Effective use of technology among healthcare professionals is important to the provision of quality patient care. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics form the largest professional group in the United States healthcare field. One of the major roles of nurses in the healthcare system is communication which is facilited by the use of information technology. Nursing informatics facilitates the transfer of data among healthcare providers and patients that take place every single day. According to McGonagall and Mastrian (2014) contribute about 37% of electronic health records in the United States. Therefore it is critical for nurses to have good informatics skills to support communication.
As a nurse student, the informatics skills I am developing and validating now will help me to meet the current informatics by expanding my knowledge of electronic healthcare records (EHRs) and technology practice. In addition, the informatics am currently developing will help me in advancement and education to meet the current informatics. One of the most crucial reasons I should focus on developing my informatics skills is the advent of the national EHRs. This electronic system makes it necessary for healthcare professionals to have a basic understanding of computer systems to perform their day-to-day duties of patient care and administration. Nurses are expected to know electronic documentation of patient care and ensure privacy precautions on the organization’s computer system (Liston & McKinnon, 2017).
Increasingly powerful microprocessors have facilitated the new generation of tablet computers, smartphones, and specialized devices which play a significant role in daily patient care (Hübner, et al. 2016). Nurses serve as front-line care providers and expanding my informatics skills will help me in field testing new devices as well as their corresponding software applications. With my current informatics skills level, I will be in a position to serve as a consultant to software developers working on applications for healthcare markets.
As a nurse student, I have ambition in a number of career paths including research, academia, consulting, and management. Good informatics skills range from commercial programs to the use of industry-specific software. Developing and validating informatics to meet current informatics skill levels will help me to pursue my ambition. One of the greatest responsibilities in any knowledge based-profession is transferring that knowledge and skills to the next generation of practitioners (Collins, 2016). The next generation of nurse educators will require a solid background in nursing informatics. Developing nursing informatics skills which meet the current nursing informatics skills level will be necessary for guiding the next generation of nurses about the applications of nursing informatics in health care.
Impact of TANIC self-assessment
The TANIC self-assessment changed my impression of my current informatics skills level. The self-assessment promoted my understanding of current nursing informatics skills as crucial for multiple official documentation such as Technology Informatics Guiding Reform (TIGER). The TIGER enables nurses to employ technology to carry out education and research. It can help assist nurses to deliver the highest possible quality of care (Hübner et al. 2016). TIGER-based Assessment of Nursing Informatics Competencies (TANIC) self-assessment added additional information to the significance of education programs across or curriculum. The TANIC self-assessment addressed three competency areas including clinical information management, information literacy, and basic computer skills. With the increasing demand for nursing informatics, the use of computer technology has become universal within the practice and profession of nursing. Therefore, nurses and other healthcare professionals practicing in all settings and domains need to be competent in specific aspects of nursing informatics.
References
Collins, S. (2016). Nursing Informatics Competencies: Psychometric Validation, Dissemination, and Maintenance of Self-Assessment Tool for Nurse Leaders. In Nursing Informatics (pp. 710-712).
Hübner, U., et al. (2016). Towards Implementing a Global Competency-Based Nursing and Clinical Informatics Curriculum: Applying the TIGER Initiative. In Nursing Informatics (pp. 762-764).
Liston, J., & McKinnon, T. (2017). Self-Assessment of Perceived Informatics Competencies among Staff Nurses at Sutter Maternity and Surgery Hospital. Journal of Informatics Nursing, 2(1), 12
McGonagall, D., & Mastrian, K. (2014). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
