Nursing Informatics: Nursing Informatics

~ as defined by the American Nurse Association (ANA),is a specialty that integrates nursing science,computer science and information science to manage and communicate data,information and knowledge in nursing practice. Nursing informatics facilitates the integration of data, information and knowledge to support patients, nurses and other providers in their decision-making in all roles and settings. This support is accomplished through the use of information technology and information structures, which organize data, information and knowledge for processing by computers.

Discovery

Nursing informatics was not discovered so much as it has evolved. Computers and information are used in every area of our lives, including health care. Nurses are the largest group of health care workers. The emergence of nursing informatics as a specialty was inevitable. As early as the 1600s when the first hospitals came into being, nurses used available technology, including the earliest patient monitoring devices, to interpret data and plan patient care.

In the 1800s, mathematical reasoning, early engineering and analytical thinking was ahead of what could physically be manufactured in the world. In the 1930s, the first computers existed but were not yet ready for practical applications. By the 1980s, computers began showing up in hospitals and health care centers for basic use. Lab tests could be ordered by computer and results retrieved. It was no longer necessary for a messenger to carry a written paper result to the patient unit for interpretation. The nurse caring for the patient could look at his lab results and plan care more efficiently.

Computerized information came into use quickly in health care. It was seen as an efficient and cost effective way to streamline care, but there were some problems. In 1992, The Composite Health Care System at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was criticized for mixing up information. Doctors orders, prescriptions and patient records were “bungled.” The system was tested and upgraded extensively and re-deployed to store and retrieve millions of patients’ information in 2003. Certainly, this was not an isolated circumstance. The early systems took practice as health care workers became accustomed to using computers for handling information every day.

Nursing informatics specialists are required to be registered nurses. At first, nurses learned to use informatics as they worked and as technology dictated. In some settings, this is still the case but some subspecialties have emerged. With them, additional educational opportunities are also available. Nursing schools use computers as part of their curriculum so exposure to some degree of informatics comes with a basic education. Nurse programmers are those who develop computer programs for use by other nurses. Nurses who work as IT support and training of others are another example of a branch of informatics. Some NI specialists work for vendors to demonstrate systems to potential buyers and others manage information and computer systems for whole facilities. The demand for nursing informatics specialists continues to grow.

Health care changes rapidly. Nursing informatics will watch the climate for parallel change, paying attention to population demographics and to emergent technology to adapt as needs dictate.