Nursing informatics task 1

nursing_informatics

Running head: NURSING INFORMATICIS

1

Running head: NURSING INFORMATICIS

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Nursing informaticis

Student’s Name

Affiliation

Date

Introduction

Computerized management systems in health care is a new technology that incorporates the aspects of promoting effective communication in the hospitals, effective research and analysis of diseases and illnesses, and assist in the overall financial and administrative management in the hospital. There are various systems in the market today otherwise known as electronic medical record systems and are very important to the nurses who are part of the medical and health practitioners in the health industry. Computerized management systems have been of great help in the health care environment and they provide support to almost every person including the doctors, hospital management, nurses, and also it is an advantage to the patients (Kass-Bartelmes, 2002). Therefore, it is becoming very important for every hospital to have their systems computerized and move from the traditional way of doing things whereby patient details and records were manually stored.

Explain how using the computerized management systems could increase quality of care

There are various advantages of using computerized management systems and one of them is it leads to increased quality of care. One of the aspects of improving on quality of care is that there is a very good communication between the nurses, doctors and the patients and therefore it makes the nurses work easier in handling a patient and also they can follow up on their treatment records without having to go through a volume of many files. Another issue is concerning the illegibility of some doctor’s prescriptions with their hand writing which may be difficult for another person like the nurse to read. Cases have happened that a doctor would prescribe a certain medicine for the patient and they put it in writing but when the nurses are issuing the prescribed medicine they end up giving the patient the wrong medicine just because of a small thing like a poor handwriting. Therefore, by the use of electronic medical records system the doctor will type the prescription in the computer and the nurse will be able to access the clear information from their computer (Kass-Bartelmes, 2002).

The other way in which the computerized management system can improve the quality of health care is that there enhance simultaneous charting of the patients even on their bedside with the nurses. The nurses do not have to move to the patient’s location unless it is necessary but still they can communicate very well and safe on time hence making it more effective for a nurse to handle even more patients. All the information can be documented easily by different nurses at their point of care. The other advantage is that the critical information about the patient can be accessed more faster like the lab results which then can be relayed to the appropriate person like the doctor and hasten the process of treatment. The whole process helps in improving the safety of patients in critical health conditions and reducing the errors made by health practitioners while administering treatment to the patients (Kass-Bartelmes, 2002).

Explain why active nursing involvement in the planning, choice, and implementation of the systems is important.

The whole process of planning, choice, and implementation of a computerized management system should be done with the involvement of the all the stakeholders or the people who will be using the system. A good system designer should ensure that the views of the users of the system are collected before designing the system and evaluate on how the system can be made to incorporate every aspect required by the user. Otherwise a system that does not fit the user requirements is of no use to them. The nurses should be involved in the process of planning and choosing the right system that meets their requirement and that which can help them manage their work more easily and effectively. Off course, the system is made to make work more easier and improve on their performance and therefore the system designers should not just sit and make something that they think of and expect it to be fully useful to the nurses. In fact, the designers should first create a prototype system, install it and tests its capability (Kass-Bartelmes, 2002).

If the system is working to the satisfactory of the nurses then the final implementation can be done. It is very important to note that a good working system for the nurses will result to improvement of the services they provide to the patients but a poor system might mean endangering the lives of the patients. In conclusion, the end-users of any system to be developed should be involved in the process of decision making so that they can make a contribution of their views. This will enhance the success of implementing the system and hence achieve the goals of the system users (Kass-Bartelmes, 2002).

Describe how handheld devices used by the nursing staff could be integrated into the management systems for better quality of care.

The new heath care technology should incorporate or assimilate both the old and new technologies that are of importance in enhancing quality of health care. Nursing is a complex profession which requires the use of skills, knowledge and any competencies a person has in order to provide good care to the patients. The nurses deal directly with the patients and they are a very important aspect of the medical industry in providing health care. They are always held responsible for giving the patients the care required and attending to their matters. For the, nurses it might be a bit difficult to access the online details of the patient in the computers while they are dealing with the customer on their bedside. This is because the computers are not placed at each patient’s room where the health cares by the nurses takes place (Johnson, 2008).

In order to enable information access by the nurses personal digital assistants devices have been made which are wireless and portable and the nurses can move with them from one point to the other. The handheld devices can be integrated into the main management system in order to increase information accessibility by the nurses from other parties like the finance and also the doctors’ side. The integration of the system can be done by creating of virtual local area network within the organization and ensuring that the nurses are given more access rights to the information in the same VLANs (Johnson, 2008).

