NURS 4006

Nursing Informatics
Computers, Information and Informatics

The importance of information

The healthcare of our clients is largely dependant
on information.
Every action taken depends on previous
information and knowledge.
The delivery of health care requires information
about:

Science of type of care (nursing)

Patient or client
Provider
Outcomes
Process and systems for delivery of care
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The importance of information

The science of type of care (nursing)
The science of care refers to the scientific
foundations of the profession that provides
healthcare.
Science helps determine the body of knowledge,
language, and focus of that profession.
Scientific rationale or evidence provides a
foundation for decision-making within that
profession.
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The importance of information

Patient or client
Information on the client is required for his/her
individual care.
The assessment process consists of gathering
information.
The use of technology can assist in collecting this
information.
Information on the client can be found in the patient
record, the patients history, lab results.
Information on the client changes and grows over
time.
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The importance of information

Provider
Information about the provider of care helps
determine the type of assessment and the focus
of care given.
The provider can be an individual professional
such as a nurse, a physician, a physiotherapist.
The provider can also be the facility in which
care is provided such as a public health unit, a
hospital.
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The importance of information

Outcomes
The outcome of treatment and care now requires
more attention than ever.
There is a growing interest in ensuring that care
results in quality outcomes in a cost-efficient
manner.
Outcomes can be difficult to measure.
Technology can assist in measuring because it
can enhance gathering, analysis and
dissemination of outcomes.
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The importance of information

Process and systems for delivery of care
Information about the process and systems for
delivery of care assists in deciding on the type
and the amount of care required.
This is the tracking on interventions and the
process used for each intervention.

The importance of information

Information about each of these areas have an
impact on the type and the amount of care
given.
Information must be:
accurate
timely
accessible
understandable
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What is information?
The structure of information
Delivered in conversation, handwritten
notes, stored in a computer.
Regardless of the form, the same basic
principles apply to the structure and the
use of information.
Words are often used interchangeably to
describe information.
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What is information?
The structure of information
Data: discrete entities objectively described,
without interpretation or context.
Example: 110

Information: data processed into a structured

form. Data that are interpreted, organized,
structured and given meaning are referred to as
information.
Example: When combining 110 with other data, it
becomes information. Systolic blood pressure of 110
mmHg and diastolic blood pressure of 70 mm Hg.
This information can be captured in a form, on a
graph on in a report.

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What is information?
Knowledge: synthesized information derived
from the interpretation of data. It provides a
logical basis for making decisions.Essential to
decision-making and to new discoveries.
Example: When the blood pressure reading is
combined with information about anatomy and
physiology, pharmacology, pathophysiology,
knowledge is used to decide about further
care and treatment.
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The five rights of information

Information has five rights:
Right information
Right person
Right time
Right place
Right amount

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What is healthcare informatics?

With the knowledge of the importance of
information in healthcare, healthcare informatics
has become a specialty.
Healthcare informatics is a combination of
computer science, healthcare science,
information science and cognitive science.

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What is healthcare informatics?

Computer science: development, configuration,
architecture of computer hardware and software.
Healthcare science: body of knowledge on which
healthcare profession bases their practice. The
sciences of anatomy, physiology and knowledge
specific to each profession.
Information science: also includes information
technology which involves the process of sending
and receiving information.
Cognitive science: the process of human
thinking, understanding and remembering.
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What is Nursing informatics (NI)?

Nursing Informatics (NI) is the application of
computer science and information science to
nursing. NI promotes the generation,
management and processing of relevant data in
order to use information and develop
knowledge that supports nursing in all practice
domains (Hebert, 2000).

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Nursing Informatics
Integrates nursing science, computer science,
and information science to manage and
communicate data, information, and knowledge
in nursing practice.
Nursing informatics facilitates the integration of
data, information, and knowledge to support
clients, nurses, and other providers in their
decision-making in all roles and settings."
(Staggers & Bagley-Thompson, 2002).
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Why is it important?
Nurses need to develop
competencies in
informatics.
Informatics enables
nurses to use information
and communications
technologies in the:

Technology
Nursing

collection of data,
use of information
generation of knowledge to
support nursing practice
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Why is it important?
Therefore, NI competencies need to include both
knowledge and skills required:
to use information and communication
technologies to enter, retrieve and manipulate
data.
to interpret and organize data into information to
affect nursing practice.
to combine information to contribute to
knowledge development in nursing.
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Using information
Evidence-based practice leads to:
Determining standards and guidelines
Guide for decision-making process
Determines best practice

Nursing informatics can enable dissemination of

new knowledge.
Practitioners update themselves of new developments
through journals, conferences, continuing education
sessions.
The information is varied and copious.
There is a need to find the relevant evidence in a timely
way.
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Literature databases
Provide access to relevant literature and are
an important research source.
Usually cover a specific list of periodicals or
other publications that give the database defined
boundaries.
Usually specific to one field such as healthcare,
social sciences, education.
The database may be limited to research articles
or may include newspaper clippings, magazine
articles.
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Literature databases
A database provides a controlled, specific and
systematic way of finding relevant information on
a specific topic.
Each entry in a database usually contains an
article citation, subject heading and a text
summary known as the abstract.
It may include the name of the author(s) and the
full text of the article.

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Obstacles to using information

There is a need to further emphasize on the
importance of evidence-based practice.
There is a need for convenient access to
literature resources.
Education to use technology to access and
retrieve information relevant to clinical practice.
There is a need to instill a information-seeking
modeling behavior.

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References
Canadian Nurses Association. (2001). What is nursing
informatics and why is it so important? Nursing Now, 11
Hebert, M. (2000). A national education strategy to develop
nursing informatics competencies. Canadian Journal of
Nursing Leadership 13(2).
Staggers, N., & Bagley Thompson, C. (2002). The evolution
of definitions for nursing informatics: A critical analysis
and revised definition. Journal of the American Medical
Informatics Association, 9 (3), 255 262.
Young, K. M. (2000). Informatics for healthcare
professionals. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company.
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