8/16/2021 THERAPEUTIC

COMMUNICATION
[Document subtitle]

BONTI MICHAEL
031104620
 THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATION

NURSING INFORMATICS AND EVIDENCE-BASED

PRACTICE.

1. Describe nursing informatics and evidence-based practice

2. Describe the role of information in nursing.
3. Discuss the use of information technology in promoting client
safety
4. Describe the source and elements of Evidence-based practice.
5. List the steps in Evidence-based practice
6. Describe the ways that computers and informatics support
evidence-based practice.
1.

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society defines

nursing informatics as “a specialty that integrates nursing science,
computer science, and information science to manage and communicate
data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice.”
Informatics is becoming increasingly present in our profession due to
rapidly changing technologic advances. Healthcare systems are
assimilating technology into daily practice at a quick pace. Security and
patient privacy must be upheld while achieving the goal of transforming
data into useful knowledge. Integrating informatics with evidence-based
practice (EBP) can only help improve the care we provide to our
patients.

Applying technology to knowledge may help identify potential problems

earlier. For example, with the use of electronic documentation,
identifying changes in patient status can occur quickly because the
information is readily available. Trending of patient vital signs is always
accessible and the data are interpreted, systematized, and arranged. The
nurse is able to use this knowledge to formalize an appropriate plan of
action.

Standardizing nursing language will facilitate acceptance of new

methods of documentation in the electronic health record. A template for
nursing notes is one method of assisting with our daily workload. The
use of a template can remind you of important information required in
the documentation of patient care.

Research studies, patient care data, and national and local standards are
used to develop informatics programs at healthcare organizations. Other
measures include return on investment analysis, patient preferences
and/or needs, and infection control data. How's the need for technology
addressed? Let's say a high rate of medication errors is identified.
Analysis of how and why the errors are occurring must be conducted.
The research can include collecting data from other facilities in the area
to determine if the same problem exists elsewhere. Following data
collection, the findings are presented to a review board. A plan to
improve the problem is implemented, such as the use of bar code
scanners. Data collection continues to determine if implementation is
successful. The most important piece of implementation is presentation
of the evidence to staff to identify how the change will improve the day-
to-day actions of nurses.

2.

Informatics is changing the face of healthcare. As technology advances,

healthcare organizations and providers are able to collect, analyze and
leverage data more effectively, influencing the way care is delivered,
resources are managed and teams operate each day. You would be hard-
pressed to find an aspect of medicine that has yet to be touched by the
mass collection and analysis of data that has been ushered in by the
Information Age.

One specific area that health informatics is having a significant impact

on is the practice of nursing. Though the mission of nursing remains
unchanged, the daily work of these professionals is being strongly
influenced by informatics, with particular attention to the accuracy and
communication of patient data and care.

3.

Patient safety is a subset of healthcare and is defined as the avoidance,

prevention, and amelioration of adverse outcomes or injuries stemming
from the processes of health care. In 1999 the Institute of Medicine’s
(IOM) report “To err is human” called for developing and testing new
technologies to reduce medical error, and the subsequent 2001 report
“crossing the quality chiasm” called for using information technology as
a key first step in transforming and changing the healthcare environment
to achieve better and safer care.

Healthcare information technology (HIT) has been defined as “the

application of information processing involving both computer hardware
and software that deals with the storage, retrieval, sharing, and use of
health care information, data, and knowledge for communication and
decision making”.

Health information technology includes various technologies that span

from simple charting, to more advanced decision support and integration
with medical technology. Health information technology presents
numerous opportunities for improving and transforming healthcare
which includes; reducing human errors, improving clinical outcomes,
facilitating care coordination, improving practice efficiencies, and
tracking data over time. Since the original IOM report was published,
there has been an accelerated development and adoption of health
information technology with varying degrees of evidence about the
impact of health information technology on patient safety.

4.

Evidence-Based Practice in nursing focuses on the idea that medical

practices ought to be developed and adapted based on an ongoing cycle
of evidence, theory, and research. As changes in practice prompt further
research, the theories developed from that research serve as evidence to
produce more changes in practice. The implementation of Evidence-
Based Practice in nursing, also called Systematic Review, requires the
review of such research with the intention of targeting and improving
inadequate practice. The systematic review of outside research attempts
to make sense of the large body of information available in order to
implement change effectively. The available research may be
qualitative, quantitative, or evidence-based. How can this research be
applied on an individual basis to improve patient care?

Evidence-Based Practice involves the following six steps:

1. Assess the need for change: Formulate the research question based on
the inadequacies of current practice.

2. Locate the best evidence: Obtain sources and assess their credibility
and relevancy to the research question.

3. Synthesize evidence: Compare and contrast the available sources to

find similarities and differences in the various approaches taken.

4. Design the change: Apply the synthesized evidence to create a

change in practice that reflects the new understanding.

5. Implement and evaluate: Apply the necessary changes and assess the
changes to acquire new evidence.

6. Integrate and maintain changes: Reassess based on new evidence to

continue improvement.
Because Evidence-Based Practice focuses on specific elements, those
elements need to appear in the introduction of your project description or
research paper. The elements to include and organize can be planned
based on the acronym PICO:

 Patient/Problem
 Intervention
 Comparison
 Outcome

5.
Evidence-Based Practice involves the following six steps:
 Assess the need for change
 Locate the best evidence
 Synthesize evidence
 Design the change
 Implement and evaluate
 Integrate and maintain changes

6.

The nursing profession is rapidly changing to keep up with

advancements and new challenges in the healthcare field. As direct
caregivers, nurses are in the front lines of patient care and consequently
often feel the impact of changes in best practices more immediately than
other healthcare professionals. A lot of these challenges can be
supported by the avocation of information and communication
technologies, particularly as hospitals are becoming more and more
interested in reducing their costs and shifting care from hospital care to
home care,” Spyros said. “Information and communication
technologies, mobile health devices, wearable technologies are all
becoming very, very important for supporting remote patient monitoring
and home care.”

In nursing, as with healthcare in general, informatics is being used to

address the challenges of the day, significantly impacting the way
nurses’ function in patient care.

One of the primary ways that informatics has changed nursing practice is
through documentation. Gone are the days of paper charts that had to be
meticulously updated with handwritten notes. Today, nurses are more
likely to input notes into electronic health records and other systems that
keep a patient’s medical history up-to-date and easily accessible.