The Need for a Nurse Informaticist in an Organization

Write a 4-5 page evidence-based proposal to support the need for a nurse informaticist in an organization who would focus on improving health care outcomes.

Introduction

As you begin to prepare this assessment, you are encouraged to complete the Team Perspectives of the Nurse Informaticist activity. Completion of this will help you succeed with the assessment as you explore the nurse informaticist’s role from the different perspectives of the health care team. Completing activities is also a way to demonstrate engagement.

Nurses at the baccalaureate level in all practice areas are involved in nursing informatics through interaction with information management and patient care technologies. Nurses must not only demonstrate knowledge of and skills in health information and patient care technologies, but also how to use these tools at the bedside and organizational levels. Moreover, nurses need to recognize how information gathered from various health information sources can impact decision making at the national and state regulatory levels.

Scenario

For this assessment, assume you are a nurse attending a meeting of your state’s nurses association. A nurse informaticist conducted a presentation on her role and its impact on positive patient and organizational outcomes in her workplace. You realize that your organization is undergoing many technological changes. You believe this type of role could provide many benefits to your organization.

You decide to pursue proposing a nurse informaticist role in your organization. You speak to your chief nursing officer (CNO) and human resources (HR) manager, who ask you to prepare a 4–5 page evidence-based proposal to support the new role. In this way, they can make an informed decision as to whether the addition of such a role could justify the return on investment (ROI). They need your proposal before an upcoming fiscal meeting.​ This is not an essay, but instead, it is a proposal to create a new Nurse Informaticist position.

One important part of this assessment is the justification of the need for a nurse informaticist in a health care organization and references from relevant and timely scholarly or professional resources to support the justification for creating this nurse informaticist position. The term justify means to show or prove that the nurse informaticist position brings value to the organization. This justification must include evidence from the literature to support that this position will provide a return on investment for the organization.

Preparation

To successfully prepare for this assessment, you will need to complete these preparatory activities:

• Review assessment resources and activities.

• • Conduct independent research on the nursing knowledge and skills necessary to interact with health information and patient care technology.
  • Focus your research on current resources available through peer-reviewed articles, professional websites, government websites, professional blogs, wikis, job boards, and so on.
• Consult the BSN Program Library Research Guide for help in identifying scholarly and authoritative sources.
• Interview peers in your network who are considered information technology experts.

• • Ask them about how information technology advances are impacting patient care at the bedside, at the organizational level, and beyond.

Proposal Format

The chief nursing officer (CNO) and human resources (HR) manager have asked you to include the following headings in your proposal and to be sure to address the bullets following each heading:

Nursing Informatics and the Nurse Informaticist

• What is nursing informatics?
• What is the role of the nurse informaticist?

Nurse Informaticists and Other Health Care Organizations

• What is the experience of other health care organizations with nurse informaticists?
• How do these nurse informaticists interact with the rest of the nursing staff and the interdisciplinary team?

IMPACT OF FULL NURSE ENGAGEMENT IN HEALTH CARE TECHNOLOGY

• How does fully engaging nurses in health care technology impact:

• • Patient care?
  • Protected health information (security, privacy, and confidentiality)?

• • • In this section, you will explain evidence-based strategies that the nurse informaticist and interdisciplinary team can use to effectively manage patients’ protected health information, particularly privacy, security, and confidentiality. Evidence-based means that they are supported by evidence from scholarly sources.
  • Workflow?
  • Costs and return on investment?

Opportunities and Challenges

• What are the opportunities and challenges for nurses and the interdisciplinary team with the addition of a nurse informaticist role?

• • How can the interdisciplinary team collaborate to improve quality care outcomes through technology?

Summary of Recommendations

• What are 3–4 key takeaways from your proposal about the recommended nurse informaticist role that you want the CNO and the HR manager to remember?

• • This is the section where the justification for the implementation of the nursing informaticist role is addressed. Remember to include evidence from the literature to support your recommendation.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Ensure written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• Submission length: 4–5 double-spaced pages, in addition to title and references pages.
• Font: Times New Roman, 12 point.
• Citations and References: Cite a minimum of three current scholarly and/or authoritative sources to support your ideas. In addition, cite a minimum of one current professional blog or website to support your central ideas. Current means no more than five years old.
• APA formatting: Be sure to follow APA formatting and style guidelines for citations and references. For an APA refresher, consult the Evidence and APA page on Campus.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Describe nurses’ and the interdisciplinary team’s role in informatics with a focus on electronic health information and patient care technology to support decision making.

• • Define nursing informatics and the role of the nurse informaticist.
  • Explain how the nurse collaborates with the interdisciplinary team, including technologists, to improve the quality of patient care.
  • Justify the need for a nurse informaticist in a health care organization.
• Competency 2: Implement evidence-based strategies to effectively manage protected health information.

• • Explain evidence-based strategies that the nurse and interdisciplinary team can use to effectively manage patients’ protected health information (privacy, security, and confidentiality).
• Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly communication to facilitate use of health information and patient care technologies.

• • Follow APA style and formatting guidelines for citations and references.
  • Create a clear, well-organized, and professional proposal that is generally free from errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.