Electronic Information Management Lecture 1 : Computers in Nursing By : Shrefah Alshehri

Outlines - Introduction. - Major Historical Perspectives Of Nursing And Computers. - Electronic health records. - How computers have made it easier for nurses to be efficacious in their job. - How Are Computers Used in the Nursing field? - The Advantages of Computers in Nursing

Introduction Nowadays, more and more computers are being used in health care systems to store, organize, and transmit information. Although nurses do not need a high degree of computer expertise, their performance will be much more efficient if they have good computer skills. nurses who operate computers proficiently can quickly access health care-related information using computers. And they may be able to provide more appropriate and efficient care to their patients.

Introduction(cont.) As of 2010, technology has become more prevalent in hospitals, and nurses are increasingly using computers as part of their daily routine. Computers aid nurses in managing patients and in running the administrative side of the hospital.

Major Historical Perspectives Of Nursing And Computers Computer technology emerge in nursing in response to the changing and developing technologies in the health care industry and in nursing practice. Prior to 1960s: - there were only a few experts who formed a cadre of pioneers that attempted to adapt computers to health care and nursing.

Historical Perspectives - Nurses station in the hospital was viewed as the hub of information exchange. - Computer technology advanced, while the number of health care facilities increased

Historical Perspectives (cont.) -Continued integration of computers into nursing. - Improvement of documentation (nurses chart, vital signs, etc.) - Mainframe HIS were designed and develop management of care. 1980s - The field of informatics emerged in the health care industry and nursing. - Mainframe HISs emerged with nursing subsystems. - Microcomputer or personal computer (PC) emerged.

Historical Perspectives (cont.) Computer technology became an integral part of health care, nursing practice, and the nursing profession. during 1992 - NI was approved by the American Nurses Association (ANA) as a new nursing specialty. - smaller and faster computers-laptops and notebooks arise. - Workstations, local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs) were developed.

Historical Perspectives (cont.) Post 2000 - hardware and software development and growth. - Wireless point-of-care developed. - Clinical information systems became individualized in the electronic patient record (EPR) and the electronic health record (EHR) - Personal digital assistance (PDA) and smart cellular telephones continued to advanced . - Use of Voice over internet protocol (VoIP).

Electronic health records Electronic health records(EHR) , also called electronic medical records (EMR) is computerized collection of a patient's health records. EHRs include information like your age, gender, ethnicity, health history, medications, allergies, immunization status, lab test results, hospital discharge instructions and billing information . Because electronic health records are digital, they can be shared easily among your various health care providers.

Electronic health records (cont.) If one doctor orders a lab test, they all see the results, If one doctor puts you on a new medication the others get to see what it is. which is good for you, because there's less chance of one doctor prescribing a medication that could adversely interact with another medication and cause problems.

how computers have made it easier for nurses to be efficacious in their job ? 1- Systematic Storage of Information. Nurses can use computers to take down and store notes of the patients. By using a 'personal digital assistant' (PDA) makes it easier to access the right medical information at the right time, instead of carrying a bunch of paperwork and then taking time to search the piece of paper you need. PDAs help you save time when you need to access the information as quickly as possible. make the work quick, efficient, and accurate. These advantages definitely help making the storage part a lot easier.

how computers have made it easier for nurses to be efficacious in their job ? 2- Presentations We all would agree that PowerPoint presentations are more efficient and have more impact on the receiver when it comes to presenting data. Computers help the educators to present the large and complicated data, which of course is a part of the medical study, in a very simplified and effective format. Features such as PowerPoint presentations, slide shows, videos, enable a better understanding of the complex medical procedures.

how computers have made it easier for nurses to be efficacious in their job ? 3-Simulations Nursing education must involve a lot of practice programs to make the students efficient to face the real-life scenarios. Computer programs enable simulate such procedures, thereby being of great use.

How Are Computers Used in the Nursing field ? 1- ADT Systems This computer system gives a nurse the ability to access information about a patient. When a patient is transferred, or when important information regarding treatment is entered, all of the necessary departments are notified.

How Are Computers Used in the Nursing field ? (cont) 2- Communication Patient histories may be transferred efficiently from one clinic to another with the use of email. Exams like CT scans and x-rays also may be viewed on a computer. 3- Documentation Nurses use computers to store notes and information about patients. The computers print out reminders of drug dosages and medication schedules. If a medication is missed, or it was not entered into the computer, a reminder will be printed. The computer also identifies the exact date and time of entry.

How Are Computers Used in the Nursing field ? (cont) 4- Research Computer programs allow nurses to search through medical documentation quickly. A wide variety of literature is stored and referenced on a single computer, making searches and comparisons simple. 5- Administration A nurse may use a computer to schedule nursing shifts and to keep track of stock and inventory.

The Advantages of Computers in Nursing 1- Improving Patient Treatment and Follow-ups Nurses often use computers to take full notes on how a treatment is progressing. By placing notes on the patient dosage, with reminders about giving medicines. 2- Research Computers in nursing today contain huge medical libraries open to research and study. Nurses, during their college years and when working in a hospital, need to keep updated constantly. Online data bases of medical cases from all around the world, medicine researches, and treatment comparisons are essential to their professional growth .

The Advantages of Computers in Nursing (cont.) 3- Stock of Medicines One of the major advantages of computers in nursing is that a basic system permits the nurses to have an updated record of the pharmaceuticals the hospital have in stock. Therefore, when making inventories, the process is much faster and accurate in order to always have a full stock of all the medicines needed to treat patients. Computers also allow making a description of each medicine, including side effects, composition and uses. 4- Clinical Records Computers allow nurses to get the patient's clinical records in a matter of minutes. It's not necessary for nurses to wade through stacks of papers and files anymore. Also, if the patient has ever been treated in a specific medical institution, the hospital interconnected network allows nurses to ask online for their patient's clinical records and receive an immediate response.