NURS 8210 – Transforming Nursing and Healthcare Through Technology HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND NURSING INFORMATICS: NURSING INFORMATICS INNOVATORS

Nursing Informatics

As Sipes (2022) notes, informatics is the study of computational systems storing and returning data. Nursing informatics has, over the years, evolved to become a significant part of the healthcare industry. Nursing informatics, as noted by McBride and Tietze (2022),  is an area concerned with combining patient care with technology. The American Medical Informatics Association (2022) identifies several nursing informatics innovators who are pioneers in nursing informatics, where they have mastered expert skills and the use of technology to design, strategize, and coordinate the use of technologies and informatics in nursing.

Selected Nursing Informatics Innovators

The first innovator selected is Patricia Abbott, RN, Ph.D. Dr. Abbot is regarded as one of the pioneers of informatics innovation, obtaining her master’s degree in nursing informatics in 1992 and pursuing a Ph.D. in information systems in 1999. Dr. Abbot is currently an associate professor at the University Of Michigan School Of Nursing, where she focuses on the role of telehealth in promoting disease self-management. Moreover, the researcher emphasizes applying such knowledge to vulnerable communities, such as patients affected by heart failure living in home-based environments. From a leadership perspective, one of Dr. Abbott’s strengths is experimentation, being the first to apply data-mining techniques in the nursing discipline (Shortliffe, 2004). Dr. Abbot used such systems in promoting long-term care, extending data mining and big data concepts in care quality and safety, vital applications that continue shaping informatics and health information technologies (HIT).

The second innovator is Judy Murphy, who has more than 25 years of experience in the field of Nursing Informatics with a specialty in Electronic Health Care Records. Ms. Murphy worked in healthcare in Wisconsin, specifically in Milwaukee, where she oversaw a network of 30 hospitals (AMIA, 2021). She has lectured and published on various topics, such as applying technology in evidence-based practice and using automated clinical documentation and methodologies in system implementation (AMIA, 2021). Ms. Murphy has researched Nursing Informatics systems, their functions, and their features. This has helped nurses monitor work and thought flow related to patient care. Some of the skills explored by Murphy are using standard computer technology such as Wi-Fi, IP, and different devices that improve healthcare delivery (AMIA, 2021). Knowing how systems work can help me as a nurse leader in the future to help the nursing staff do their job better and train them through shared governance.

Contributions and Impact of Innovators on Nursing Practice and Nursing Informatics

The contribution of nursing informaticists has helped shape nursing informatics by creating desirable changes in the quality of healthcare through the proper decision-making and promotion of equity through meeting the needs of populations by meeting the needs of the targeted population (Kalsy et al., 2018). The impact of Patricia Kathleen Abbott’s and Judy Murphy’s innovations in nursing informatics on nursing practice cannot be underestimated. Undeniably, their contributions have improved effectiveness, safety, timeliness, patient-centeredness, and efficiency of care. At the same time, the two innovator’s contributions have improved patients’ access to healthcare services and overall improved quality of care. Similarly, notable impacts are evident in the field of nursing informatics. The two innovator’s contributions have led to the widespread adoption of nursing informatics innovations. Examples of innovations that healthcare organizations have adopted and incorporated through nursing informatics include electronic health records/medical records, e-prescribing, remote patient monitoring, and telehealth. These have led to an array of benefits, including enhanced coordination, healthcare cost reduction, better and more efficient storage of patient records, patient empowerment, improved quality of care and patient outcomes, and improved patient safety.

Lessons Learned from the Innovators’

The primary lesson from Patricia Abbott’s and Judy Murphy’s experiences is that the healthcare and nursing workforce must acquire nursing informatics competencies. These encompass the abilities, skills, and knowledge to perform informatics tasks (American Nurses Association, 2015).

Since nursing informatics innovations have advanced technology and approaches to care in various nursing specialties, it is indispensable that present and future professional nurses become versed in the use of informatics and technology to facilitate critical decision-making for optimal patient care. The skills and ideas d

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