Nursing Informatics Roles and Advanced Practice Nursing, Essay Example

As defined by Anderson, Barthold, Duecker, Guinn, et al., nursing informatics is a specialty that “integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, (and) knowledge” in relation to caring for and treating patients. Thus, a nurse that specializes in informatics is a role-player who often decides how a patient will be cared for in a hospital setting, aided of course by informatics in relation to information structures, processes, and computer technology (2012, p. 4).

Some of these roles played by the nursing informatics specialist includes leadership and management, consultation in regards to patients, their families, and other nursing specialists, coordinating treatment options, integrating various types of approaches related to patient care, and evaluating the current health status of patients in conjunction with other nursing informaticians and physicians (Anderson, Barthold, Duecker, Guinn, et al., 2012, p. 17).

Thus, from an advanced practice perspective, a nurse leader such as myself who specializes in the maternal care of women and their newborns, must utilize a special and unique set of skills which I consider as an asset to the proper evaluation and implementation of care and treatment for my often very young patients, some as young as several hours. For example, due to my knowledge and experience related to utilizing computerized health and medical records (EHRs and EMRs), I am able to help other staff members to understand the clinical needs of my patients and how utilizing nursing informatics can improve healthcare delivery by providing up-to-date information which often yields solutions to treatment problems. As  Rojas and Seckman remind us, nursing informatics have drastically altered the way that nurses provide treatment and care in a hospital setting (2014, p. 216). This is especially relevant considering that some of my patients require specialized treatment and care in order to help them to survive and prosper under the loving care of their mothers and other concerned loved ones.

References

Anderson, C., Barthold, M.F., Duecker, T., Guinn, P., et al. (2012). Nursing informatics 101. Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. Retrieved from http://www.himss.org/files/HIMSSorg/handouts/NI101.pdf

Rojas, C.L., and Seckman, C.A. (2014). The informatics nurse specialist role in electronic health record usability evaluation. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing (32)5, 214-220. Retrieved from http://journals.lww.com/cinjournal/Fulltext/2014/05000/The_Informatics_Nurse_Specialist_Role_in.4.aspx