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ANA Informatics Competencies in Practice: ANA Competencies and Standards

in Nursing Practice

Badaki Peter Ilesanmi

IF004 Walden University

NURS 6053 Inter professional Organizational and Systems Leadership

Dr Vannesia Morgan-Smith

May 16th, 2022

Nurse Informaticist interviewed

I contacted Simran Sandhu, RN, BScN, MSN., for a well-informed conversation

relating to Perspectives on Sharing Healthcare Information. Simran is an experienced

Registered Nurse with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & health care

industry. Skilled in Nursing, Critical Care, Paediatrics, Patient Education, and Patient Safety.

She is currently a Clinical Informatics Analyst at Trillium Health Partners.

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Interview Subject Current Roles

The interview subject currently occupies the position of a Clinical Informatics

Analyst, and her role is to bridge between applications and the organization’s clinical

business functions. As a clinical informaticist, effort to ensure that technologies and changes

align with clinical practices are put in place in the organization. Essentially, the followings

are the activities currently being worked on in the organization.

First, ensuring business process automation (BPA) or warning appears on the screen

for nurses. (S, Sandhu. Phone Conversation, 2022).

Second, ensuring BPA does not lead to nursing fatigue. (S, Sandhu. Phone

Conversation, 2022).

Fourth, making sure appropriate documentation enables BPA to close. (S, Sandhu.

Phone Conversation, 2022).

Lastly, making sure technologies meet the needs of healthcare providers. (S, Sandhu.

Phone Conversation, 2022).

This implies optimizing appropriate and efficient technologies or systems to reduce

human efforts in the business process and satisfying healthcare provider’s specification.
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Interview Subject’s Past, Present and Potential Future Challenges

Past Challenges already overcome
Numerous requests to improve change and provide solution from professional practice

constitute the only challenge. The request to improve change include transfer of

accountability between charge nurse to charge nurse or nurse to sub charge nurse as shift

changes. (S, Sandhu. Phone Conversation, 2022).

Challenges currently being encountered

First, the need to return to professional practice by gathering more information,

reviewing policies and procedure and understanding what constitute standard documentation.

(S, Sandhu. Phone Conversation, 2022).

Second, the need to confirm clinical business space before making changes on how to

improve technology. (S, Sandhu. Phone Conversation, 2022).

Lastly, the need to investigate further and consider the whole situation before making

a change and impacting others. (S, Sandhu. Phone Conversation, 2022).

Potential Future Challenges

First, the need to collaborate with professional practice. (S, Sandhu. Phone

Conversation, 2022).

Second, the need to establish and enforce standard and project scope. (S, Sandhu.

Phone Conversation, 2022).

Third, the need to take the systems away and not relying on computers except for

additional information.

Lastly, the need to support best practice by taking computer to bedside and involving

patients in care. (S, Sandhu. Phone Conversation, 2022).

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Thus, the interview subject foresees establishing professional standard in the

organization as the major potential future challenge as an informatics clinical analyst.

ANA Functional Areas, TIGER and QSEN Competencies Relation to Interview

Subject’s Roles
ANA Functional Areas and Interview Subject’ role
The ANA Functional Area of Informatics involving the development of Systems,

Products, and Resources, Management and Leadership (American Nurses Association, 2021),

relate to the interview subject role as a clinical informatics application analyst in the current

practice. For example, the need to undergo training from Epic on how to build original

systems/applications and how to improve on the systems/applications. (S, Sandhu. Phone

Conversation, 2022). This would enhance the identification and implementation of

appropriate resources in building systems/applications that increase usability and productivity

in the organization.

In addition, the interview subject intends including project management to current

practice. (S, Sandhu. Phone Conversation, 2022). This would increase the clinical analyst

impact in the organization.

Lastly, the interview subject is being influenced by frontline leaders and looking

forward to taking up more challenging or leadership responsibilities. For instance, checking

on what is happening in the floor and how systems are functioning during drive session. (S,

Sandhu. Phone Conversation, 2022).

TIGER Competencies and Interview Subject’ role

Essentially, the teaching, training, and education aspects of TIGER Competencies

(Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, 2020) relate to the interview

subject current experience as a new hire in the organization. For instance, the training team

involved in professional practice educate the subject interview on what constitute standard
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documentation in the organization, how to use the systems, what information need to be

gathered from patients and how to enter the information into the systems. (S, Sandhu. Phone

Conversation, 2022).

Therefore, the bridge between the training team and professional practice indicates a

strong relationship between clinical informaticist possession of informatics knowledge and

skills needed for practice

QSEN and Interview Subject’ role

Quality Improvement, Safety, Collaboration and Teamwork are the Quality and

Safety Education in Nursing Competencies (American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Education Consortium (AACNEC), 2012, P.5). relate to the subject interview roles in the

current practice as Informatics Clinical Analyst.

For instance, adopting quality improvement tool such as chart to enable patients

access and check into appointments, blood work and results, and connect to their doctors or

nurses. (S, Sandhu. Phone Conversation, 2022). This enhances patients’ education and assist

in achieving best possible outcomes.

Similarly, partnering with quality and risk team to review incidences relating to

technology and safety. For example, a patient diet request for consuming pork regularly and

the team taking time to conduct further investigation on Epic systems when they flank.

Reviewing incidence and seeking to know what happen (if it was user base issue and

ensuring it was not a mere miss) and preventing it from happening to someone else. (S,

Sandhu. Phone Conversation, 2022).

Hence, applying the QSEN knowledge and skills to identify, integrate and implement

strategies and best practices that facilitate quality improvement and reduce risk of harm to

nurses, patients and others are critical to the Clinical Informatics Analyst role.
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Reference

American Association of Colleges of Nursing Education Consortium. (2012).

Graduate-level QSEN competencies: Knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

Retrieved from

http://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/42/AcademicNursing/CurriculumGuidelin

es/Graduate-QSEN-Competencies.pdf May 12, 2022

American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, 4th

Edition. Retrieved from https://zoboko.com/book/g21dyg0d/nursing-scope-

and-standards-of-practice-4th-edition May 12, 2022

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). (2020). TIGER

international competency synthesis project: Global health informatics

competency recommendation frameworks.

https://www.himss.org/sites/hde/files/media/file/2020/04/22/tiger_icsp_recom

mendations_final.pdf May 12, 2022