Assignment: Nurse Informatics Specialists (NIS)

Assignment: Nurse Informatics Specialists (NIS)

Assignment: Nurse Informatics Specialists (NIS)

Remedios Hebert RE: Discussion – Week 3COLLAPSE
Main Post

Nurse informaticists, nurse informatics specialists (NIS), and data specialists work with different departments across the continuum. One of my experiences in working with a NIS occurred during my orientation as a new hire at a Magnet recognized hospital. A NIS was the person in charge of ensuring that newly hired employees were trained to use their software system called Epic. Some strategies that I recommend are providing new hires a break in between the lengthy modules and making the training interesting and fun, while assuring there are enough computer technicians to answer questions that newly hired employees may have. The modules were easy to follow for some of the new hires, but others had difficulty. The problem was that everyone was on a different level of learning. Some of the new hires already had the experience of using Epic software, and some did not. Creating employee training is difficult, especially if one is training a new hire without any experience in using a computer.

The following scenario was what I remembered: Every new hire was provided with a thick binder that contained different scenarios in different nursing departments. It felt almost like a race to complete through all the scenarios in the binder, leaving some of the people behind who were not tech-savvy, and were unfamiliar with the use of an EHR system. One data specialist and a NIS were available throughout the orientation to answer questions; however, many of the new hires who lacked understanding from the modules waited a long time to raise their questions and to get help. What was helpful for those who fell behind and needed continuing practice in Epic was going to the learning laboratory. This notion was started on the self-regulated learning principle that effective learning can be achieved by encouraging learners to participate in their own learning process (Sandars, 2013). Everyone was welcome and encouraged to use the computer learning library even after completing their orientation. Sometimes, it just takes getting used to technology by practicing over and over before getting better at it. Going to the computer library is an incentive that many organizations do not have and using it helps the employee to become more knowledgeable.

In 2017, Heidarizadeh et al. reported that many nurses identify some of their challenges are related to systems and technology. This is especially true for me, and I am sure that many other nurses feel they spend a lot of time on documentation requirements, which takes us away from nursing care. Interdisciplinary is a word that I often use when needing to count on other co-workers. Nurses cannot do everything on their own; they must learn to rely on their teammates, other disciplines, and the support of technology. McGonigle and Mastrian (2018) concluded that interprofessional collaboration is emerging as a key to better quality outcomes for patients. This collaboration is supported by the EHR and other technologies that facilitate communication among health professionals. To summarize, I believe that informatics and the repeated upgrades in technology will only continue to help improve the quality and safety of care for our patients. Informatics will always play an important role in our everyday lives.

References

Heidarizadeh, K., Rassouli, M., Manoochehri, H., Zagheri, M. T., & Kashef, R. G. (2017). Nurses’ perception of challenges in the use of an electronic nursing documentation system. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, (35)11, 599-605. https://doi:10.1097/CIN.0000000000000358

McGonigle, D. & Mastrian, K. G. (2018). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed., pp. 537-552). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Sandars, J. (2013). When I say…self-regulated learning. Medical Education, 47, 1162-1163. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.12244

Johnny Herrera RE: Discussion – Week 3COLLAPSE

Efficiency, accuracy, and communication are transformed daily to ensure that medical providers promote patient safety. Nurses play a role in this transition by providing their experience and aiding in developing precise and useful tools. The informatics competency helps nurses use information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision-making at the point of care (Glassman, 2017). Technology, while taking leaps to improve performance, can also undermine nurse-patient relationships and responsibility.

Among the 2.8 million registered nurses currently working in the United States (U.S.), 61% work in hospitals (Macieira et al., 2018). With hospitals engaging in the use of electronic health records, most graduate nurses have not had any experience with paper medical records. Going to a correctional facility and being introduced to paper medical records was a big shock for me. Immediately I could gage the differences between both systems and the loss of time, resources, and accuracy paper records contribute to. A few months into my experience at the facility, the conversion to electronic health records initiated, and I had the first opportunity to work with a nurse informatics specialist.

As challenging as it is, working with an EHR system from day one has its benefits, as the medical team can make changes and create a well-balanced mold. The nurse informatics specialist was present at every staff training and at the physical site when the system launched. Using his nursing experience, the specialist made changes to the format that was beneficial to the entire team and worked one on one with staff members having difficulty. The most important suggestion I would support is the ability to make changes to systems in less time. Waiting months for changes to be implemented can be challenging and discouraging to staff.

Care and promotion of health are at the core of the nursing profession. These principles are overlooked, and “the overwhelming presence of technology at the clinical bedside has the power to become the strongest reference point that nurses use to inform, direct, interpret, evaluate, and understand nursing care” (McGonilge as cite in O’Keefe-McCarthy, 2018, p.526). I have experienced this in the NICU when assessing a monitor that is reading 100% oxygen saturation, and looking closer only to find a disconnected probe. Nurses are cognizant that not one single reference point should determine the clinical state of the patient, and dependence should not be on technology.

Technology and the nursing profession are married in an unbreakable relationship with a common goal. Promotion of health and care is delivered with precision and evidenced-based practice thanks to the work of professionals developing technological advances. Nurses are responsible for contributing to further advancements through their experience, research, and communication with the healthcare team.

References:

Glassman, K.S. (2017). Using data in nursing practice. American Nurse Today, 12(11), 45-47. Retrieved from https://www.americannursetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/and11-Data-1030.pdf

Macieira, T., Smith, M. B., Davis, N., Yao, Y., Wilkie, D. J., Lopez, K. D., & Keenan, G. (2018). Evidence of Progress in Making Nursing Practice Visible Using Standardized Nursing Data: a Systematic Review.AMIA … Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium,2017, 1205–1214.

McGonigle, D. (2018).Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge. [MBS Direct]. Retrieved fromhttps://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781284142990/

 

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.