1. How Health Informatics can Improve Nursing Practices
Jeannette Rivas
University of Texas Health Science Center

2. Health Informatics
Emerged when computer technology became sophisticated enough to manage large amounts of data.

3. Impact on Nursing
Improved the way we store, manage and exchange information amongst various departments and health disciplines.

4. Four Nursing Practices
Documentation
Use of personal devices at work
Medication Administration
Patient Portal

5. Documentation
By providing a single program that could communicate through various networks, the patient’s information would be more accessible and would make it easier for patients to transition from doctor’s office to pharmacy, to laboratory, to hospital, if need be

6. Use of Personal Devices
What if a patient could communicate with a nurse via text message or messenger? A nurse could quickly respond to the patient or delegate the patient’s need to the proper person without interrupting what they are doing.

7. Medication Administration
Eliminating current trend of bypassing security protocols by implementing a fingerprint system instead of barcode system.

8. Patient Portal
Using a system similar to the cloud and back up its information to one place that is password protected where only the patient could retrieve their information.

9. Conclusion
Health information technologies is continually changing rapidly.
HIT has impacted the nursing profession.
Nursing practices can be improved.
Nurses must be flexible and innovative to create changes in healthcare system and lead to improved patient care.

10. “The future belongs to the creative and analytical informaticist who can serve as a liaison between the information technology team and clinicians. Understanding both sides of the health informatics equation is a must to engender collaboration, champion new initiatives, and move your career forward.”

11. References
A Brief History of Health Informatics. (n.d.). Retrieved from
Cassano, C. (2014). The Right Balance- Technology and Patient Care. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics. Retrieved from
Gu, Y., Orr, M., & Warren, J.R. (2015). Health literacy and patient portals. Retrieved from
How Effective Are Bar Codes In Mediation Administration? (n.d.) The BarCode News. Retrieved from administration.html
Nursing and Technology: Bring Your Own Device to Work. (2013). The Sentinel Watch. Retrieved from own-device-to-work/
Rouse, M. (2014). Health informatics. Tech Target. Retrieved from
Sewell, J. (2016). Informatics and Nursing: Opportunities and Challenges. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwers.
Shekelle, Paul, Morton, Sally C. & Keeler, Emmett B. (2006). Costs and Benefits of Health Information Techonology. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Retrieved from
St-Denis, Virginia. (2017). Perception of health technologies’ benefits increases with longer use. Canadian Nurses Association. Retrieved from =ffd8579a-18d0-4af1-aef3-2ac224f77408%40sessionmgr4007
Images retrieved from google.com/images.