Welcome to NCM 110

Nursing Informatics
Prepared by: ARNEL C. MAGHINAY, RN, PhD
2 Computer System
Computer System

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 Computer Hardware
⬥ Defined as all of the physical components of a computer.
⬥ A computer is a machine that uses electronic components
and instructions to the components to perform
calculations, repetitive and complex procedures, process
text, and manipulate data and signals.

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Computer Hardware

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 Computer Hardware
⬥ RAM
⬦ is a temporary storage area for program instructions
and data that is being processed. It is only active when
computer is on
⬥ ROM
⬦ is permanent; it remains when power is off. Example:
start up instructions for computer.

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 Computer Hardware
⬥ CPU
⬦ brain of the computer
⬥ Motherboard
⬦ main printed circuit board (PCB) found
in computers and other expandable systems. It holds
many of the crucial electronic components of the
system, such as the central processing unit (CPU)
and memory, and provides connectors for
other peripherals.
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 Computer Hardware
⬥ Graphics Card
⬦ A video card (also called a graphics card, display card,
graphics adapter, or display adapter) is an expansion
card which generates a feed of output images to a
display device (such as a computer monitor).
⬥ Sound Card
⬦ An internal expansion card that provides input and
output of audio signals to and from a computer under
control of computer programs.
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Computer Hardware

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 Computer Hardware
⬥ Hard disk
⬦ A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed
disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that
stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage
and one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated
with magnetic material.
⬥ Flash drive/Thumb drive
⬦ A USB flash drive is a data storage device that includes
flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is
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typically removable and rewritable
 Computer Hardware
⬥ Modem/Router
⬦ Modem is a box that connects your home network to
the wider Internet. A router is a box that lets all of your
wired and wireless devices use that Internet connection
at once and also allows them to talk to one another
without having to do so over the Internet.
⬥ Monitor
⬦ A computer monitor is an output device that displays
information in pictorial form.
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 Computer Hardware
⬥ Printer
⬦ A printer is a device that accepts text and graphic
output from a computer and transfers the information
to paper, usually to standard size sheets of paper.
Printers vary in size, speed, sophistication, and cost. In
general, more expensive printers are used for higher-
resolution color printing. Personal computer printers
can be distinguished as impact or non-impact printers.

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 Impact Printer
⬥ Early impact printers worked something like an automatic
typewriter, with a key striking an inked impression on
paper for each printed character. The dot-matrix printer
was a popular low-cost personal computer printer. It's an
impact printer that strikes the paper a line at a time.

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 Non-Impact Printer
⬥ The best-known non-impact printers are the inkjet printer,
of which several makes of low-cost color printers are an
example, and the laser printer. The inkjet sprays ink from
an ink cartridge at very close range to the paper as it rolls
by. The laser printer uses a laser beam reflected from a
mirror to attract ink (called toner ) to selected paper areas
as a sheet rolls over a drum.

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 Input and Output
⬥ Input Devices
⬦ These devices allow the computer to receive
information from the outside world.
⬥ Output Devices
⬦ These devices allow the computer to report its results
to the external world. Output devices are defined as any
equipment that translates the computer information
into something readable by people or other machines.
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 Major Types of Computers
⬥ Supercomputers
⬥ Mainframes
⬥ Microcomputers (Personal Computers or PCs)
⬥ Handheld Computers/Personal Digital Assistants

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 Major Types of Computers
⬥ Supercomputers
⬦ The largest type of computer is the supercomputer.
First developed by Seymour Cray in 1972, the early
supercomputer research, development, and production
were carried out by Cray Corporation or one of its
affiliates (Cray Corp, 2014).

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Super Computers

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 Major Types of Computers
⬥ Mainframes
⬦ The mainframe computer is the most common fast,
large, and expensive type of computer used in large
businesses (including hospitals and other large
healthcare facilities) for processing, storing, and
retrieving data.

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Mainframe

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 Major Types of Computers
⬥ Microcomputers (Personal Computers or PCs)
⬦ Although mainframe computers provide critical service
to the healthcare industry, much smaller computers are
also an essential part of healthcare computing systems.
Computers designed to support a single user are called
microcomputers or personal computers (PCs). Much
smaller and less powerful than a mainframe, PCs were
designed to be used by one person at a time.

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Major Types of Computers

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 Major Types of Computers
⬥ Handheld Computers/Personal Digital Assistants
⬦ Handheld computers are small, special function
computers, although a few “full function” handheld
computers were introduced in the late 1990s. Even
though of smaller size than the laptop and notebook
microcomputers, some have claimed to have almost
the same functionality and processing capabilities.

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Handheld Computers/Personal Digital Assistants

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 Computer Software System
⬥ Software is the general term applied to the instructions
that direct the computer’s hardware to perform work.
⬥ It is distinguished from hardware by its conceptual rather
than physical nature.

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 Categories of Software
⬥ There are three basic types of software: system software,
utility programs, and applications software. System
software “boots up” (starts up and initializes) the computer
system; controls input, output, and storage; and controls
the operations of the application software.
⬥ Utility software consists of programs designed to support
and optimize the functioning of the computer system
itself.

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 System Software
⬥ System software consists of a variety of programs that
control the individual computer and make the user’s
application programs work well with the hardware.

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 Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)
⬥ The first level of
system control is
handled by the basic
input/output system
(BIOS) stored on a
ROM chip on the
motherboard.

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 Operating System (OS)
⬥ An OS is the overall
controller of the
work of the
computer.

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 Utility Software
⬥ Utility programs include programs designed to keep the
computer system operating efficiently.

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 Utility Software
1. Security software
2. Disk management utilities
3. Backup utilities
4. Screen savers
5. Archival Software
6. Programming environment support programs

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 Common Software Useful to Nurses
⬥ In most hospitals, most software systems used by nurses
are based in a Hospital Information System (HIS).

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 Free Software
⬥ Free software is defined by the FSF in terms of four
freedoms for software users: to have the freedom to use,
study, redistribute, and improve the software in any way
they wish. A program is only free software, in terms of the
FSF definition, if users have all of these freedoms

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 Open Source Software
⬥ Open source software is any software satisfying the open
software initiative’s definition

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Common OSS/FS Licenses

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 OSS/FS Applications
⬥ Operating system
⬦ Linux
⬥ Web browser
⬦ Chrome, Firefox
⬥ E-mail client
⬦ Thunderbird
⬥ Word processing or integrated office suite/Presentation
tools
⬦ Open Office 36
 OSS/FS Healthcare Applications
1. GNUMed
2. OpenEHR
3. OpenEMR
4. OpenMRS

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2 End of Week 2