Nursing and

Information
System
(Nursing
Informatics)

PatientCenteredInformationSystems
Physician
Office

Clinic

Pharmacy

Dentist

Hospital

Furtive
Records

SMART Patients!!

Self-assured
Motivated
Aware
Resourceful
Talented

On the other side, they may also be:

Scared
Minors!
Anxious
Reluctant
Time consuming

Common behaviors of SMART

patients
self

triage
values and preference clarification
participative
collaborative
independently engage in health promotion

What they arent :

complacent
quiet
unchallenging
similar

Clinicians responses to the

SMART patient:

engaging
tolerant
dismissive
condescending

The Challenges for Clinicians

Use INFORMATION technology to help make

patients SMART
Treat them as a resource
Change our practice activities to capitalize on
their talents
Reorganize our practice environments

The importance of information in

healthcare setting
The healthcare of our clients is largely
dependent on information.
Every action taken depends on previous
information and knowledge.
The delivery of health care requires information
about:
- Science of type of care (nursing)
- Patient or client
- Provider
- Outcomes
- Process and systems for delivery of care

The importance of information in

nursing science
The

science of care refers to the

scientific foundations of the profession
that provides healthcare.
Science helps determine the body of
knowledge, language, and focus of that
profession.
Scientific rationale or evidence provides
a foundation for decision-making within
that profession.

The importance of information for

patient
Information

on the client is required for

individual care.
The assessment process consists of gathering
information.
The use of technology can assist in collecting
this information.
Information on the client can be found in the
patient record, the patients history, lab results.
Information on the client changes and grows
over time.

The importance of information for

provider
Information

about the provider of care

helps determine the type of assessment
and the focus of care given.
The provider can be an individual
professional such as a nurse, a
physician, a physiotherapist.
The provider can also be the facility in
which care is provided such as a public
health unit, a hospital.

The importance of information for

outcomes
The

outcome of treatment and care now

requires more attention than ever.
There is a growing interest in ensuring that care
results in quality outcomes in a cost-efficient
manner.
Outcomes can be difficult to measure.
Technology can assist in measuring because it
can enhance gathering, analysis and
dissemination of outcomes.

The importance of information in

Process and systems for delivery of
Information about the process and
care systems for delivery of care assists in
deciding on the type and the amount of
care required.
This is the tracking on interventions and
the process used for each intervention.

 Information

about each of these

areas have an impact on the type
and the amount of care given.
Information must be:
accurate
timely
accessible
understandable

What is information?
The structure of information
Delivered in conversation, handwritten
notes, stored in a computer.
Regardless of the form, the same basic
principles apply to the structure and the
use of information.
Words are often used interchangeably to
describe information.

The structure of information

Data:

discrete entities objectively described,

without interpretation or context.
- Example: 110

Information:

data processed into a structured

form. Data that are interpreted, organized,
structured and given meaning are referred to as
information.
- Example: When combining 110 with other
data, it becomes information. Systolic blood
pressure of 110 mmHg and diastolic blood
pressure of 70 mm Hg. This information can
be captured in a form, on a graph on in a
report.

 Knowledge:

synthesized information derived

from the interpretation of data. It provides a
logical basis for making decisions. Essential
to decision-making and to new discoveries.
- Example: When the blood pressure reading
is combined with information about
anatomy and physiology, pharmacology,
pathophysiology, knowledge is used to
decide about further care and treatment.

The five rights of information

Right
Right
Right
Right
Right

information
person
time
place
amount

What is healthcare informatics?

With

the knowledge of the importance

of information in healthcare, healthcare
informatics has become a specialty.
Healthcare informatics is a combination
of computer science, healthcare
science, information science and
cognitive science.

Computer science: development, configuration, architecture

of computer hardware and software.

Healthcare science: body of knowledge on which healthcare

profession bases their practice. The sciences of anatomy,
physiology and knowledge specific to each profession.

Information science: also includes information technology

which involves the process of sending and receiving
information.

Cognitive science: the process of human thinking,

understanding and remembering.

What is Nursing informatics (NI)?

Informatics (NI) is the application of
computer science and information science to
nursing. NI promotes the generation,
management and processing of relevant data
in order to use information and develop
knowledge that supports nursing in all practice
domains (Hebert, 2000).

Nursing

 Integrates

nursing science, computer

science, and information science to manage
and communicate data, information, and
knowledge in nursing practice.

Nursing

informatics facilitates the

integration of data, information, and
knowledge to support clients, nurses, and
other providers in their decision-making in
all roles and settings. (Staggers & BagleyThompson, 2002).

 Nurses

need to develop
competencies in
informatics.
enables
nurses to use information
and communications
technologies in the:
- collection of data,
- use of information
- generation of
knowledge to support
nursing practice

Why is it important?

Informatics

Technology
Nursing

Moving the site of care

Therefore, NI competencies need to include both

knowledge and skills required:
to use information and communication
technologies to enter, retrieve and manipulate
data.
to interpret and organize data into information to
affect nursing practice.
to combine information to contribute to
knowledge development in nursing.

Using information
Evidence-based

practice leads to:

- Determining standards and guidelines
- Guide for decision-making process
- Determines best practice

Nursing

informatics can enable dissemination of new

knowledge:
- Practitioners update themselves of new developments
through journals, conferences, continuing education
sessions.
- The information is varied and copious.
- There is a need to find the relevant evidence in a
timely way.

Literature databases
Provide

access to relevant literature and are an

important research source.
Usually cover a specific list of periodicals or
other publications that give the database
defined boundaries.
Usually specific to one field such as healthcare,
social sciences, education.
The database may be limited to research
articles or may include newspaper clippings,
magazine articles.

database provides a controlled, specific

and systematic way of finding relevant
information on a specific topic.
Each entry in a database usually contains an
article citation, subject heading and a text
summary known as the abstract.
It may include the name of the author(s)
and the full text of the article.

Obstacles to using information

There

is a need to further emphasize on

the importance of evidence-based practice.
There is a need for convenient access to
literature resources.
Education to use technology to access and
retrieve information relevant to clinical
practice.
There is a need to instill a informationseeking modeling behavior.

References
Canadian Nurses Association. (2001). What is nursing
informatics and why is it so important? Nursing Now, 11
Hebert, M. (2000). A national education strategy to
develop nursing informatics competencies. Canadian
Journal of Nursing Leadership 13(2).
Staggers, N., & Bagley Thompson, C. (2002). The
evolution of definitions for nursing informatics: A
critical analysis and revised definition. Journal of the
American Medical Informatics Association, 9 (3), 255
262.
Young, K. M. (2000). Informatics for healthcare
professionals. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company.

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Thank you