Discussion: The Application of Data to Problem-Solving NURS 6051

Discussion: The Application of Data to Problem-Solving NURS 6051

Discussion: The Application of Data to Problem-Solving NURS 6051

Module 1: What Is Informatics? (Weeks 1-2)

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). What is Informatics? [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Accessible player  –Downloads– Download Video w/CC Download Audio Download Transcript

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze how data collection and access can be used to derive knowledge in a healthcare setting
• Analyze the role of the nurse leader in using clinical reasoning and judgement in the formation of knowledge
• Explain the role of the nurse as a knowledge worker
• Explain concepts of nursing informatics
• Create infographics related to nursing informatics and the role of the nurse as a knowledge worker

Due By	Assignment
Week 1, Days 1–2	Read/Watch/Listen to the Learning Resources. Compose your initial Discussion post.
Week 1, Day 3	Post your initial Discussion post. Begin to compose your Assignment.
Week 1, Days 4-5	Review peer Discussion posts. Compose your peer Discussion responses. Continue to compose your Assignment.
Week 1, Day 6	Post at least two peer Discussion responses on two different days (and not the same day as the initial post). Continue to compose your Assignment.
Week 1, Day 7	Wrap up Discussion.
Week 2, Day 1–6	Continue to compose your Assignment.
Week 2, Day 7	Deadline to submit your Assignment.

Learning Resources

Required Readings

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

• Chapter 1, “Nursing Science and the Foundation of Knowledge” (pp. 7–19)
• Chapter 2, “Introduction to Information, Information Science, and Information Systems” (pp. 21–33)
• Chapter 3, “Computer Science and the Foundation of Knowledge Model” (pp. 35–62)

Nagle, L., Sermeus, W., & Junger, A. (2017).  Evolving Role of the Nursing Infomatics Specialist. In J. Murphy, W. Goosen, &  P. Weber  (Eds.), Forecasting Competencies for Nurses in the Future of Connected Health (212-221). Clifton, VA: IMIA and IOS Press. Retrieved from https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_4A0FEA56B8CB.P001/REF

Sweeney, J. (2017). Healthcare informatics. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics, 21(1).

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Health Informatics and Population Health: Trends in Population Health [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Accessible player  –Downloads– Download Video w/CC Download Audio Download Transcript

Credit: Provided courtesy of the Laureate International Network of Universities.

Public Health Informatics Institute. (2017). Public Health Informatics: “translating” knowledge for health [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLUygA8Hpfo

Also Read:

Data Information Knowledge Wisdom DIKW NURS 6051

Discussion: The Application of Data to Problem-Solving

In the modern era, there are few professions that do not to some extent rely on data. Stockbrokers rely on market data to advise clients on financial matters. Meteorologists rely on weather data to forecast weather conditions, while realtors rely on data to advise on the purchase and sale of property. In these and other cases, data not only helps solve problems, but adds to the practitioner’s and the discipline’s body of knowledge.

Of course, the nursing profession also relies heavily on data. The field of nursing informatics aims to make sure nurses have access to the appropriate date to solve healthcare problems, make decisions in the interest of patients, and add to knowledge.

In this Discussion, you will consider a scenario that would benefit from access to data and how such access could facilitate both problem-solving and knowledge formation.

To Prepare:

• Reflect on the concepts of informatics and knowledge work as presented in the Resources.
• Consider a hypothetical scenario based on your own healthcare practice or organization that would require or benefit from the access/collection and application of data. Your scenario may involve a patient, staff, or management problem or gap.

By Day 3 of Week 1

Post a description of the focus of your scenario. Describe the data that could be used and how the data might be collected and accessed. What knowledge might be derived from that data? How would a nurse leader use clinical reasoning and judgment in the formation of knowledge from this experience?

The Application of Data to Problem-solving Example

For decades, different institutions have been acquiring information and using it to solve various problems. Small businesses, as well as large enterprises, have also been doing the same. In the healthcare sphere, nurses have been using different methods to obtain data, which is then analyzed and later used to find solutions for various problems in the sector. As McConigle and Mastrian (2017) mentioned, the nursing profession is information intensive. Without collecting relevant data, the nursing sector would be unable to deliver quality services to patients, thereby crippling the entire healthcare realm.

Informatics Clinical Application

While working as a Clinical Nurse Coordinator, sometimes back, data collection was a vital part of my operation. On the 28-bed telemetry floor, I realized that whenever I approached the management without adequate data to support my ideas about solving various problems at the workplace, the concepts would fall on deaf ears. However, the administration was always happy to listen to my thoughts on something if my presentation had adequate data to support the concepts. Therefore, no matter how good your thoughts are, they do not mean a lot unless you have gathered enough facts to support them. That is why the data collection and analysis process is vital to the nursing practice realm. 

