Key Issues in Nursing Informatics Since as early as the 1980s, information technology, computer science, and nursing science have all been integrated under the rubric of nursing informatics: with the goal of improving patient care and quantifiable outcomes (Kaminski, 2015). Nursing informatics has also enabled the entrenchment of evidence-based practice in healthcare. Key issues in nursing informatics include the ongoing changes to hardware and software, the need to align various informatics systems and techniques across multiple care providers in a globally integrated healthcare system, and the need for core competencies to become mandatory for all nurses. Advancements in medical technologies and science, such as genetics, will also radically transform the role informatics plays in patient care.

Therefore, nursing informatics has radically transformed the nature of the nursing profession by expanding the requisite skills for professional practice and altering the roles nurses play in healthcare institutions. Even though there have been and will continue to be specialists whose sole role is to create and manage nursing information systems or to train nursing personnel in their use, all nurses now need informatics competencies to function in a dynamic healthcare environment. Nursing informatics is also being continually affected by changes to healthcare legislation like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which mandate provisions for informatics data security. Nursing informatics also impacts organizational culture and structure within healthcare organizations, changing patterns of workflow and decision making related to patient care. The increased diversity and complexity of nursing informatics systems also presents unique challenges for healthcare professionals and systems designers alike.

Informatics and the Nursing Profession

The nursing profession depends on informatics for managing patient data, including health history and also with regards to billing and other administrative duties (Farzandipour, Meidani, Riazi, et al., 2016). Informatics can streamline workflow, making the delivery of care more cost-effective and efficient. Nurses also use information systems to document patient care, offering other members of the healthcare team access to relevant information that improves quality of care and reduces error. In fact, informatics can help reduce medical errors as well as errors in cost accounting and billing. With automated documentation systems, nurses ensure that medications are input correctly, administered at the correct doses, and are not conflicting with other patient medications or conditions. Administrators can use informatics for value-based purchasing decisions, or for matching their purchases with the specific or predicted needs of their patient population. Nurses can also offer patient various options for treatment interventions based on knowledge of insurance coverage provisions.

Nurses also rely on information systems for evidence-based practice. Having access to epidemiological data and databases of recent empirical studies, nurses can optimize service delivery. Nurses can also access big data and meta-analyses to glean the most accurate and reliable information related to best options for treatment. Informatics includes the ability of nurses to quickly access and analyze big data systems to improve patient care, perhaps by using portable devices that allow for on-the-fly research. General practice nurses and specialists alike need informatics during all phases of clinical practice, from identifying patient information upon intake to managing complex conditions requiring the coordination of multiple care providers. Informatics can also help nurses make informed choices requiring patient referrals to specialists or to offer alternatives to unavailable treatments or medications. Nurses can also contribute to the growing body of knowledge by adding information to electronic databases or documenting anomalies in care.

Informatics can also be used to empower patients with self-monitoring tools and methods of communicating regularly with healthcare staff regarding their condition, prognosis, or medications (McGonigle, Hunter, Sipes, et al., 2014). Nurses can offer patients access to their personal medical histories and to general knowledge about their conditions or treatment interventions through the use of informatics. Biometrics are...

Expanded use of patient-centric informatics systems may reduce healthcare burdens by improving preventative care options. Patients located in rural or remote regions have come to depend on informatics for non-emergency healthcare such as via telehealth or telemedicine (McGonigle, Hunter, Sipes, et al., 2014); therefore informatics has improved service delivery to underserved communities.
Some of the most commonly used informatics in nursing include patient electronic health records detailing medication and health history. Lesser known but equally as significant are informatics systems that allow healthcare workers to communicate and collaborate on decisions, technologies that aid with research on best practices, and databases for healthcare taxonomy. For example, different terms may be used to describe similar procedures in different countries—nursing informatics helps to eliminate such barriers to communication that could cause medical errors. Using informatics reflexively, nurses will ace reduced chances for miscommunication due to factors like similar sounding terms or different terms used in different languages or cultures. Informatics also opens up the potential for accessing much larger and more reliable data sets pertinent to specific patient demographics. For instance, the effectiveness of treatment options may vary depending on gender or ethnicity.

As integral as nursing informatics is on direct delivery of care, healthcare administrators rely on informatics for budgeting, growth and marketing strategies, risk management, and for streamlining workflow (McGonigle, Hunter, Sipes, et al., 2014). Informatics can help administrators assess risk and needs using quantitative and longitudinal data or to project future needs based on changes to the local population demographics. Improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of hospitals and other healthcare institutions eventually improves patient care due to the more strategic use of funding and resources. Informatics allows nurses to coordinate care among various service providers or partners, which is becoming increasingly important in team-based healthcare decision-making.

Informatics and Nursing Education

Unfortunately, nursing education has not kept pace with the demand for improved core competencies in informatics. One study showed that less than one third of all teaching faculty in nursing education programs were competent to teach nursing informatics, and that half of all nursing schools had “no future plans or did not know of any plans to offer nursing informatics” courses or programs of study (Madsen, Cummings, Borycki, et al., 2016, p. 783). Nagle, Crosby, Frisch, et al. (2014) also found that the majority of teaching faculty were not only unprepared to teach informatics but also “expressed a lack of support for gaining this knowledge,” (p. 356). The lack of access to proper education throughout the course of a nurse’s education could constitute a crisis in patient care, given the immense importance of informatics to safe, effective, and efficient healthcare service delivery. Attitudes and perceptions need to change if nursing informatics is to be properly integrated into nursing education. Nursing informatics is no longer ancillary to the profession but absolutely critical to service delivery.

To mitigate the current lack of informatics training in nursing education, professional development workshops and seminars may offer healthcare administrators the best option for improving their staff’s competencies (Collins, 2016). Rather than focusing on the theoretical issues related to nursing informatics, healthcare administrators may offer nursing staff targeted training in using specific informatics systems. In-service training and online courses can also offer healthcare administrators and nurses access to ongoing skills upgrades in informatics (Kaminski, 2015). Nagle, Crosby, Frisch, et al. (2014) also suggest that nursing education programs phase in informatics in a systematic way, guided by best practice mandates issued either by professional organizations governing the profession or even via legislative action. Madsen, Cummings, Borycki, et al. (2016) also suggest coordinated training programs that prepare nurses…