Impact of Full Nurse Engagement in Healthcare Technology NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 1 Nursing Informatics in Health Care SOLVED References

The inclusion of nurse informaticists in healthcare has implications for patient care, cost, workflow, and the privacy of patient’s health information. Sensmeier and Anderson (2020) and Williams (2019) assert that nursing informatics provides a platform for solving several patient problems. Technology is used in all processes, from patient triage upon hospital admission to discharge following recovery or any prompting factors.

For example, a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system detects incorrect dosages, frequencies, routes, and durations of therapy in medication prescriptions (Sensmeier & Anderson, 2020; Williams, 2019). Early detection and treatment of cerebellar toxicity caused by high-dose Cytarabine therapy were critical in reducing mortality rates in the clinical scenario at Billings Clinic Cancer Center. Regarding workflow, a nurse informaticist ensures that the majority of the tasks involved in data assessment and documentation are accessible with a single click.

Management of symptoms and toxicities, laboratory and vital sign monitoring, therapies, referrals, and nursing orders are all available with a single click at Billings Clinic Cancer Center (Billings Clinic, 2018). This would improve workflow because all care providers who would need to access the patients’ information for review would be able to do so easily. A nurse informaticist will also implement measures to protect patient’s health information in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and confidentiality rules.

While patients’ privacy refers to the non-disclosure of their health information, confidentiality refers to the avoidance of unauthorized individuals accessing their protected health information (Bani Issa et al., 2020). Nurse informaticists assist in the implementation of patient privacy and confidentiality safeguards such as data encryption, biometrically enabled system logins and password-protected logins. In addition, nurse informaticists may assist in the installation of anti-hack software, which prevents breaches into information systems, to ensure the security of the patient’s health information (Koppel & Kuziemsky, 2019).

Concerning cost implications, recent studies on healthcare systems across the U.S. show that $760 billion to $935 billion, which represents 25% of total U.S. healthcare spending, is wasted annually (Shrank et al., 2019). Nurse informaticists and other health informatics specialists help reduce costs in various ways, one of which is the prediction of health outcomes using analytics, which aids in accurate budgeting for resources required and thus prevents overspending.

Additionally, health informatics drives process improvement initiatives in billing, human resource management, and marketing, lowering costs (Kruse & Beane, 2018). According to a website that analyzes health IT news in the U.S., the Mercy Hospital Network saved more than $4 million in one year by implementing a nursing analytics dashboard (Fox & Ang, 2018). The various examples provided justify the importance of a nurse informaticist to a healthcare organization, which would be used to decide whether or not to hire one.

Opportunities and Challenges

As the field of health informatics expands, so does the number of healthcare professionals working in it. This presents an opportunity for health and technology enthusiasts who want to collaborate with healthcare providers to improve patient outcomes. Furthermore, it has enabled the opportunity to work in close collaboration with other health stakeholders to identify patient needs that would require technology as a solution. However, while health informatics offers promising benefits in resolving patient problems, it also presents challenges.

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