Health Care Technology & Nursing Leadership

 

Health information technology is a broad concept that involves the use of technology to collect, analyze, store and share health information.  The utilization of health information technology is not only for health care providers but also for patients to strengthen their communication with health providers. In addition, technology utilization allows patients to become engaged in making decisions about their health to improve their quality of life.

 However, in 2009, health information technology for economic and clinical health act (HITECH) enacted and signed into law. This act entails the utilization and meaningful use of health information technology to improve care delivery and patients’ outcomes. Accordingly, health care organizations have been focusing on utilizing technology to enhance the quality of care. Nowadays, the majority of the activities in the health facilities have been transformed from the traditional paperwork to electronic health records. Databases also have replaced the piled files, filing cabinets, and made information immediate and convenient.

 Since, the digitization of the healthcare sector is happening at a very rapid speed, nurse leaders and administrators have to be informed about new technological advances in health care. Leaders play a pivotal role in technology adoption, as they advocate nurses toward implementing the change. Moreover, nurse leaders should focus on adopting a vision and future plan for more technology utilization, as well as sharing this vision with frontline nurses. Also, leaders should monitor staff on an ongoing basis to evaluate their health informatics literacy. Frontline nurses health informatics literacy facilitate technology adoption and utilization. Accordingly, health care delivery will change and continue to improve leading to better patients’ outcomes.

Citations:

Dykes, P. & Collins, S., (2013). "Building Linkages between Nursing Care and Improved Patient Outcomes: The Role of Health Information Technology" OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 18 (3).

Scherb, C. A., Maas, M. L., Head, B. J., Johnson, M. R., Kozel, M., Reed, D., & ... Moorhead, S. (2013). Implications of Electronic Health Record Meaningful Use Legislation for Nursing Clinical Information System Development and Refinement. International Journal Of Nursing Knowledge, 24(2), 93-100. doi:10.1111/j.2047-3095.2013.01235.x

Workflow management

Health care organizations are facing many challenges that impact the hospitals’ workflow. Health care consumers demands, technology adoption, and health care reforms are factors that influence hospitals’ productivity and performance. Hence, workflow management is the solution for meeting consumers’ needs while increasing productivity. Workflow management in health care is defined as a process of managing the organization work, consumers including patients and health care providers as well as monitoring all the hospital’s activities. Additionally, workflow management includes the integration of information technology systems that can coordinate specific action, create consistency, and deliver visibility by automatically connecting caregivers with relevant tasks and information. Moreover, successful organizational workflow management has to direct the care team on how to accomplish a goal and help them accomplish those goals in a timely manner; that will lead to care that is delivered more consistently, reliably, safely, and in compliance with standards of practice.

However, in my workplace, one of the great challenges faced nurses was the implementation of electronic health care records. Nurses were frustrated because they lacked the proper skills to deal with the new system. This issue led nurses to spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to overcome this problem. The hospital offered educational sessions for nurses presented by IT professionals. That created another problem in some of the hospital’s busy units. Those units needed additional staff to cover for nurses who went to attend the educational sessions, which led to creating disturbances in the units’ workflow. My proposed solution to this problem is to create online tutorials explaining how to properly access electronic health records. Instead of attending educational sessions and leaving the units, creating online tutorials available in the units’ computers for nurses to use will be helpful. Nurses will use the tutorials to solve any problems, reduce the time they spend on documentation and provide patients with the care needed.

 

Citations:

Amorosano, D. (2014). Document management gets personal. Streamline your healthcare workflow. Health Management Technology, 35(6), 12-15.

Cain, C. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2638/

Chaiken, B. P. (n.d.). Workflow in Healthcare. Retrieved from http://www.docsnetwork.com/articles/BPC97112.pdf

Nursing Leaders and Technology

The utilization of technology has led to a great transformation of the health care industry. New advances in health care delivery, high quality of care and better patients’ outcomes are all considered as benefits of leveraging technology. Successful technology adoption has to trickle from the top down. Nurse leaders and administrators support of technology play a pivotal role in its integration. Leaders have the ability to empower and influence staff nurses to move forward and implement changes that improve care delivery and enhance patients’ outcomes.

However, health care organizations should develop programs for nurse leaders that stress the value of information technology and empower them to use technology in their daily work. Additionally, strengthen collaboration between leaders at all level to share their experiences with technology and create ideas that facilitate technology utilization. Sharing experiences with technology will help leaders realize the benefits of technology and accelerate the development and adoption of such innovation into practice. Moreover, health organizations should expand and integrate informatics competencies into nursing leadership role. These competencies include the emphasis on evidence-based practice utilization and the use of data analysis techniques. However, leaders who leverage technology will have a great influence on nurses. Continuous staff monitoring and engagement change the way nurses deliver care to patients. Further, The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) has developed several tools to assist nurse leaders in incorporating technology into their work.