Data helps to support arguments conclusively (Sweeney, 2017). Currently, there is an idea that I am trying to put on the table that involves proving to the management that the facility needs more nurses on the telemetry floor to free-charge nurses for the numerous patient tasks that they handle during the shifts. Charge nurses ensure everything runs smoothly at a medical facility during a certain shift. They assume leadership during the hours that they are in charge.

With their clinical experience, they make sure that other nurses in the department deliver quality care to the patients. If a nurse fails to deliver, they are supposed to report them to the management. They are also responsible for coming up with work schedules, overseeing discharges and admissions, and helping to check up on patients.

In the 28-bed telemetry floor, charge nurses are too busy to oversee their real duties, primarily because there are not enough nurses in the department. Instead of playing their oversight role, they carry out the usual nursing tasks like administering medicine and checking up on patients occasionally. On a daily basis, the number of RNs versus patients is recorded and computerized. Presently, I have data collected over the previous one month.

My preliminary analysis of the data reveals that the number of patients seems to be overwhelming the nurses. Many patients are being admitted to the floor, forcing the charge nurse to leave their actual oversight duties to attend to patients. Things can easily slip out of hand in such scenarios since no one oversees the various patient care processes. I have also been collecting patient feedback during the period, based on which I have concluded that patient satisfaction is dismal whenever the charge nurse is involved in patient care.

Informatic competence helps to alter clinical decisions positively and eventually improve patient outcomes (McConigle & Mastrian, 2017). Data collected over six months will be adequate to fully convince the management of the need for a change at the facility to improve patient outcomes as well as satisfaction. As the nursing profession evolves, technology is bound to significantly influence patient outcomes (Nagle et al., 2017). The need for EHR competence is also going to rise. EHR makes data collection and analysis easier. As a young practitioner, I plan on becoming familiar with the various technology-based methods of data collection and analysis to improve myself as a nurse and ultimately advance the nursing profession.          

References

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Nagle, L. M., Sermeus, W., Junger, A., & Bloomberg, L. S. (2017). Evolving Role of the Nursing Informatics Specialist. Forecasting Informatics Competencies for Nurses in the Future of Connected Health, 212.

Sweeney, J. (2017). Healthcare informatics. On-Line Journal of Nursing Informatics, 21(1). https://search.proquest.com/indexingvolumeissuelinkhandler/2034896/On+-+Line+Journal+of+Nursing+Informatics/02017Y02Y01$23Feb+2017$3b++Vol.+21+$281$29/21/1;jsessionid=CE90CAE74C27162F08A1240D7D181354.i-0ff9edadb0c803625

By Day 6 of Week 1

Respond to at least two of your colleagues* on two different days, asking questions to help clarify the scenario and application of data, or offering additional/alternative ideas for the application of nursing informatics principles.

*Note: Throughout this program, your fellow students are referred to as colleagues.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 1 Discussion Rubric

 

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 6 of Week 1

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 1 Discussion

Assignment: The Nurse Leader as Knowledge Worker

The term “knowledge worker” was first coined by management consultant and author Peter Drucker in his book, The Landmarks of Tomorrow (1959). Drucker defined knowledge workers as high-level workers who apply theoretical and analytical knowledge, acquired through formal training, to develop products and services. Does this sound familiar?

Nurses are very much knowledge workers. What has changed since Drucker’s time are the ways that knowledge can be acquired. The volume of data that can now be generated and the tools used to access this data have evolved significantly in recent years and helped healthcare professionals (among many others) to assume the role of knowledge worker in new and powerful ways.

In this Assignment, you will consider the evolving role of the nurse leader and how this evolution has led nurse leaders to assume the role of knowledge worker. You will prepare a PowerPoint presentation with an infographic (graphic that visually represents information, data, or knowledge. Infographics are intended to present information quickly and clearly.) to educate others on the role of nurse as knowledge worker.

Reference: Drucker, P. (1959). The landmarks of tomorrow. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

To Prepare:

• Review the concepts of informatics as presented in the Resources.
• Reflect on the role of a nurse leader as a knowledge worker.
• Consider how knowledge may be informed by data that is collected/accessed.

The Assignment:

• Explain the concept of a knowledge worker.
• Define and explain nursing informatics and highlight the role of a nurse leader as a knowledge worker.
• Include one slide that visually represents the role of a nurse leader as knowledge worker.
• Your PowerPoint should Include the hypothetical scenario you originally shared in the Discussion Forum. Include your examination of the data that you could use, how the data might be accessed/collected, and what knowledge might be derived from that data. Be sure to incorporate feedback received from your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 7 of Week 2

Submit your completed Presentation.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK2Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 2 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 2 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK2Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 2 Assignment Rubric

 

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity

To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 2 Assignment draft and review the originality report.

