There are two roles in health information technology (HIT): the informatics nurse specialist and the clinician using HIT (ie PCT, RN, APRN, MD) (Sewell, 2016). Either way, informatics furnishes the information needed to see relationships between diagnoses, interventions, and outcomes for patients. One way the APRN can use informatics is to visualize trends between interventions on certain patients or groups and the associated outcomes (Sewell, 2016). Informatics helps to answer those burning clinical questions, such as “What is the best method to close the incision after a total knee replacement?” or “What is the best antibiotic to use in post-op spine patients to prevent infection?”. 

            Ultimately, there are many benefits to nursing informatics. First, previously inaccessible records that were kept on paper are transformed into a more efficient form when on computer – meaning data is easier to find, access, and analyze (Sewell, 2016). In a matter of seconds, providers can view a single patient’s records, or compare trends across several groups once data has been aggregated. Finally, remember that nursing is cognitive, not just task-oriented. Nursing informatics organizes data in a way which supports this theory.

 

References

Sewell, J. (2016). Informatics and nursing: Opportunities and challenges (5th ed.). Philadelphia,

PA: Wolters Kluwer.