Nursing informatics can best be described “as the integration of data, information and knowledge to support patients and clinicians in decisions across roles and settings, using information structures, process, and technology” (Knight & Shea, p. 93). Nursing informatics has evolved over the last half decade from a system with only a few abilities to a worldwide technological system used in many hospital settings and physician offices in order to unify healthcare, eliminate error, and allow clinicians to spend less time charting and more time fulfilling job duties.
In the 1960s, technology entered the nursing profession and the very first computer systems were integrated into hospitals. The early computer systems were implemented in order to process orders promptly and keep an accurate record of charges incurred by patients during their hospital stay (Murphy, 2010). Over the next few years, technology improved and started to revolutionize the nursing profession, documentation and communication throughout the hospital went from pen and paper to online databases filled with electronic patient information (Murphy, 2010). The introduction of NI has “prompted significant transformation in healthcare, along with increased attention to patient safety and outcome” (HIMSS Nursing Informatics Awareness Task Force, 2007, p. 38). Nursing informatics (NI) was finally recognized as a specialty in the mid-1990s (Murphy, 2010)
Nursing informatics continued to evolve and the clinical setting began using electronic health records in patient care areas. Electronic health records (EHR) is like the nursing process, in which computer charting uses a hands on approach where the clinician is responsible for physically inputting the data attained into the Electronic Health Record. (McFadden, 2012). EHR was a huge push by President Bush in 2004, he mandated that the electronic health record be worldwide in the United States within ten years and created the Office
References: HIMSS Nursing Informatics Awareness Task Force. (2007, March). Informatics. Nursing Management, 38, 38-42. http://dx.doi.org/http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.ttuhsc.edu/10.1097/01.NUMA.0000262926.85304.a6 Knight, E. P., & Shea, K. (2014). A Patient-Focused Framework Integrating Self-Management and Informatics. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 46, 91-97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12059 McFadden, R. (2012, December). Nursing informatics: A specialty on the rise. , 16, 16-17. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.ttuhsc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2012223758&site=nrc-live Murphy, J. (2010, May-Jun). Nursing informatics: the intersection of nursing, computer, and information sciences. Nursing Economic$, 28, 204-207. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.ttuhsc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2010699607&site=nrc-live Saba, V. K. (2001, September). Nursing informatics: yesterday, today and tomorrow. International Nursing Review, 48, 177-187. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.ttuhsc.edu/nup/detail/detail?sid=976b7ae2-0db7-4ca2-83ce-c7fded8dd419%40sessionmgr112&vid=10&hid=119&bdata=JnNpdGU9bnVwLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=rzh&AN=2001106151 Staggers, N., & Thompson, C. B. (2002). The evolution of definitions for nursing informatics: A critical analysis and revised definition. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. The voice of nursing informatics and the future of nursing Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform (TIGER) (2010). ANIA-CARING Newsletter, 25(4), 11-20. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.ttuhsc.edu/nup/detail/detail?sid=2b530457-f316-4cab-99a1-51bdce7a9464%40sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=119&bdata=JnNpdGU9bnVwLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=rzh&AN=2010939703 Thede, L. (2008, Aug 18). The Electronic health Record: Will Nursing Be on Board When the Ship Leaves? OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 13. http://dx.doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol13No03InfoCol01 Thede, L. (2012, Janurary 23). “Informatics: Where is it?”. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol17No1InfoCol01