs (electronic medical records), etc.; administrative HIT includes business process management software such as SAP R/3.

The most widely used form of clinical IT are EMRs which provide a comprehensive view of patient care from diagnosis through discharge from hospitalization or home care to follow-up visits with physicians or other health professionals. The electronic medical record (EMR) system enables healthcare providers to share information about patients with each other electronically so that they can quickly access it when needed during their workday for various reasons including billing purposes; scheduling appointments; documenting treatment plans; checking notes entered into EMRs by nurses during patient encounters etcetera…

Key Roles in Nursing Informatics

Key roles in nursing informatics include nurse informaticist, clinical informaticist, and clinical information manager. Clinical information specialists are responsible for the creation and use of data-based evidence that supports decision making in healthcare settings. In addition to these key roles, there is also a growing number of professionals who perform other duties related to nursing informatics:

• Knowledge management specialist (KMS) – KMSs are responsible for ensuring high quality knowledge products that meet organizational needs. They work with other disciplines such as research or education departments to create resources that improve patient care outcomes.* Clinical documentation specialist – These experts ensure documentation standards are upheld within their departments by reviewing completed forms before sending them out via email.* Quality improvement specialist – QI specialists help identify areas where improvements can be made across multiple healthcare facilities so they can be addressed effectively.* Clinical informaticist – This person has extensive knowledge regarding how computer systems work together with people’s lives; they’re able

Takeaway:

Informatics in nursing and healthcare is a rapidly growing area of study. While there are many ways to use informatics in the healthcare sector, one of the best ways to take advantage of this technology is by using it as a tool for clinical decision support.

Clinical decision support refers to the application of data analytics within the healthcare system so that doctors can make more informed decisions about their patients’ conditions or treatments. It also includes automated reasoning algorithms that help systems reason over large amounts of data with minimal human intervention; these algorithms have been used by Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo AI program and IBM Watson’s Jeopardy!-playing computer system.

Conclusion

As you can see, nursing informatics is an important part of patient care. It provides nurses with the tools they need to make sure that the information they gather is accurate and useful. This article has discussed some of those tools as well as their importance in healthcare today.