Nursing informatics is the use of computers and information technology to support nursing practice, education, administration, research, and clinical care. It involves managing nursing data, information, and knowledge through technologies like electronic health records. The goal is to improve patient health outcomes and support nurses' decision-making. While nursing informatics is still emerging, national nursing organizations recommend nurses become computer literate as healthcare increasingly relies on digital tools and data.

1. Presenter: Leeann Sills
Registration # 10/0532/0169
Lecturer: Ms Tabitha Mallampati

2.  French word informatique which means computer science.
 Informatics is defined as computer science + information
science.
 Used in conjunction with the name of a discipline, it
denotes an application of computer science and
information science to the management and processing of
 data, information, and knowledge in the named discipline.
 Thus we have, medical informatics, nursing informatics,
pharmacy informatics and so on…

3. A way of helping in the management and
processing of nursing information data through
the use of computers.
Involves research and analysis aimed at
supporting nursing education and practice.
Deals specifically with the process of gathering
and acquiring nursing health care data.

4.  Nurses have worked in informatics roles for over twenty-five years, but
the phrase “nursing informatics” was not seen in the literature until 1984.
Nursing informatics has established itself as a specialty in the nursing
field.
 Nurses have become proficient in utilizing and adapting complex
technology into caring nursing practice for decades, at least since the
time of Florence Nightingale in the United Kingdom and even earlier,
when Jeanne Mance (1606-1673) founded the first hospital in Montreal,
Canada in 1642.
 Various forms of machinery such as ventilators and physiological
monitors were first used in intensive and critical care settings, and are
now currently used in adapted form in less acute areas, even in home
care.
 Nursing has evolved significantly over the past few decades, with many
of the changes being driven by advances in information and
communication technology .

9. Rognehaugh
 “the use of any computer and information
technologies that support any nursing
function carried out by nurses in the
performance of their duties”

10. Hannah (1985)
 “use of information technologies in relation
to those functions, within the purview of
nursing that are carried out by nurses when
performing their duties”

11. Graves and Corcoran(1989)
 “a combination of computer science,
information science and nursing science
designed to assist in the management and
processing of nursing data, information and
knowledge to support the practice of nursing
and the delivery of nursing care.”

12. Hebda (1998 )
 Defines nursing informatics as "the use of
computers technology to support nursing,
including clinical practice, administration,
education, and research.

13. ANA Scope and Standards of Nursing Informatics Practice(
2001, pg vii)
“Nursing Informatics is a specialty that 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 patients, nurses and other providers in
their decision-making in all roles and settings. This support is
accomplished through the use of information structures,
information processes, and information technology.”

14.  The goal of Nursing Informatics is to improve the
health of populations, communities, families, and
individuals by optimizing information management
and communication. This includes the use of
technology in the direct provision of care, in
establishing effective administrative systems, in
managing and delivering education experiences, in
supporting life-long learning, and in supporting
nursing research.
(Scope of Standards of Nursing Informatics Practice -
American Nurses Association 2001)

15. The framework for nursing informatics relies on the central
concepts of data, information and knowledge:
DATA: is defined as discrete entities that are described
objectively without interpretation
INFORMATION: as data that is interpreted, organized or
structured
KNOWLEDGE as information that has been synthesized so that
interrelationships
are identified and formalized.
Resulting in decisions that guide practice.

16. Deals with how this data is collected and
processed with an aim to improve various decision-
making levels within the nursing profession.
Is applied to model the human processing of
data, information, and knowledge within a
computer system.
Automates the processing of nursing data to
information and the transformation of nursing
information to nursing knowledge.

17. Data – Information – Knowledge Triad

18. Nursing Informatics can be applied to all areas
of nursing practice which include;
 Clinical Practice,
 Administration
 Education
 Research

19. Point-of-Care Systems and Clinical Information
Systems
 Work lists to remind staff of planned nursing
interventions
 Computer generated client documentation
 Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and Computer-
Based Patient Record (CPR) Monitoring devices that
record vital signs and other measurements directly
into the client record (electronic medical record)

20.  Computer - generated nursing care plans and
critical pathways
 Automatic billing for supplies or procedures
with nursing documentation
 Reminders and prompts that appear during
documentation to ensure comprehensive
charting

21. Health Care Information Systems
 Automated staff scheduling
 E-mail for improved communication
 Cost analysis and finding trends for budget
purposes
 Quality assurance and outcomes analysis

22.  Computerized record-keeping
 Computerized-assisted instruction
 Interactive video technology
 Distance Learning-Web based courses and degree
programs
 Internet resources-CEU's and formal nursing
courses and degree programs
 Presentation software for preparing slides and
handouts-PowerPoint and MS Word

23.  Computerized literature searching-CINAHL,
HINARI, Medline and Web sources
 The adoption of standardized language
related to nursing terms-NANDA, etc.
 The ability to find trends in aggregate data,
that is data derived from large population
groups-Statistical Software, SPSS .

24.  Electronic Medical Records(EMR )benefits:
 Improved access to the medical record. The EMR can be
accessed from several different locations simultaneously,
as well as by different levels of providers.
 Decreased redundancy of data entry. For example,
allergies and vital signs need only be entered once.
 Decreased time spent in documentation. Automation
allows direct entry from monitoring equipment, as well as
point-of-care data entry.

25.  Increased time for client care. More time is
available for client care because less time
 is required for documentation and
transcription of physician orders.
 Facilitation of data collection for research.
Electronically stored client records
 provide quick access to clinical data for a
large number of clients.

26.  Improved communication and decreased
potential for error. Improved legibility of
clinician documentation and orders is seen with
computerized information systems.
 Creation of a lifetime clinical record
facilitated by information systems

27. Decision- support software, computer software programs that organize information
to aid in decision making for client care or administrative issues; these include:
 Decision-support tools as well as alerts and reminders notify the clinician of
possible concerns or omissions. An example of this, is the documentation of patient
allergies in the computer system. The health care providers would be alerted to
any discrepancies in the patient medication orders.
 Effective data management and trend-finding include the ability to provide
historical or current data reports.
 Extensive financial information can be collected and analyzed for trends. An
extremely important benefit in this era of managed care and cost cutting.
 Data related to treatment such as inpatient length of stay and the lowest level
of care provider required can be used to decrease costs.

28. Database advantages
 shared data;
 centralized control;
 disadvantages of redundancy control;
 improved data integrity;
 improved data security, and database
systems;
 flexible conceptual design.

29.  More easily archived
 Standardized and customized reporting
 Legible
 More accurate patient data, less chance of
error
 Document set maintained

30.  Complex conceptual design process
 Need for multiple external databases
 Need to hire database-related employees
 High DBMS acquisition costs
 A more complex programmer environment
 Potentially catastrophic program failures
 A longer running time for individual
applications
 Highly dependent DBMS operations

31.  Increased costs to startup, maintain, train,
and upgrade Computer literacy required-fear
of computers
 Confidentiality, privacy and security difficult
to guarantee

32. At present, nursing informatics is an emerging
field of study. National nursing organizations
support the need for nurses to become
computer literate and versed in the dynamics of
nursing informatics. We are at a transition
period. Becoming educated in nursing
informatics is, for the most party, a self-directed
and independent endeavor. Programs that offer
basic and further education in nursing
informatics are beginning to spring up around
the globe, but many more are needed to provide
easy access for motivated nurses.

33. Virginia Saba (1992) predicted, "By the turn of
the century, most health care delivery
systems will function with computers and will
be managed by computer literate nurses. I
believe, that by the turn of the century, "high
tech and high touch" will be an integral part
of the health care delivery system,"