NURS 6051 Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists The Role of the Informatics Specialist in Healthcare 

Nursing data, when properly collected and interpreted, can be used to improve the productivity, efficiency, performance, efficacy, cost, and value of nursing care (Mosier et al., 2018). With the surge in health technologies over the past decades, the creation of knowledge through digital data collection and information processing has become an important focus within the field of nursing informatics (NI). This discussion post will describe technology and informatics-related interactions at this author’s current place of employment and in a past circumstance. A suggestion of how nursing informatics roles could be improved and expanded on is included. 

Reflections 

The author of this post works in a large urban women’s health clinic where both obstetric and gynecological services are provided. There are 11 registered nurses (RNs) on the staff roster, with six nurses on staff at the clinic each day. The clinic and the umbrella medical group to which this clinic belongs do not have a NI team or individual. However, the lead clinic RN at the women’s clinic is an Epic superuser and has expressed her interest in someday pursuing a specialized certification in NI. As an Epic superuser, this nurse fulfills some of the roles of a NI, but lacks the formal training and education a certified nurse informaticist possesses (Nagle et al., 2017). Staff nurses and other medical personnel can ask this Epic superuser for help navigating and accessing data within the charting system. This superuser can even tackle smaller data management projects like creating patient tracking lists within the electronic health record. Minor issues can be addressed by the superuser during the day, while large systems concerns are generally addressed at nursing staff meetings. To be clear, there is not a formal process or policy in place for these interactions. 

During a clinical rotation at the Children’s Hospital in Denver, Colorado, the author of this post vividly remembers a positive encounter with the hospital’s nurse informaticist. There was a patient with a gastrostomy-jejunostomy, where continuous tube feedings (TFs) ran through the jejunum portion; the gastric hub was not in use and scheduled for regular water flushes. The charting system had a simple tube feeding section, but it did not break the TFs into different sections for appropriate documentation of the various interventions being administered through each portion. Luckily for the floor nurse, the nurse informaticist was doing rounds on the unit that day, so the nurse was able to discuss her concerns with the informaticist directly. The informaticist listened to the floor nurse’s concerns, and then the two nurses together investigated the charting system to see what potential changes could be made. The nurse manager was also briefly pulled over to be updated on the situation and offer input. While this author does not know the final outcome, it was inspiring to see a team of clinical experts, nurse leaders, and technology experts come together to help improve nursing workflow and patient safety.   

Suggestions for the Future 

The NI role is important because it combines nursing and technology science to improve patient care, safety, and workflow (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018). With only 11 RNs on staff at the clinic, creating a full-time NI position specifically for the women’s clinic may not be reasonable. However, the medical group, which embodies half a dozen outpatient clinics, could create a NI position to severe all the clinics collectively. This way, nursing technology processes that prove successful in one clinic could be adopted and amended to serve the other clinics as needed. 

In addition to adding a nurse informaticist to the medical group roster, another suggestion to improve staff interactions with nursing informaticists or technology experts is through nurse leadership. According to Mosier et al. (2018), nurse leaders can positively impact the integration of clinical experts, technology experts, informaticists when tackling nursing informatics projects within hospital systems. Executive nurse leadership helps to organize, design, and influence nursing informatics solutions. This study highlights the importance of upper-level nurse leadership to oversee and improve NI interactions. Leadership is crucial; staff with their own workloads cannot always be expected to coordinate NI projects. For example, in the women’s clinic, the nursing manager or supervisor could help create a defined platform for which informaticists and nursing staff can interact. Perhaps a nurse informaticist could make rounds at the clinic on pre-scheduled days, or nurses from the various clinics can be invited to spend time at the informatics office to facilitate collaboration.