health information technology
The final presentation topic I have chosen explores the integration of health information technology within the nurse-patient relationship and how this relationship improves quality of care at the bedside. My topic also explores how health information technology can be utilized to improve nursing clinical workflow efficiency and quality. Some conclusions I have drawn from the literature research are that utilizing technology at the point of care delivery has made a significant impact on positive patient outcomes. It is important to note that the proper utilization of this technology is paramount in safe patient outcomes and in aiding the bedside clinician to improve workflow efficiency, quality, and patient safety. I believe that this is a very relevant topic, especially as we may have all recently learned that a former nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee was arrested and charged with reckless homicide for making a medication error that resulted in a patient’s death. A full review of the plight of this nurse, and the judgement made against her is beyond the scope of this post, but its relevance can be related to the information systems and technology at the point of care that were involved in this incident.
According to Darvish, Bahramnezhad, Keyhanian, and Navidhamidi (2014), in an ever-changing advancing healthcare system, technology plays a major role in education and nursing work. Because of the ever-increasing pace that technology develops, the literature notes the need for appropriate education technology programs. Darvish et al. (2014) notes that in order to integrate information technology to effect positive outcomes and improve quality, there needs to be educational arrangements made within an organization to create short term and long-term specialized courses to focus on target groups and their various levels of education. By focusing on these groups and identifying their needs regarding information technology education, the goal is to increase quality of care, safety, and ultimately improve clinical workflow efficiency.
In my current practice a well-designed electronic health record system (EHRS) has been implemented for years. The system we are using currently is EPIC. We currently have excellent workflow efficiency in our extremely busy practice setting. Medication administration safety is enhanced with an integrated scanning system. The only potential issue from my current practice that I can identify as problematic, is that in an extremely rushed preoperative or PACU environment it is very easy to override the scanning tool and administer a medication urgently at the clinician’s discretion. In a PACU during a post-surgical emergency this is essential but when a clinician is just rushed to keep up with the workflow, then this presents a concern.
References
Darvish, A., Barhamnezhad, F., Keyhanian, S., & Navidhamidi, M. (2014, June 24). The role of nursing informatics on promoting quality of healthcare and the need for appropriate education. Global Journal of Health Science, 6(6), 11-18. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4825491/
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