Nursing Informatics

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Nursing Informatics

• Integrating Nursing Informatics in Education

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Objectives

• Understanding nursing informatics
• Understanding how it affects nursing students
• Understanding why it is important to nursing
• Learning new strategies for integrating
  informatics and technology into course content

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What is Nursing Informatics?

• It is the access and use of data, information,
  and knowledge.
• This access and use serves to
• standardize documentation
• improve communication
• support the decision making process
• enhance quality, effectiveness and efficiency of
  health care
• subsequently advance the science of nursing

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What is Nursing Informatics? Cont

• Informatics can help nurses to make better
  clinical decisions via effective patient care
  management.

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So, Why do we Care?

• As nurses
• navigation of online systems, research, and best
  practice
• Networking
• If nurses wont adapt and use these technologies
  that improve patient care, other health care
  providers and business people will find a way to
  use those technologies instead of nurses
  (Chastain, 2002)

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So Why do we Care?Cont

• As Nursing Students
• Nursing students need to meet prospective
  employer expectations (Chastain, 2002)
• Navigation of online policies and procedures
• Utilize online patient information systems
• Managing information
• Problem solving and critical thinking (Thede,
  2003)

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Integrating Nursing Informatics and Education
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Are Faculty Ready?

• 1/3 of nursing faculty feel NI is not applicable
  to their area
• Students/faculty expectations are lower than
  employers
• Faculty need to adapt

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Strategies for Implementing Informatics into
Education

• We have shifted from an industrial to an
  information society
• Strategic planning (SWOT)
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats
• Teaching requires a multi-faceted approach
• Faculty/Students

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Integrating Technology in Nursing Education

• PDA
• Store, organize, and permit instant retrieval of
  important information
• Just enough information, just in time

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Current Nursing Informatics Education
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Nursing Informatics in CanadianSchools

• Nipissing University
• Athabasca University
• Centennial College
• Dalhousie University
• Kwnatlen University
• University of Toronto
• University of Victoria
• University of Waterloo
• York University

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Nursing Informatics in Education

• Approx. ¾ of schools integrate NI throughout
  undergraduate curriculum, but do not know exactly
  where or how many hours are devoted strictly to
  NI
• Approx 2/3 of schools have a curriculum that
  includes NI competencies, but do not have
  explicit outcome objectives.
• NI educators are most likely to be nurses
  faculty members.

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Popular Outcome Objectives

• Approx. ¾ of schools have outcome objectives that
  address
• Use of ICTs to monitor and assess clients,
  document and evaluate care, and client education
• Security, confidentiality and privacy of clients
  in the use of ICT
• Moral, ethical, and legal aspects of informatics
  with respect to all domains of nursing.

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Fewer schools address

• Nursing information systems and their potential
  for enhancing the nursing process
• Understanding information flow through a health
  care agency and application of ICT
• Benefits/limitations of health and nursing
  information systems (e.g. taxonomies)
• Access, evaluate and use information clinically
• Understand historical trends

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Currently

• Universal access to the Internet, e-mail,
  library, software programs, and computers is 100
  for faculty and 80 for students.
• Universal access to research data-bases is 75
  for faculty and less than that for students.

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Currently

• Less than 1/3 of the schools perceive that
  faculty and new students have adequate NI
  competencies and computer skills.
• Approx. ¼ of the schools are likely to have
  clinical preceptors/staff with adequate
  competencies.
• Approx. 5 schools are likely to have adequate
  graduate students to assist with teaching NI and
  using ICT (Information and Communication
  Technology)

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Technology and Student Learning

• Faculty could transfer grades from course
  management software to the university database.
• Faculty could create reports highlighting each
  students clinical experiences.

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Future of Nursing Informatics for Student Learning

• The Canadian Nursing Informatics Association has
  put out a survey to all Canadian nursing schools
  with undergraduate programs in regards to how
  nursing informatics could better inform their
  practice.
• The survey states that

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Future of Nursing Informatics for Student Learning

• Faculty has more access than students
• Basic use of computers is more common than use of
  computers for nursing purposes
• gt1/2 of schools offer NI courses

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Survey Recommendations
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Informatics and The Nursing Program

• Recommendations
• Start in year one
• Integrate throughout all 4 years of study
• Lab
• Class
• Clinical
• Ensure maximum understanding of the need for NI
• Hands on knowledge
• Create subconscious use of technologies
• Show NIs relation to all areas of the nursing
  discipline

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Barriers

• Barriers include
• Lack of competence and confidence from faculty
• Lack of money
• Lack of educators and programs
• Lack of curriculum space
• Lack of infrastructure support, funding, and
  training
• Lack of training for nurses in remote areas

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Strategies

• Strategies include
• Campaigns for the general public
• Traveling nursing informaticians to spread the
  word
• Fight for reallocation of the budget
• Simply, inform people and help them to understand
  the importance of nursing informatics

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For Discussion

• 1 As a nursing student, what do you feel would
  be most useful to learn in an NI class?
• 2 What have you taken from class to implement
  into your nursing practice in the clinical
  setting?
• 3 How do you feel that NI will help you in your
  everyday practice?

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Conclusion

• Nursing informatics is here and here to stay!

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References

• Chastain, R. (2002). Are nursing faculty members
  ready to integrate information technology into
  the curriculum? Nursing Education Perspectives.
  23(4) 187-191
• CAN. (2006) Canadian Nursing Informatics
  Association _at_ http//www.cnia.ca/intro
• Glasgow, M.E.S. Cornelius, F.H. (2005).
  Benefits Costs of Integrating Technology Into
  Undergraduate Nursing Programs. Nursing
  leadership forum. 9(4) 175-180.
• Meyers, L., Nelson, R., Rizzolo, M.A., Ruter, P.,
  et al. (2006) The Evolution of Educational
  Information Systems and Nurse Faculty Roles.
  Nursing education perspectives. 27(5) 247-254.
• Nagelkerk, J., Ritola, P.M., Vandort, P.J.
  (1998). Nursing Informatics The Trend of the
  Future. The journal of continuing education in
  nursing. 29(1) 17-21.
• Niland, J., et al. (2006). An Informatics Blue
  Print for Health Care Quality Information
  Systems. Journal of the American medical
  information association. 13(4) 402-418.
• Sakett, K., et al. (2005). Incorporating
  Healthcare Informatics Into the Strategic
  Planning Process in Nursing Education. Nursing
  leadership forum. 9(3) 98-104.
• Thede, Q. (2003). Introduction to Nursing
  Informatics Multiple Foci. Cunningham, B. (2nd
  ed). Informatics and nursing opportunities and
  challenges. Philadelphia Lippincott Williams
  and Wilkins.