 

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7 of Week 2

To participate in this Assignment:

Week 2 Assignment

 

Next Module

To go to the next module:

Module 2

Module 2: The Role of the Informatics Specialist in Healthcare (Weeks 3-4)

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). The Nurse Informaticist [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Accessible player  –Downloads– Download Video w/CC Download Audio Download Transcript

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze interactions between nurse informaticists, data/technology specialists, and other professionals in healthcare organizations
• Recommend strategies to improve interactions between nurse informaticists and other professionals
• Analyze how nursing informatics as a specialty and new technologies impact interactions between nurse informaticists and members of healthcare teams
• Recommend nursing informatics projects to improve outcomes or efficiencies in healthcare organizations
• Identify stakeholders impacted by nursing informatics projects
• Analyze how nursing informatics projects improve outcomes or efficiencies in healthcare organizations
• Identify technologies required for implementation of nursing informatics projects
• Analyze the role of the nurse informaticist in nursing informatics project teams

Due By	Assignment
Week 3, Days 1–2	Read/Watch/Listen to the Learning Resources. Compose your initial Discussion post.
Week 3, Day 3	Post your initial Discussion post. Begin to compose your Assignment.
Week 3, Days 4-5	Review peer Discussion posts. Compose your peer Discussion responses. Continue to compose your Assignment.
Week 3, Day 6	Post at least two peer Discussion responses on two different days (and not the same day as the initial post).
Week 3, Day 7	Wrap up Discussion. Deadline to submit your Assignment.
Week 4, Days 1-6	Continue to compose your Assignment
Week 4, Day 7	Deadline to submit your Assignment

Learning Resources

Required Readings

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

• Chapter 25, “The Art of Caring in Technology-Laden Environments” (pp. 525–535)
• Chapter 26, “Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge” (pp. 537–551)

Mosier, S., Roberts, W. D., & Englebright, J. (2019). A Systems-Level Method for Developing Nursing Informatics Solutions: The Role of Executive Leadership. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 49(11), 543-548.

Ng, Y. C., Alexander, S., & Frith, K. H. (2018). Integration of Mobile Health Applications in Health Information Technology Initiatives: Expanding Opportunities for Nurse Participation in Population Health. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 36(5), 209-213.

Sipes, C. (2016). Project management: Essential skill of nurse informaticists. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 225, 252-256.

Discussion: Interaction Between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists

Nature offers many examples of specialization and collaboration. Ant colonies and bee hives are but two examples of nature’s sophisticated organizations. Each thrives because their members specialize by tasks, divide labor, and collaborate to ensure food, safety, and general well-being of the colony or hive.

Of course, humans don’t fare too badly in this regard either. And healthcare is a great example. As specialists in the collection, access, and application of data, nurse informaticists collaborate with specialists on a regular basis to ensure that appropriate data is available to make decisions and take actions to ensure the general well-being of patients.

In this Discussion, you will reflect on your own observations of and/or experiences with informaticist collaboration. You will also propose strategies for how these collaborative experiences might be improved.

To Prepare:

• Review the Resources and reflect on the evolution of nursing informatics from a science to a nursing specialty.
• Consider your experiences with nurse Informaticists or technology specialists within your healthcare organization.

By Day 3 of Week 3

Post a description of experiences or observations about how nurse informaticists and/or data or technology specialists interact with other professionals within your healthcare organization. Suggest at least one strategy on how these interactions might be improved. Be specific and provide examples. Then, explain the impact you believe the continued evolution of nursing informatics as a specialty and/or the continued emergence of new technologies might have on professional interactions.

By Day 6 of Week 3

Respond to at least two of your colleagues* on two different days, offering one or more additional interaction strategies in support of the examples/observations shared or by offering further insight to the thoughts shared about the future of these interactions.

*Note: Throughout this program, your fellow students are referred to as colleagues.

Discussion: Interaction between Nurse Informaticists and Other Specialists

The roles of nurse informaticists and specialists are virtually applicable in all health practice settings. Their responsibilities encompass collaboration with other professionals, thus requiring appropriate collaborative strategies. Nurse informaticists support information acquisition and clinical information system evaluation and implementation. In so doing, they promote and assist the institution in knowledge management (Nagle et al., 2020). In my practice setting, patients that do not require emergency care are received and triaged before they are directed to the appropriate specialists. The patients’ data are collected or retrieved at the triaging and reception. At this point, the entry and classification of this information to the appropriate departments require the services of nurse informaticists.

