When to Consult Nurse Informaticists Discussion

When to Consult Nurse Informaticists Discussion

When to Consult Nurse Informaticists Discussion

When would you consult with the nurse informaticists? Nurses are almost in every health care system involved in the process of delivering care at all levels. Be it in the hospital, outpatient clinics, rural health centers, schools, nurses are present to provide care to individuals to promote health, prevent and treat illnesses, or help people recover to the best level of functioning they can. In our present time, this care is enabled by technology while enhancing patient safety by translating certain simple and complex functions into automation (Cipriano & Hamer, 2013). Combined with the nurse’s training and education, her experience in the day-to-day processes involved in patient care, nurse informaticists are in the best position to be consulted for policy and process improvements to make patient care delivery safer and more efficient (Cipriano & Hamer, 2013). Nurse informaticists mediate clinical and technology which makes them an essential part of the team in designing systems to improve quality and safety in delivery of care (Darvish, Bahramnezhad, Keyhanian, & Navidhamidi, 2014).

As an example, a few years ago, our hospital has involved nursing, led by a nurse informaticist, in developing a new systematic way of minimizing laboratory errors. This was in response to an increasing rate in laboratory test errors that compromised patient safety. The workflow, half of it significantly involved nursing, specifically in the collection and sending of specimen, has been redesigned by automating from the point of receiving the laboratory order from the physician to bedside collection, and sending the specimen to the laboratory. The automation ensures scanning of the patient’s armband and collection at the bedside. If not for the in-depth knowledge and experience of the nurse informaticist in every detail of bedside patient care, the process improvement could have not been realized and successful.

What role does the nurse informaticists play in primary care?

I will always be proud of how our nursing education is strongly hinged on good documentation and effective, therapeutic communication, giving it the reason why nurses are in such an important position to lead and influence change. And because technology pervades the health care system, focus on what the nurses do to be able to provide care for the patients and address their needs safely and effectively is imperative. Before care can even be initiated, information gathering and documentation need to take place. Having seen and experienced the daily processes of history taking, documentation, treatment, referrals, consultation with other specialty groups, coordinating hospital admissions, etc., the nurse informaticist can manage, interpret, and communicate the information that comes in and out of health care facilities, especially in the primary care settings where majority of patients are seen on a daily basis (Rupp, 2016). Nurse informaticists can help customize order sets, documentation templates, and point-of-care reminders based on the clinic’s target population prevalent needs (Morgan, 2017).

Patient care in the present time is greatly influenced by individually, customized care through information gathered from patients which is organized in electronic health records (Rupp, 2016). Having access to this and the ability of nurse informaticists to give meaningful interpretation to raw information and trends, they play an important role in improving documentation, enhancing care management and coordination (Rupp, 2016),

What qualifications and credentialing are held by nurse informaticists?

One of the five core competencies the Institute of Medicine (IOM) identified that all health care professionals should possess to realize the redesign and transformation of the nation’s health care system is the use of informatics (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, & O’Grady, 2014). According to the report, health care professionals need to have a solid foundation and skills in using cutting-edge information technology to deliver high quality patient care (Bormann, 2016). This is a core competency of nurse informaticists which encompasses computer skills, informatics knowledge, and informatics skills (Darvish, 2014). It involves looking at four levels of nursing practice including beginning nurse, experienced nurse, informatics specialist, and informatics innovator (Darvish, 2014).

The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) provides Informatics Nursing board certification examination, a competency based examination which assesses the entry-level clinical knowledge and skills in the informatics specialty (ANCC, n.d.). This is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC). ANCC awards the credential Registered Nurse-Board Certified (RN-BC) after completion of eligibility requirements to take the certification examination and successfully passing the exam (ANCC, n.d.). Credential validity is five years with option to continue use of credential by maintaining license to practice and completing renewal requirements (ANCC, n.d.). The American Nurses Informatics Association (ANIA) offers a nursing informatics certification review course with certification through ANCC (ANIA, n.d.).