NR 512 Week 1: Integration of Nursing Informatics Skills and Competencies

NR 512 Week 1: Integration of Nursing Informatics Skills and Competencies

Informatics is used in my personal practice through several ways. The first, is obviously through a computer. I work in the operating room, and our charting must be thorough and in-depth so that we are able to describe every event that happened during the patient’s surgery. The charting in the operating room is different than any other charting I have done. We do not do a full head to toe assessment, in fact we do not usually have time! We must be able to realize what happened in that surgery through our charting if it were too appear in court one day.

In the cognitive aspect of informatics, it is a little different in the operating room for nurses. I only get a few minutes to allow my patient to trust me with their care. They are asleep during their entire surgery and I am their advocate. I must use my cognitive intuition to call the shots regarding what this patient may or may not want. I must use my cognitive informatics to collect enough data or information about this patient to learn their needs and wants. Usually I only have about 3-5 minutes to do this. This then puts into effect my work that I do as a nurse and my decision-making skills. I believe that the primary area I use informatics would be my initial interview with my patient.

Before the patient comes to the operating room, I am to interview them, check their health record, check their history, make sure both an anesthesiologist and the surgeon have seen the patient, and find out as much information as I can to learn everything about this patient. In the interview, I ask them questions that pertain to them, what I have learned about them through their record, and any questions I may have, or they may have regarding their surgery.

I believe that both the computer side to informatics and the cognitive side to informatics allow us to ensure patient safety. By viewing my patient’s electronic health record, I am ensuring that everything matches what the patient says. Yes, they had hip surgery back in 2004 and need extra padding, or no they did not have hip surgery back in 2004 and can go in stirrups. As a nurse, I am using informatics to ensure that all benefits to the patient are realized (Strudwick et al., 2016).

Reference:

Strudwick, G., Booth, R., & Mistry, K. (2016). Can Social Cognitive Theories Help Us Understand Nurses’ Use of Electronic Health Records?CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing,34(4), 169-174. doi:10.1097/cin.0000000000000226