Introduction
Health care information technology (HIT) has become a necessity in the current health care systems as health care professionals strive to meet patient needs. Nursing managers need a mixture of informatics knowledge, technical competence, quality improvement skills, project management skills, as well as organizational skills (Huber, 2010). As an informatics nurse specialist working in a satellite facility, awareness of appropriate health information system is vital in order to offer priorities on available resources. Thus, nurse informatics specialists should strive to create a balance between electronic documentation and the quality of patient care.
Slide3: How electronic health information system affects the nursing process
Clinicians have to follow a series of steps to guarantee excellent care. Electronic health information system has become essential in the nursing process due to its capacity to enhance the process of patient care through the establishment of electronic health records (EHRs). HIS was established to assist clinicians in accessing patient information, as well as advancing health care quality through information sharing. Implementation of electronic health information system was meant to meet the rising healthcare demands, solving treatment and administrative system issues, support superior patient care and facilitate proper decision making.
Slide 4: Sharing information in Nursing Process (Illustration)
Slide 5: How electronic health information system affects patient-centered care
Patient-centered care can be defined as care that respects and responds to individual patient preferences, as well as needs (Snyder, 2011). Patient-centered care ensures that the healthcare professionals and the healthcare departments observe mutual respect through effective coordination. Electronic HIS has assisted in sharing personal information without fear of exposure. Electronic health information system affects patient-centered care by engaging patients with clinicians through communication tools and other information resources. Clinicians apply cautions to avoid dependence on inappropriate data as they direct patients towards appropriate information data. The collection, as well as interpretation of health information from patients assists in offering guided clinical care.
Slide 6: Quality Improvement (QI) and Patient Outcomes
Quality improvement involves systematic actions that measure improvement in healthcare services, as well as health status of certain patient groups. When healthcare professionals have access to correct information, patients benefit through getting better services. The core feature of QI is data. Data indicate whether changes made in the system are capable of bringing improvements. For instance, use of EHRs enable clinicians to be accurate in data input, thus, enhancing patient outcomes. EHRs allow clinicians compare the data when the in-patient checked in and when he/she is about to leave to see the changes. In addition, EHRs permit healthcare professionals to compare reaction of certain prescriptions to certain patients with an aim of offering their opinions to drug manufacturers.
Slide 7: How electronic health information system can support a culture of safety
Electronic health information system supports the culture of safety by encouraging the use of EHRs. Electronic health information system encourages standardization, which in turn minimizes variability (Oster & Braaten, 2016). An increase in adoption of EHRs creates an opportunity to enhance patient safety by tracking changes over time. EHRs enable clinicians to become aware of potential errors, thus, making it easier to report safety issues. EHRs do not change the healthcare culture, but assist in systematic adoption of technological processes to facilitate the culture of safety.
Slide 8: How human factors can lead to errors, near misses, and adverse events
Patient safety is a great challenge to health care provision as it necessitates knowledge and skills in various aspects, including human factors. Adverse events are situations that may cause harm to patients, and they include wrong surgical procedure and use of contaminated devices. The complexity of some medical devices can lead to human factor errors, as some clinicians may lack skills to use some medical devices. Poor handwriting can amount to wrong prescription. The users’ capacity to interpret medical devices may be impaired by puzzling or misleading instructions, leading to errors. Workplace constraints, such as staff workload, temporary staff, and different models of equipment, can cause errors.
References
Huber, D. (2010). Leadership and nursing care management. Maryland Heights, Mo: Saunders.
Oster, C., & Braaten, J. (2016). High reliability organizations: A healthcare handbook for patient safety & quality. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International.
Snyder, C. F., Wu, A. W., Miller, R. S., Jensen, R. E., Bantug, E. T., & Wolff, A. C. (2011). The role of informatics in promoting patient-centered care. Cancer journal (Sudbury, Mass.), 17(4), 211.