NURSING 1

INFORMATICS
BY: JUVY CARAME
Computers, Information and Informatics
 THE IMPORTANCE OF 2

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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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.
 THE IMPORTANCE OF 4

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 patient’s history, lab results.
• Information on the client changes and grows over time.
 THE IMPORTANCE OF 5

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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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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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 8

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
 WHAT IS INFORMATION?
9

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.
 WHAT IS INFORMATION?
10

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.
 WHAT IS INFORMATION?
11

• 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
 WHAT IS HEALTHCARE 13

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.
 WHAT IS HEALTHCARE 14

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.
 What is Nursing informatics (NI)?
15

“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).
 WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
17

• Nurses need to develop

competencies in informatics.
• Informatics enables nurses
to use information and
communications Technology
technologies in the:
• collection of data,
Nursing
• use of information
• generation of knowledge to
support nursing practice
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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.
 USING INFORMATION
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• 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
• Provide access DATABASES
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.
 OBSTACLES TO USING 22

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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Thank You.