IndexWhy is nursing informatics so important?Improved documentationReduced medical errorsReduced costsBetter care coordinationConclusionNursing informatics is a field of nursing that incorporates science nursing, informatics and computing to maintain and develop medical data and systems to support nursing practice and improve patient care outcomes. Technologies that have evolved through health/nursing informatics include: Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) Electronic medical record (EMR) Test results Progress notes Nursing notes Medication records. There are three “building blocks” of nursing communications – data, information and knowledge. Data includes direct observations that do not require interpretation, such as: Patient name Age Vital signs History of illness Information is data that has been interpreted. Examples include: Prevalence of hospital-acquired infections, by care unit Percentage of delays in patient care in outpatient clinics, by specialty. Knowledge is the amalgamation of information to identify relationships that provide further insight into a problem. For example: The effect of the nurse-patient relationship and patient outcomes The development of care protocols (e.g. anaphylactic reaction protocols, pressure ulcer protocols, etc.) Although nurses incorporate all three "building blocks ” of communication in their daily routines, the three concepts are also stored in computer programs and software to assist healthcare providers across the continuum in providing safe, high-quality patient care. Nurse Informaticians work to develop communication and information technologies in health care. They also serve as educators, researchers, software engineers, and nurse leaders. Using the building blocks listed above, they help develop evidence-based policies and procedures for organizations. Why is nursing informatics so important? Nurses need information to treat patients safely. They must be able to access medical history, medication lists, laboratory and imaging results, and physician/interdisciplinary team notes to get a complete picture of a patient's clinical status. They use this information to make decisions efficiently to improve patient care outcomes. Nurse Informaticians, as well as other health informatics (pharmacists, doctors, etc.), play a critical role in the continuous development and improvement of healthcare technology. Communication is undoubtedly one of the most important aspects of patient safety. The contributions of nurse informatics in developing and improving technologies such as electronic health records and computerized provider ordering have been crucial in reducing medical errors, delays in patient care, and healthcare costs. For example, before CPOE, nurses would have to transcribe provider orders by hand. Difficult-to-read handwriting and human error caused inaccuracies in transcription, which in turn led to medication errors, delays, and omissions. Today there is software where providers simply click a button and the correct drug, dose and frequency are selected. Additionally, some programs cross-check orders andpatient's allergies and/or duplicate orders to further protect patient safety. Information technology is changing the face of healthcare. As technology advances, healthcare organizations and providers are able to collect, analyze and leverage data more effectively, influencing how care is delivered, resources are managed and teams operate every day . It would be difficult to find an aspect of medicine that has not yet been challenged by the mass collection and analysis of data that have been ushered in by the information age. One specific area on which health informatics is having a significant impact is nursing practice. Although the nursing mission remains unchanged, the daily work of these professionals is heavily influenced by information technology, with particular attention to the accuracy and communication of patient data and care. The nursing profession is changing rapidly to keep up with advances and new challenges in the healthcare field. As direct caregivers, nurses are on the front lines of patient care and as a result often feel the impact of changes in best practices more immediately than other healthcare professionals. Many of these challenges can be supported by the use of information and communication technologies, particularly as hospitals are increasingly interested in reducing costs and shifting care from hospital care to home care,” said Spyros "Information and communications technologies, mobile health devices and wearable technologies are all becoming very, very important to support remote patient monitoring and home care." Overall, IT is used to address everyday challenges, significantly influencing how nurses operate in patient care. One of the main ways that IT has changed nursing practice is through documentation the days of paper charts that had to be meticulously updated with handwritten notes. Today, nurses are more likely to enter notes into electronic health records and other systems that keep a patient's medical history up to date, and eHealth informatics is also an important part of nursing care coordination. The ability to monitor staffing, workflow and communication can help nurses identify areas where current processes can be improved. This can also help ensure staffing levels remain adequate, which is vital to providing patients with the best possible care. If nurse-to-patient ratios fall too low, patients are more likely to experience adverse outcomes. Maintaining adequate levels helps nurses provide the best care possible every day without burning out. Evidence-based practices have long been an essential part of nursing care. Today, determining these best practices involves the use of health information technology. Analysis of the large amount of data collected regarding patient care and outcomes helps determine how best to treat these conditions and situations in the future. The more data that is collected and analyzed, the more accurate the resulting conclusions tend to be, providing the best possible information for determining how best to care for patients in the future. The growing role of information technology in nursing has also created a number of new job titles for those who haveclinical experience and are interested in working with data. easily accessible. Nurses at every level now work with information technology through patient records and other technologies. However, some nurses choose to specifically focus their careers on the intersection of informatics and clinical practice. There are a number of career options available in this lane, including: Clinical Informatics Specialist Nursing Informatics Specialist Clinical Analyst Clinical Informatics Manager Clinical Informatics Coordinator Nursing Informatics Analyst These roles can be found at every level and aspect of organizations healthcare, including leadership and management, advocacy, risk analysis, compliance, consultation, research, evaluation and training. As information technology becomes an increasingly important component of the nursing field, job opportunities will likely continue to develop. While health informatics roles are open to professionals from a variety of backgrounds, nurses are particularly well suited for these roles due to their knowledge of clinical workflow. , previous healthcare training, and experience with healthcare technologies and information systems. If you already have a clinical background in nursing, your next step toward one of these jobs is to pursue specific training in health informatics. While there are several ways to do this, one option is to earn a Master of Science in Health Informatics. In a master's program, you will take courses in important topics such as health information systems, health IT vendor management, health information systems analysis and design, and organizational issues in health informatics to prepare for a career in health informatics. Improved Documentation Documentation has long been considered an important part of the nursing profession, but it is more vital than ever to providing quality care. While nursing theory and practice, standards of nursing practice, legal and ethical considerations, and other points taught in advanced nursing programs all influence nursing practice, it is information and, in particular, electronic documentation, that has the greatest impact . influence on modern nursing. Modern nursing care is driven by the needs and history of the individual patient: information that is collected and organized in electronic medical records. By documenting a patient's condition and sharing that information electronically, nurses are able to more effectively manage care and, by extension, improve its quality. Much of the documentation occurs automatically thanks to connected devices, which collect specific information in real time and transmit it to the patient's medical record. By looking at documentation of a patient's condition over time, nurses can make better decisions about how to provide care and when changes or adjustments need to be made. Reducing Medical Errors Patient safety is a primary concern of any healthcare provider, and nurses are often on the front lines of ensuring their patients are kept safe and preventing medication errors, misdiagnoses, falls and other problems. Health IT provides important data that can prevent these errors; for example, an electronic record may provide information about a possible dangerous drug interaction or allergy that may not otherwise be immediately apparent. Armed with data, nurses can make quick decisions that stick with them,.