Nursing Informatics

Nursing Informatics

For clinicians, decision making is a daunting process that requires memory, total recall and undivided attention. It is not easy for humans to possess all these skill, especially when there is a need to process a huge amount of patient data. As such, there is a vulnerability that can only be narrowed by utilization of informatics. Information technology system fulfils this need as it enables nurses to improve their access to information pieces and to identify possible links between them. Patient information such as allergic reactions, drug-drug interaction or drug recall warning may be well-known to clinicians, but a problem sets in during the prescription time. Computerized Clinician Order Entry (CPOE) is an IT system with an ability to bridge ‘doing-knowing’ gap through a presentation of relevant information in the time of making medical decisions (Galanter et al. 337.

Most medical errors occur during the prescription stage. CPOE has a patient-specific DSS (Decision Support System) for intervention in the improvement of patient safety. The electronic system makes sure that orders are legible and complete. Besides, the information system ensures that all important information such as route, dose and dosage forms are included. Based on clinical features such as renal function or weight, the medical electronic device can offer dosage adjustment calculations.

Because CPOE is a new medical electronic system, there is little evidence to actualize their performance. In fact, the existing evidence of its performance is limited to single-site evaluations in advanced medical facilities where the systems are conceived within the giant institutions (Strom et al. 1581). Additional support evidence is linkable to large-scale models that rely on projections. Secondly, Information Technology systems – including CPOE—has a potential of affecting clinical care provision because they can result in workflow issues or generation of a new breed of medical errors (Campbell et al 552). Additionally, CPOE costs a fortune thus small medical institutions can hardly afford the IT system. 

Works Cited

Campbell, Emily M., et al. "Types of unintended consequences related to computerized provider order entry." Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 13.5 (2006): 547-556.

Galanter, William L., et al. "Computerized physician order entry of medications and clinical decision support can improve problem list documentation compliance." International journal of medical informatics 79.5 (2010): 332-338.

Strom, Brian L., et al. "Unintended effects of a computerized physician order entry nearly hard-stop alert to prevent a drug interaction: a randomized controlled trial." Archives of internal medicine 170.17 (2010): 1578-1583.