Reference no: EM132359049
What Does Informatics Mean?
Why is Informatics important to a Practice Nurse? Well, if you have noticed, you can't walk into a health care facility anymore without seeing computers on the desk, in the hallways and at the bedside. Informatics is defined as the use of information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision making. We use informatics every time we send an email or document in a medical record. We use informatics when we search the literature for the best evidence to solve a problem in health care. And, we use informatics to protect our patients by having electronic tools that help us to prevent errors. As you might imagine, informatics is a prevalent and vital component in the health care setting today.
These are the informatics knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for today's healthcare providers:
INFORMATICS
Definition: Use information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision making.
Knowledge
Skills
Attitudes
Explain why information and technology skills are essential for safe patient care
Seek education about how information is managed in care settings before providing care. Apply technology and information management tools to support safe processes of care
Appreciate the necessity for all health professionals to seek lifelong, continuous learning of information technology skills
Identify essential information that must be available in a common database to support patient care. Contrast benefits and limitations of different communication technologies and their impact on safety and quality
Navigate the electronic health record. Document and plan patient care in an electronic health record
Employ communication technologies to coordinate care for patients
Value technologies that support clinical decision-making, error prevention, and care coordination. Protect confidentiality of protected health information in electronic health records
Describe examples of how technology and information management are related to the quality and safety of patient care. Recognize the time, effort, and skill required for computers, databases and other technologies to become reliable and effective tools for patient care
Respond appropriately to clinical decision-making supports and alerts. Use information management tools to monitor outcomes of care processes
Use high quality electronic sources of healthcare information
Value nurses' involvement in design, selection, implementation, and evaluation of information technologies to support patient care.