Health Medical Homework Help

Below I have 2 different posts. Part 1 you will provide a response to the post along with a reference and the same for part 2. Replies to parts 1 and 2 must be cited and include a minimum of one reference for each.

Part 1

Role & Strategies

The primary beneficiaries of information systems in my workplace are the nurses, which gives them a unique role in selecting and evaluating them. I am a cardiac step-down nurse. Thus my workspace has a relatively higher ratio of nurses to patients than most nurse stations. The reference to information systems in this context mainly refers to health information systems (HIS), which combine electronic health records (EHR) and data from the equipment and machines used to handle patients (Hettinger et al., 2017). The totality of this data is used to make patient-related decisions and for performance management in the unit. The role of nurses in selecting information systems begins with the identification of a need. Notably, HIS is a massive system with several components, and it keeps on growing depending on the unit’s needs. For example, nurses may realize that combining information from the alarm system with other monitoring systems may better picture the status of the patient’s recovery or progress. The nurses will then inform leadership about the need for such an advancement to the current system. Similarly, as the main consumers of information systems in the unit, nurses are more likely to notice when a system is malfunctioning or out of date and request for it to be replaced or upgraded (Hettinger et al., 2017). Notably, nurses are not involved in the decision-making process in the purchasing or maintenance of information systems. Still, the information they provide to administrators has a strong bearing on the decision-making process.

When nurses provide data and information about the systems and the changes needed in them, several strategies are utilized to facilitate the implementation of the information system. The first strategy is the careful balancing act between operations and improvements. The step-down unit cannot be put on hold to allow for information system installation, upgrading, or maintenance (Nelson & Staggers, 2014). Hence, the technicians have to find a workaround that reduces interference in the day-to-day operations of the unit. Mostly, major projects are broken down into small units that are implemented in phases to minimize interference. Apart from the technical aspects of implementation, there are human resource aspects such as nurses and other clinicians using the system. An ill-advised change process in the information systems not accompanied by proper training can precipitate errors and confusion. In such as sensitive workspace, such errors may cost lives or precipitate lawsuits that will adversely affect the institution (Nelson & Staggers, 2014). Like surgeons in the operating room, administrators have to devise ways of ensuring the continuity of services to patients and works on the information systems happen contemporaneously and in harmony.

Despite the best strategies and plans, implementing and upgrading information systems will often face challenges and limitations. The first challenge is the balancing act between cost and quality (Nelson & Staggers, 2014). All hospitals would want to have the best, most advanced, and most modern information system. The institution would also like to upgrade the system as technology advances continually. Unfortunately, the best systems are also costly and beyond the budgets of most hospitals. Therefore, administrators must strike the best balance between cost and quality, which visits a substantive challenge to the implementation process. The second challenge, security, exacerbates this first challenge. The need to protect patient data, including meeting the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements of 1996, augment the cost of healthcare systems (Nelson & Staggers, 2014). The final challenge is the issue of training, more so in specialized units such as cardiac stepdown. Due to advancements in technology in this unit, a small upgrade will create a cascade of changes in the information system that will need a lot of training for the nurse team. Even minor upgrades will thus need careful planning.

References

Hettinger, A. Z., Roth, E. M., & Bisantz, A. M. (2017). Cognitive engineering and health informatics: Applications and intersections. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 67, 21-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2017.01.010

Nelson, R., & Staggers, N. (2014). Health informatics: An interprofessional approach (2nd ed.). Mosby.

Part 2

Roles &Strategies

In today’s dynamic healthcare systems, technology contributes a lot to ease the nursing work and to improve the health of patients through the provision of accurate diagnosis and treatment procedures (Shojaei Baghini & Baniasadi, 2021). As technology emerges, new roles and responsibilities of nurses are emerging to enhance patients’ care and to optimize the productivity of the nurses. The complexity and the cost of different clinical technological systems and rapid changes that are occurring in the nursing environment require clinical leaders to be knowledgeable on the many technological key issues. During the selection and evaluation of healthcare information systems, executive nurses play a vital role within their working environment of identifying an information system that has the core functionality to support any necessary changes within the healthcare workflow (Lee, 2014).

Nursing executives select technological systems that have the functionality of optimizing the productivity of nurses and the safety of patients and also a system that is embraced by the nursing staff (Shojaei Baghini & Baniasadi, 2021). Nurses interact with technology systems more often than any other group of clinicians thus their executive leader needs to select systems that will serve the nursing staff effectively and that will improve the patient’s safety. Based on experience from different healthcare organizations, if the nursing workforce lacks a firm grasp on the processes and functionality involved with online clinical documentation and other healthcare systems, the subsequent rollout of computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and other clinical functions will be very difficult (Lee, 2014).

Nurses use their clinical nursing knowledge to optimize information technology systems and to organize the patient’s care software and electronic medical records. Informatics nurses motivate and encourage other clinical staff to use innovative problem-solving methods by supporting them. The informatics nurses are part of the delivery of care, knowledge development, skills, and experience in the use of information technology (Lee, 2014).

During the implementation of information systems in the healthcare environment, some strategies can be implemented to enhance the implementation. The first is to have well-defined clarity on what problem/s the technology is aimed to help tackle (Flowers & Hinxman, 2001). When an organization identifies its problems that want to be solved by the use of technology, whether it’s storing the patients’ medical records or assessment of patients, it can help in the implementation of the best system that will improve the overall productivity of the healthcare facility. Another strategy is to choose an information system that is affordable and will meet clinical needs. After deciding on which system is best for the facility, it’s crucial to base the final choice not only on the overall organization but on the clinical needs, it should fit for both the organizational purpose and for the clinical purposes. Training staff is another strategy that can facilitate the implementation of the system. Without a trained workforce, working with the system will be difficult thus it’s good to train the staff to enhance their satisfaction with the new technology (Flowers & Hinxman, 2001).

The major barriers to the implementation of health information technology include the lack of a well-trained workforce in the healthcare facilities to lead the process of system implementation. Another barrier to the implementation of an information system is the concerns about privacy and confidentiality of information. As with just every computer network used in the current days, healthcare technological systems are vulnerable to hacking, which means that sensitive patient data could fall into the wrong hands (Flowers & Hinxman, 2001).

References

Flowers, J., & Hinxman, L. (2001). Control’s assurance: best-practice implementation strategies. Facilities, 19(13/14), 515-522. doi.org/10.1108/02632770110409495

Lee, A. (2014). The role of informatics in nursing. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy, 12(4), 55. doi.org/10.1097/01.NME.0000450294.60987.00

Logossah, K., Hoffner, E., Willoughby, L., & Lawson-Body, A. (2014). SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION FACTORS INFLUENCING HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS. Issues In Information Systems, 15(1). doi.org/10.48009/1_iis_2014_323-33

Shojaei Baghini, M., & Baniasadi, N. (2021). Evaluation of Nursing Information System: Nurses’ Perspectives. Applied Health Information Technology. doi.org/10.18502/ahit.v1i1.5256