NURS 8210 Week 1 Assignment: Introduction to Health Information Technology Systems and Nursing Informatics

NURS 8210 Week 1 Assignment: Introduction to Health Information Technology Systems and Nursing Informatics

In 1943, Tom Watson was quoted as saying, “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” Little did this chairman of IBM realize that the advent of computers would revolutionize all facets of society, including health care. The health care industry has used the power of technology to dramatically improve the quality of patient care. Today, bar code scanners document patient medications, robotic machinery is used to perform minimally invasive surgeries, and pill bottles feature audible labels to assist patients in taking the correct medication. As health care continues to change and new innovations appear, what types of skills will nurses need in order to harness the potential of emerging and evolving technologies?

This week you will examine the history of nursing informatics as well as the Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform (TIGER) initiatives that drive technology education for nurses. Using the TIGER and American Nurses Association guidelines, you also evaluate your own informatics competencies.

Reference: Rinkworks. (n.d.) Things people said: Bad predictions. Retrieved from 

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Summarize how informatics has impacted or changed nursing practice
• Evaluate the influence of informatics competencies on quality of care and nursing practice
• Apply online learning resources to professional growth and development
• Compare the contributions of two nursing informatics pioneers

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Course Text: Ball, M. J., Douglas, J. V., Hinton Walker, P., DuLong, D., Gugerty, B., Hannah, K. J., . . . Troseth, M. R. (Eds.) (2011). Nursing informatics: Where technology and caring meet (4th ed.). London, England: Springer-Verlag.

• Chapter 1, “Nursing Informatics: Transforming Nursing”
• Chapter 12, “The Evolving National Informatics Landscape”

Chapter 1 introduces the need for health care reform by detailing cost concerns and future needs of the nursing profession. A look at the beginning stages of the TIGER collaborative is also given, detailing its start at the 2006 Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Chapter 12 provides an overview of technology’s emergence into the health care industry.

Course Text: American Nurses Association. (2008). Nursing informatics: Scope and standards of practice. Silver Spring, MD: Author.

• “Introduction” (pp. 1–2)
• “Informatics Competencies” (pp. 33–40)

The 2-page excerpt from the introduction offers a brief description of the field of informatics and presents the rationale for referring to the scope and standards throughout your nursing career. The excerpt from the “Informatics Competencies” section uses research and matrices to correlate informatics competencies with the education and roles of nursing professionals.

The authors of this article begin by summarizing the rise of computer development and use. They then examine how technology will build the capabilities of future businesses.

A brief explanation of informatics principles is given in this article.

Examine the initiatives and technological developments that have informed the field of informatics by using this article as a guide.

Required Media

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). Transforming nursing and healthcare through technology: What is health informatics? Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 13 minutes.

In this week’s media presentation, the presenters discuss the extensive applications, implications, and benefits of health informatics for patients, practitioners, and health care organizations as a whole.

Accessible player

Optional Resources