Advanced information technology has radically shaped the world we live in today and its impact on medicine is no different. It has already proven to be effective in many healthcare settings, and HIT has the potential to impact every part of our healthcare today (see e.g. (Adler-Milstein, Bates, & Jha, 2013; Yen & Bakken, 2012). However, these benefits do not come automatically, and healthcare professionals need to integrate them into existing health supporting systems in order to acquire the most efficient outcome for patients. Nurses are a large part of this, as they make up a large part of our primary healthcare systems, utilizing their skills is key to the successful implementation of HIT systems.
The first step to the successful integration of HIT is to assess your practice’s readiness for the system, and to do this it is evident that one would need first hand knowledge of what the practice needs and where a computer system would be most useful, and overall, it is nurses that would have the broadest range of information throughout the practice (US Government, 2013). Likewise, for the second step, nurses are necessary in order for a practice to start planning how the IT system can be implemented, and without nurses it is unlikely that that information would be available. When training other staff to use the system, nurses are also key as they will undoubtedly be the most familiar with all aspects of the system. For example, if a certain healthcare professional was unavailable, a nurse would likely be able to step in to train anyone who would be unfamiliar.
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"Analysis of the Non-Involvement of Nurse when Implementing Novel HIT Systems".
And of course, nurses can be the individuals in a health care practice to get the most out of it for the benefit of the patient, and as these key users, they are the individuals best in a position to make continual recommendations as to its potential improvements. Thus, nurses, as the healthcare professionals closest to the patient on a regular basis, they have the information and skills necessary to contribute to the utility of the healthcare systems at all levels. This summation is supported by evidence, where nurses have been the key healthcare actors in the most positive implementations of HIT systems (Lavin, Harper, & Barr, 2015)
- Adler-Milstein, J., Bates, D., & Jha, A. (2013). Operational Health Information Exchanges Show
Substantial Growth, But Long-Term Funding Remains A Concern. Health Affairs, 32(8), 1486-1492. http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0124 - Lavin, M., Harper, E., & Barr, N. (2015). Health Information Technology, Patient Safety, and
Professional Nursing Care Documentation in Acute Care Settings. The Online Journal Of Issues In Nursing, 20(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol20No02PPT04 - US Government,. (2013). Get started! Here are the EHR Implementation Steps | Providers &
Professionals | HealthIT.gov. Healthit.gov. Retrieved 1 October 2016, from https://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/ehr-implementation-steps - Yen, P. & Bakken, S. (2012). Review of health information technology usability study
methodologies. Journal Of The American Medical Informatics Association, 19(3), 413-422. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/amiajnl-2010-000020
