Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists
Nature offers many examples of specialization and collaboration. Ant colonies and bee hives are but two examples of nature’s sophisticated organizations. Each thrives because their members specialize by tasks, divide labor, and collaborate to ensure food, safety, and general well-being of the colony or hive.
Of course, humans don’t fare too badly in this regard either. And healthcare is a great example. As specialists in the collection, access, and application of data, nurse informaticists collaborate with specialists on a regular basis to ensure that appropriate data is available to make decisions and take actions to ensure the general well-being of patients.
In this Discussion, you will reflect on your own observations of and/or experiences with informaticist collaboration. You will also propose strategies for how these collaborative experiences might be improved.
To Prepare:
Review the Resources and reflect on the evolution of nursing informatics from a science to a nursing specialty.
Consider your experiences with nurse Informaticists or technology specialists within your healthcare organization
Post a description of experiences or observations about how nurse informaticists and/or data or technology specialists interact with other professionals within your healthcare organization. Suggest at least one strategy on how these interactions might be improved. Be specific and provide examples. Then, explain the impact you believe the continued evolution of nursing informatics as a specialty and/or the continued emergence of new technologies might have on professional interactions.
Required Readings
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
· Chapter 25, “The Art of Caring in Technology-Laden Environments” (pp. 525–535)
· Chapter 26, “Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge” (pp. 537–551)
American Nurses Association. (2018). Inclusion of recognized terminologies supporting nursing practice within electronic health records and other health information technology solutions. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing-excellence/official-position-statements/id/Inclusion-of-Recognized-Terminologies-Supporting-Nursing-Practice-within-Electronic-Health-Records/
Glassman, K. S. (2017). Using data in nursing practice. American Nurse Today, 12(11), 45–47. Retrieved from https://www.americannursetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ant11-Data-1030.pdf
Macieria, T. G. R., Smith, M. B., Davis, N., Yao, Y., Wilkie, D. J., Lopez, K. D., & Keenan, G. (2017). Evidence of progress in making nursing practice visible using standardized nursing data: A systematic review. AMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings, 2017, 1205–1214. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5977718/
Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. (2017). Standard nursing terminologies: A landscape analysis. Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/snt_final_05302017.pdf
Rutherford, M. A. (2008). Standardized nursing language: What does it mean for nursing practice? Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 13(1), 1–12. doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol13No01PPT05.
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
Thew, J. (2016, April 19). Big data means big potential, challenges for nurse execs. Retrieved from https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/nursing/big-data-means-big-potential-challenges-nurse-execs
Wang, Y. Kung, L., & Byrd, T. A. (2018). Big data analytics: Understanding its capabilities and potential benefits for healthcare organizations. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 126(1), 3–13. doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2015.12.019.
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
Required Media
Laureate Education (Executive Producer). (2012). Data, information, knowledge and wisdom continuum [Multimedia file]. Baltimore, MD: Author. Retrieved from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6051/03/mm/continuum/index.html
Public Health Informatics Institute. (2017). Public Health Informatics: “shipping” information for better health [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1gNQ9dm0zg.
Public Health Informatics Institute. (2017). Public Health Informatics: knowledge “architecture” [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sofmUeQkMLU.
MY SPECIALTY: MENTAL HEALTH NURSE PRACTITIONER
CHECK THE DOCUMENT, AND BOOK ATTCHED BELLOW , AND CHECK THE REQUIRED READINGS TO COMPLETE THE DISCUSSION QUESTION CORRECTLY.
NURS 6051 Week 3 Media: Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom Continuum
Information technology is transforming the health care field with a plethora of new tools, software, and devices. This transformation has especially affected nurses, which is why health care information technology is often referred to as “nursing informatics.”
Nursing informatics is used in practice settings to help organize and apply data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. The continuum of data, information, knowledge, and wisdom shows how nurses use facts to make decisions and provide care. This continuum provides insight for how nursing informatics contribute to different levels of understanding, decision-making, and evidence-based practice.
The lowest level on the continuum is data. The term “data” refers to discrete sets of details related to a specific situation, patient, or population. You can think of data as isolated islands of facts that any observer would be able to view and objectively identify.
The next level on the continuum, directly above data, is information. Information is the result of processing and organizing data into more manageable structures, and interpreting the meanings of individual data points. Information systems, such as electronic health records (EHRs), compile data and support nurses at the information level of the continuum.
After information, the next level up is knowledge. Knowledge arises when information is synthesized into formal relationships and interconnections. Knowledge involves recognizing patterns and abnormalities based on separate sets of information. Nursing informatics that operate at the knowledge level are called decision-support systems.
Finally, the highest level of the continuum is wisdom. Wisdom is the application of knowledge to addressing clinical problems and complex patient health issues with compassion and regard for ethics and quality of life.
Let’s explore a clinical example of how data, information, knowledge, and wisdom build on each other. Consider a 48-year-old male patient of average height who is slightly overweight. The patient’s recent blood test indicates that he has impaired glucose tolerance and slightly high cholesterol. All of these initial facts about the patient represent data.
The nurse discusses the results of the blood test with the patient, and invites him to return for a follow-up visit. The second blood test indicates higher glucose levels and the same high cholesterol. These serialized blood test results represent information.
The nurse then takes this information, refers to the patient’s electronic health record, and discovers that the patient has a family history of diabetes. This data, added to the information from the blood tests, allows the nurse to determine that the patient has type 2 diabetes. This diagnosis is knowledge.
Finally, the nurse uses wisdom to determine the most appropriate strategy for addressing this patient’s diabetes. Because the patient does not have a personal history with diabetes and is relatively young, the nurse discusses lifestyle interventions to manage his glucose levels. If after six months, the patient’s glucose is not within the normal range, the nurse and the physician will consider medications and other treatment options.
This example illustrates the flow from data to information, information to knowledge, and knowledge to wisdom. It also demonstrates how nurses apply this continuum in their everyday practices and how informatics can play