Discuss security standards of data and patient confidentiality, including the need for data storage integrity and data backup and recovery and how the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements impact the use of the systems.

One of the major challenges facing computerization of medical systems is data security. The security of digital health records should be enhanced physically, and technologically and back up machine should be put in place so that incase of failure of one system the other one can be used. The system designers should ensure that they decide on the best way of data recovery in case of system failure. The EMR must include some of the security components in their system security policies and procedures like authentication, authorization, confidentiality, data integrity, availability and nonrepudiation. Some of the authorization measures that should be set in the system include automatic account logoff after a certain period, physical access control and single sign-on databases or lists assigning rights and privileges of users to access certain resources (RSNA, 2012).

The patient’s records should be kept very secure in that there are no other parties who can access it apart from the authorized medical doctors and nurses for the purposes of treatment. The electronic medical records of the patient’s health stored digitally should be accessed only by the interested authorized people for the purposes of making decisions about patient health care. According to health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, patients have the right to determine how and when their health information is shared. Therefore, even the medical doctors and nurses should seek the opinion of the patient before accessing and sharing their information to any other party otherwise the patient can sue the health attendants for misuse of their personal heath information (RSNA, 2012).

Discuss how the new systems can affect healthcare cost.

New system designing, installation and implementation is always very expensive task at first but then in future while the system is being used the cost are down. This is because initially there are so many expenses that are incurred in purchasing the necessary tools and devices to be used in designing and installing the system. The effect of the use of new system in health care cost is that it has led to the decrease in the cost of health care. First of all, the patient can cut costs incurred in travelling to a specific hospital in order to access health services. With the system implemented the patients records can be accessed from any place and therefore the doctors in different places can be able to conduct a proper diagnosis and administer treatment to the patient.

Discuss the benefits these new systems can offer to patient care and nursing care delivery.

The use of new systems in the health care is very essential and most nurses are willing to embrace this new technology in the workplace where it enhances the care process. The advanced nursing practices are required in the modern world to provide a complex and a dynamic health care system needs and demands to the society in a flexible manner. The benefits of using the new systems in patient care and nursing care deliver are many. First of all it is easy and fast to access information or health records for a patient. This would help in speeding the process of treatment to the patient and also save the nurses the time they would require to go through big files to retrieve information. The second advantage or benefit is that there is improved communication in the hospital and also outside the health centers. The health care team can have free flow of information required by the various departments within the organization hence improve on the health care services (WHO Report, 2011).

The other benefit is that the system can be used in helping the doctor to diagnose patients based on the previous cases that have been treated and the drugs prescribed to that patient. The doctor can relate some of the illness symptoms and also evaluate on the effects and how often the patients are reported to suffer from the same illness or disease. The new systems are an important resource for storing medical records, and retrieving it when necessary hence making the process of health care provision more fast and efficient. The use of systems can also help in eliminating errors in health care services which could cause very diverse effects on the patients (WHO Report, 2011).

Recommendation on the type of system to be purchased

The kind of system an organization should purchase depends on the requirements of the users and how well it can fulfill the users’ needs. The system I would recommend for the team is the Health Information System. A Health Information System is not made up of the software and the computer devices only but it incorporates other programs that can be used in clinical guidelines, dictionary containing medical terminologies, and interface of various business information databases with the diagnostic devices and clinical information. The Health Information System can be used to help the management in storage of information hence shifting from paper-based to computer-based storage and processing of information. HIS can be used in managing the operations of the entire health care center by providing each department with the option to interact with the system. The HIS is designed in a way that each department has an access to the information that is of their concern but the rest of the information can be accesses when needed by providing the proper authorization signatures. Therefore, this system is not only good for the nursing community but for entire management of the medical facility.

References

Johnson, C. (2008). Nurses and the Use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) at the Point of
Care. Retrieved 23 March 2013 from

http://fdt.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/fdt/article/view/4906/1766

Kass-Bartelmes, B. L. (2002).Medical Informatics for Better and Safer Health Care. Retrieved
23 March 2013 from
http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/factsheets/informatic/informatics/informatria

RSNA (2012).The radiology information resources for patients: Patient Privacy and Security of
Electronic Medical Information. Retrieved 23 March 2013 from

http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/news/newdetarget.cfm?ID=19

WHO Report (2011). Computerized maintenance management system: WHO Medical device
technical series. Retrieved 23 March 2013 from
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2011/9789241501415_eng