Citations:

Amendola, M. (2008). An examination of the leadership competency requirements of nurse leaders in healthcare information technology.

Poe, S. S. (2011). Building nursing intellectual capital for safe use of information technology: a systematic review. Journal Of Nursing Care Quality, 26(1), 4-12. doi:10.1097/NCQ.0b013e3181e15c88

Human-Technology Interface

Nowadays, health care organizations have different types of technologies in place. Since, technology has become involved in patients' care, health care providers encounter a wide variety of technology on a daily basis. Every time a human interacts with different types of technology, such as computers, phones, and monitors, this interaction is called human-technology interface. Moreover, human-technology interfaces are vital to nursing practice and patient care. In health care settings, nurses encounter many human-technology interfaces, including; utilizing defibrillators, intravenous pumps, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps, electronic thermometers and cardiac monitors. All these technologies are necessary to provide patients with high quality of care. Additionally, the nursing leaders job requires them to interact with technology frequently. Leaders use databases to obtain information about quality measures, and the latest technology advances. In addition, leaders have to stay up to date with technology to support HITECH Act integration. Here is a video as an example of human-technology interface.

Further, the Barcode medication administration system is an example affirms that the human-technology interface is enhancing patient outcomes; while maintaining a connected and caring relationship between the nurse and the patient. The Barcode systems reduce medication errors because the nurse has to scan the patient’s identification bracelet and the unit dose of the medication at the bedside. At the same time, the nurse should ask the patient to identify himself and explain to him/her about the medication. The nurse and patient conversation and frequent communication is the best way to maintain a caring relationship while utilizing technology.

Citations:

Funk, M. (2011). AS HEALTH CARE TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES: BENEFITS AND RISKS. American Journal Of Critical Care, 20(4), 285-291. doi:10.4037/ajcc2011810

Hill, T. (2013). Invited Editorial: Caring and Technology. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics, 17 (3). Retrieved  http://ojni.org/issues/?p=2856.

Standardized Nursing Language/ (PCDS) Patient Care Data Set

(PCDS) Patient Care Data Set

Throughout history, nurses have documented nursing care using various methods. Consequently, there is a wide range of terms that describe the same care (McCartney, 2011). As a result, a standardized nursing language have been developed decades ago to be used as a common language, understood by all nurses and describe nursing care (Rutherford, 2008). Standardized nursing language led to positive changes in the nursing world. Nurses from different units, hospitals, or all around the globe can use commonly understood terminology to identify specific problems, intervention and outcomes (O'Connor, Hameister & Kershaw, 2000). Moreover, there are thirteen terminology sets that had been approved by the American Nurses Association (ANA). One of these sets is PCDS, which is retired. (PCDS) stands for patient care data set, was developed by Judy Ozbolt along with members of the health system at the University of Virginia in 1992. After that, Vanderbilt University medical center tested PCDS for validity and reliability (Ozbolt, Fruchtnicht & Hayden, 1994). The patient care data set is a combination of terminologies that represent patient problems, care goals, goal achievement status, and patient care orders. In addition, the data set contains nursing diagnosis from NANDA, patient care activities and nursing outcomes (Ozbolt, Fruchtnicht & Hayden, 1994). However, PCDS is not a classification systems; it mainly serves as a set of terms to be used in hospital’s acute care settings to capture and represent data in the patient care information system. Further, PCDS terms are organized into twenty-two components, and each component contains three axes. These axes are problems, goals, and orders (Ozbolt, Fruchtnicht & Hayden, 1994). PCDS is used by nurses and other health care providers, including physicians and health care workers in acute care settings to plan patient care and document clinical events (Ozbolt, Fruchtnicht & Hayden, 1994).

Citations:

 

McCartney, P. (2011). Health information technology. Standardized nursing language and diabetes in children. MCN: The American Journal Of Maternal Child Nursing, 36(1), 64. doi:10.1097/NMC.0b013e3181fbaa89

O'Connor, N., Hameister, A., & Kershaw, T. (2000). Application of standardized nursing language to describe adult nurse practitioner practice. Nursing Diagnosis, 11(3), 109-120.

Ozbolt, J. G., Fruchtnicht, J. N., & Hayden, J. R. (1994). Toward data standards for clinical nursing information. Journal Of The American Medical Informatics Association: JAMIA, 1(2), 175-185.

Rutherford, M., (Jan. 31, 2008)  "Standardized Nursing Language: What Does It Mean for Nursing Practice? "OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Vol. 13 No. 1.