The process of admitting a patient to our institution starts with the registration. The patient’s data is entered in hard copy patient file records and into the electronic health records for easy retrieval. The physical file records are handled only by the clinicians and patients have limited access. The process of patient interview and history taking involves recording the information in the file records and transferring the summarized and organized data into the electronic records.

The results from the lab are produced in hard copy printed papers and filed while a copy is sent to the requesting physician for further interpretation and care. The nurse is responsible for collecting and transferring patient data and transmitting results between different outpatient departments. In the process, the nurse interacts with the physician and technicians on a daily basis and is responsible for the flow of the patient’s information and data throughout until discharge.

Improving the Interactions

The interaction between the nurse informaticists and the physicians is collaborative and interdependent. The process of flow and exchange of information and data between the nurses and the consultants is slower and would be improved through the use of information technology. Using information technology with paper-based methods as backup would speed up these interactions, ensuring faster, specific, patient-centered care (Nelson & Carter-Templeton, 2016).

Information technology, through electronic health records (EHR), would be used to transfer, share and inform other specialists on patient’s data results and details about their care so far. Relaying the patient’s information from the reception and registration to the consultants’ rooms would be done through electronic means to eliminate potential delays. The time the nurses take when consolidating the patient’s data from the lab to consultation rooms and wards can be reduced through electronic data transfer using computer technology. The use of technology also enhances faster and efficient data analysis that would promote effective knowledge management.

Impacts of Evolution of Nursing Informatics

Nursing informatics has evolved over the past decades from informal informatics that involved no profession to the professional learning of the nursing informatics and information technology. The evolution of nursing informatics into a specialty, together with technological advancements, has increased the scope of the application of nursing informatics. Presently, aspiring nurse informaticists must acquire relevant knowledge of information technology.

This knowledge keeps advancing with time and the technologies become more sophisticated and nurse informaticists have to update their skills and capabilities to interpret organizational information flow (Glassman, 2017) adequately. The advancements would reduce the interaction duration between professionals and improve the quality of interaction due to the unification of interaction by the use of similar and specific technologies (Brixley, 2016). Modest outcomes include reduced documentation, faster patient registration, and reduced admission time. Specific tasks, including nursing data collection and diagnosis, will be semi-automated if not fully automated.

References

Brixey J. J. (2016). Health Informatics Competencies, Workforce and the DNP: Why Connect These ‘Dots’?. Studies In Health Technology And Informatics, 225, 750–752.

Glassman, K. (2017). Using Data in Nursing Practice. American Nurses Today, 12(11), 45–47. Retrieved 13 December 2020, from https://www.myamericannurse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ant11-Data-1030.pdf.

Nagle, L., Sermeus, W., & Junger, A. (2020). Evolving Role of the Nursing Informatics Specialist. Forecasting Informatics Competencies For Nurses In The Future Of Connected Health, pp. 212–222. https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-738-2-212

Nelson, R., & Carter-Templeton, H. D. (2016). The Nursing Informatician’s Role in Mediating Technology Related Health Literacies. Studies In Health Technology And Informatics, 225, 237–241.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 3 Discussion Rubric

 

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 6 of Week 3

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 3 Discussion

Assignment: The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies

In the Discussion for this module, you considered the interaction of nurse informaticists with other specialists to ensure successful care. How is that success determined?

Patient outcomes and the fulfillment of care goals is one of the major ways that healthcare success is measured. Measuring patient outcomes results in the generation of data that can be used to improve results. Nursing informatics can have a significant part in this process and can help to improve outcomes by improving processes, identifying at-risk patients, and enhancing efficiency.

To Prepare:

• Review the concepts of technology application as presented in the Resources.
• Reflect on how emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence may help fortify nursing informatics as a specialty by leading to increased impact on patient outcomes or patient care efficiencies.

The Assignment: (4-5 pages not including the title and reference page)

In a 4- to 5-page project proposal written to the leadership of your healthcare organization, propose a nursing informatics project for your organization that you advocate to improve patient outcomes or patient-care efficiency. Your project proposal should include the following:

• Describe the project you propose.
• Identify the stakeholders impacted by this project.
• Explain the patient outcome(s) or patient-care efficiencies this project is aimed at improving and explain how this improvement would occur. Be specific and provide examples.
• Identify the technologies required to implement this project and explain why.
• Identify the project team (by roles) and explain how you would incorporate the nurse informaticist in the project team.
• Use APA format and include a title page and reference page.
• Use the Safe Assign Drafts to check your match percentage before submitting your work.

By Day 7 of Week 4

Submit your completed Project Proposal.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK4Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 4 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 4 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK4Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.