Breaking the Bridge Between Nursing and Information Technology
In the world where everything has turned computerized, healthcare has also advanced further into the world of information technology. The birth of electronic medical records, and computerized documentation are cues that nurses are now ready for the electronic makeover and penetrate the “Virtual World”.
What is Nursing Informatics?
Together with the changes happening in the world and the everyday advancement in technology, nurses need not be left behind. The role of nurses have already evolved, incorporating information technology in providing care to their patients. Nursing Informatics is a subdiscipline of healthcare informatics where in information technology is applied to the skill set of nurses. Some of its advantages include improving the flow of data collected by nurses during assessment period, making patient information accessible, as well as improving, enhancing making nursing care more efficient and accurate with the use of high tech equipment and gadget.
Nursing in different fields have already incorporated healthcare informatics, be it clinical nursing, education, administration, research and so on. Healthcare and IT have deemed to be important in the improvement in the operation of hospitals. Take for example in clinical setting where electronic charting have made it easier for healthcare professionals to access the health records of their patients at the same time nurse charting and documentation have become more efficient, resulting to less documentation-involved error among doctors and nurses.
Nurses nowadays learn in school with the use of electronic mannequins simulating actual situations. Nowadays, Nursing Informtics have been included in nursing curriculum to better equip future nurses of the high tech equipment, honing globally competitive nurses.
Nurse managers can now create nurses’ work schedules with ease with the use of a computerized system. Hospital administrators can now easily check wards that has nurse shortage, which can be easily be filled up with nurses from other wards that are not too busy.
Information is within easy grip nowadays with the use of computers. Nurses can now easily grasp information through reliable mobile health applications about the indications of a drug, normal values of laboratory tests, certain disease and its management and many more providing care to the utmost quality.
