Introduction
Informatics plays a crucial role in the advancement and day-to-day function of the healthcare industry. The nursing practice relies on data and the transmission of technology; therefore, nurses focus on nursing informatics. (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). Nursing informatics was explicitly created for the nurse’s role in the nursing profession (Sweeney, 2017). “Nursing informatics has been traditionally defined as a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate computer data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing” (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017, pg. 7, para. 1).
Experiences and Suggestions
In the hospital that I currently work at, I am a perioperative nurse. The electronic charting system we use is MediTech which the hospital owns. MediTech, although a fully computerized charting system, is highly outdated, complicated to learn, and even harder to navigate. When a new employee is hired, they are sent to a MediTech training class which is an eight-hour class dedicated solely to trying to learn and navigate our charting system.
Due to the overall laborious process of MediTech, we have seen a rise in verbal and written physician orders to avoid the use of MediTech altogether. With the increase in verbal orders, there has been an increase in errors. In 2017, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices conducted a study on verbal orders, and statistics showed that one out of every four orders was a verbal order. Once this was noticed, my hospital implemented a few new procedures. First, they began to reinforce the read-back method. To take this a step further, when we enter the order and state that it was a verbal order, we must specify that the order was read back and confirmed with the provider. The second is to limit the number of verbal orders a physician can give. Each physician has a limit, and once that limit has been reached, the hospital administration is notified, and the physician is brought in and spoken with. I have worked at this facility for almost a year now and have seen a drastic decrease in the number of verbal orders given.
Technology
Technology has advanced immensely over the last few decades which has allowed for further advancement of the healthcare field (Sweeney, 2017). These technology advancements have created the electronic health records (EHRs), the ability to scan and administer medications, the ability for vital signs or lab values to transfer from one machine into the computer. The nursing profession is a profession filled with nothing but teamwork and collaboration. I believe the continued evolution of nursing informatics and the continued emergence of new technologies will have a positive impact on the healthcare industry. These two items have helped form healthcare into what it is today.
References
Institute for Safe Medication Practices. (2017). Despite technology, Verbal Orders Persist, Read Back is Not Widespread, and Errors Continue. Retrieved September 13, 2021, from https://www.ismp.org/resources/despite-technology-verbal-orders-persist-read-back-not-widespread-and-errors-continue
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge. (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Sweeney, J. (2017). Healthcare informatics. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics, 21(1).
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