Reflect Upon Your Current Or Most Recent Clinical Practice

Reflect upon your current or most recent clinical practice and answer the following: 1. How is informatics used? All members of the healthcare team use informatics in the daily care of patients. We input data such as vital signs, I&O measurements, and physical assessments. We can access data such as lab results, or radiology reports. Access to this information helps the team better manage the patients plan of care. The lesson this week discusses the TIGER initiative. The intent of this initiative is to provide emphasis to the importance of using informatics and technology to improve the safety of healthcare for patients. The use of informatics can help the team to provide patient-centered care that is proficient, well-organized, appropriate, and reasonable by combining evidence and technology (Chamberlain, 2022). 2. Regarding the Pre-TANIC Self-Assessment for this week, how did your perceived competency level prior to the self-assessment compared to after the self-assessment? Explain in detail. I have never considered myself technically savvy. I am able to use basic computer programs, and navigate EPIC (our EHR system) fairly well. Before I completed the self-assessment I would have rated my competency level as competent, but completing the Pre-TANIC self-assessment gave me more confidence in my informatics skills. The questions were specific to particular skills that I really hadn’t considered my proficiency level, but I was able to answer most as proficient or even expert as I use them daily in my current management role. 3. What TWO competencies do you use in your current clinical role? Provide examples. In my clinical nurse manager role, I need to use informatics in both patient care and management. I display computer literacy as I utilize computer programs to access, audit, and analyze patient and unit specific statistics. Clinical information management is used in direct patient care and in my role as manager. In direct patient care I utilize the data available such as lab results, monitor readings, and vital signs to describe patient condition to their physician. As a nurse manager, I am able to run reports to provide information related to quality improvement projects to my team members. 4. Identify TWO resources to develop a strategic plan to enhance your competency skills. Nursing-informatics.com has several options but the Fundamentals of Nursing Informatics course is one that is of most interest to me. This course includes instruction on nursing informatics theory, practice applications, self-assessment and skill development. The focus of the course is on how computer technology is used throughout healthcare including clinical documentation, communication, care planning, education, and project management. HI-FIVE: Health Informatics For Innovation, Value & Enrichment (Clinical Perspective) is an online course available from Columbia University. This course is presented from a clinical perspective directed toward physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses and clinical managers. The course uses role- based case scenarios to address population health, care coordination and interoperability, value-based care, data analytics and patient-centered care. 5. Which resources are suited to your needs and why? I conducted a search for online nursing informatics continuing education. These particular resources appeal to me because they are best suited to my needs. The self-paced online format makes it easier to coordinate into an already busy schedule. I was also looking for courses to enhance my nursing informatics abilities in both clinical and management roles. 6. How do you intend to enact this improvement plan? Proficiency in computer literacy and the use of health information systems affords nurses more opportunities to provide high quality patient-centered care. Nurses working in critical care are expected to provide a higher quality of care and attentiveness. The availability and quality of information available to the nurse greatly impacts their ability to provide this kind of care (Zareshahi et al., 2022). As the clinical manager of an ICU, it is important that I am proficient in nursing informatics. I will need to be able to utilize nursing informatics in direct patient care as well as evaluating patient outcomes, and facilitating education for patients and staff. I can enact an improvement plan by registering and completing these online nursing informatics courses.