Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek

Faculty of Medicine Osijek

Undergraduate Study of Medical Laboratory Diagnostics

Name, Surname

Title

Seminar paper

Mentor:

Osijek, 2017.
 Just like in all aspects of everyday life, technology has already crept its way into public
health systems. While there is absolutely no reason to resist this change, the sheer speed of
technology advancements also require personnel in health services to be up to par with their
knowledge on the ins and outs of technology used in their line of work. This is of utmost
importance as far as computer use is concerned, since it can make lives of the personnel
significantly easier. As stated by Lee (2014), “informatics enhance nursing practice” with
“quicker access to patient information, improvement of overall efficiency and reduction of
potential errors”. On the other hand, not receiving enough training to ensure competence
concerning information technologies in an age where computers are essential in everyday work
can make workers in health services highly ineffective when trying to help patients in the best
way they can, which in the end hurts both parties involved. Therefore, it is extremely important
to provide IT training for all workers in this field in order for the work performance to be on
peak levels at all times.
If it can be said that nurses act as the doctor’s right hand, it can be easily understood why
there is great need for them to be able to sift through the information concerning all facts that can
be helpful in treating the patients, easing the process of treatment and basically “keeping the
machine well oiled” (Darvish et al., 2014). The term “nursing informatics” is used for nurses’
work in the field of informatics, and has been around since 1984 (Darvish et al., 2014). Other
sources claim “nursing informatics was recognized as a specialty in 1992” (Tietze, 2008).
Nursing informatics is defined as “the application of IT in the nursing duties including education,
management and practice”, but several other aspects such as data-recovery, human-computer
interaction, information science, electronic patient records, e-learning are parts of the field
nowadays (Darvish et al., 2014). According to Guenther and Peters (as cited in Darvish et al.,
2014), “now most of nursing professionals believe that [nursing informatics] is defined as the
integration of information technology and all aspects of nursing”. Darvish et al. (2014) used
three basic categories of competence in their research, such as, computer skills, informatics
knowledge and skills. Computer skills focus on “computerized searches and retrieving patient
demographics data, the use of telecommunication devices, documentation of patient care, the use
of information technologies for improving nursing care, and the use of networks and computer
technology safely”.
Informatics knowledge, where “the computer can only facilitate nursing care and that there are
human functions that cannot be performed by computers” and “recognition of the value of
clinicians’ involvement in the design […] of systems in health care”. Lastly, informatics skills,
which evolves around “the development of standards and database structures to facilitate clinical
care, education, administration or research”. These three categories all complement each other.
Computer skills are concerned about the basics of computer use. Nurses have to feel comfortable
using computers as to not impede progress in patient treatment. Informatics knowledge is a sort
of meta-knowledge which helps keep the health service workers on their toes because in the end
it is the humans who have to “pull the trigger” and make decisions in clutch situations when it
comes to saving lives. Lastly, informatics skills are related to the use of computers on a macro
level in order to simplify what needs to be done and generally keep the staff in good shape. They
should always know what they are supposed to be doing in every moment, so they can focus on
administering proper clinical care instead of spending precious time figuring out their duties. In
order for this to be possible, good education programs are necessary and managerial duties have
to be performed with utmost care.
Tietze (2008), on the other hand, proposes three components of nurse informatics practice. They
are: data, information and knowledge, which need to be transformed from one end to another.
Data are “discrete entities that are described objectively without interpretation”, information is
interpreted or organized data while knowledge is synthesized information which reveals
relationships inside it (Tietze, 2008). An example, provided by the author in her article, relates to
vital signs which are a set of data or to be specific these same signs which are taken over a period
of time can be considered information, and when this information is used to diagnose patient
treatment, it is considered knowledge (Tietze, 2008). Careful analysis of this “key concept of the
nursing role” (Tietze, 2008) and comparison with the categories presented above given by
Darvish et al. (2014) lead to the conclusion that both explanations are very similar. Data filing is
done via computer skills. This data is interpreted and used in both micro and macro application
of health service. Finally, knowledge as Tietze (2008) understands it, is very similar to how
Darvish et al. (2014) understand it – all of the collected data mean nothing without timely
application from the staff responsible for patient treatment.
In conclusion, technology is an ever evolving field. It has its uses in almost all aspects of
life. Our health service is no different, and technology can serve as a huge help in that regard.
However, proper training is necessary so it would not become a hindrance. In practice, nurses are
the ones who are oriented towards dealing with the challenges posed by technology in order to
make the everyday functioning of clinical centers smooth. This has been a fact for a couple of
decades now. In order to be efficient, nurses have to be able to use computers competently on
micro and macro levels. They need to be able to find anything they need in an instant, but also
know how to use the data they find so general efficiency would be improved. Lastly, they need
to keep in mind that computers are not omnipotent, and responsibility for the data and what is
done with it is always in human hands. All in all, one thing is for certain: this age of technology
has led to an increase in overall productivity and such change must be welcomed, but we have to
keep an eye on it in order to not lose track of the core force that drives this change, human
beings.
 Literature

Darvish, A, Bahramnezhad, F, Keyhanian, S, Navidhamidi, M. (2014). The Role of Nursing

Informatics on Promoting Quality of Health Care and the Need for Appropriate Education.
Global Journal of Health Science. 6(6), 11-18.

Lee, A. (2014). The Role of Informatics in Nursing. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy!, 12(4), 55.

Tietze, M. (2008). Nursing Informatics: What’s It All About? Electronic references. Retrieved
20/5/2017 from: https://web-ded.uta.edu/wconnect/ace/static/onlinecne/CEAugust08.pdf