I think that this course has helped me understand how technology works and how data is stored. I am not a technology savvy person and this course helped me understand how things work. I wouldn’t say that this course has changed my professional practice but I would say that it has helped me grow as a nurse. I think it has made me understand the back side of things. How programs are developed and rolled out and how many systems have to work together for you to be able to use the system. I also didn’t know that there were different kinds of data storage. This course helped me realize and think about the different ways that data and technology has changed and developed.

I did not know that there was a technology nurse specialist position and what they did. I really like that they know the clinical side of things as well as the technology side of things. Technology can make life easier as a nurse or make it miserable.  I have worked at many facilities and some systems are better than others. The worst system I worked on was in dialysis and the system is so old that it is the black screen with the green light. You only use the function keys to navigate the system. When I learned to use this system it was like learning how to use a computer again, I had never only used the function keys to type or to navigate. It defiantly took some time.

Learning about informatics could influence my professional practice by improving my skills. I am a school nurse and I use technology daily, all day long. Recently I learned to use google docs and how to share on google classroom. I was not taught to use these things in school and it honestly takes effort, that I don’t think people understand to learn these systems. I had to teach myself to use these and it’s hard.

Skyward is the system I use at work and it is used at schools, it encompasses all of the school needs; grades, schedules, medical information and parent information. It is not medically friendly in that there isn’t many options and a lot of the information I have to type in myself. Doing my final project has honestly helped me a lot in my practice. I researched the program I used and I learned how to run reports that help me in my work.

Fouretier, A., Malriq, A., & Bertram, D. (2016). Open Access Pharmacovigilance Databases: Analysis of 11 Databases. Pharmaceutical Medicine, 30(4), 221-231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40290-016-0146-6

Informatics in healthcare studies the application of technology to solve many health problems. The course material influenced my perception of informatics in health care in terms of its applied focus. Informatics is not just an academic discipline that studies the effective use of biomedical data, information, and knowledge, but also influences decision-making in the field of human health. Medical informatics courses contribute to the formation of theoretical knowledge, practical skills, and abilities to work with the latest information technologies and the possibilities of their application in professional activities (Nibbelink, et al.). This provides favorable prospects for a future career. From a practical point of view, informatics helps to better understand the processes of working with databases, electronic medical records, regional data exchanges, telemedicine, and other modern information applications in the health sector. This is especially important now, in light of the effectiveness of the fight against COVID-19.

The study of medical informatics greatly enhances the professional competence of physicians and nurses as disciplines are now overlapping. Within the framework of multidisciplinarity, many scientific areas related to informatics are developing, for example, bioinformatics, genetic engineering, etc. (Kassam, et al.). The use of modern information technologies in scientific activities also contributes to the development of professionalism in a medical specialist. For example, the introduction of new computer technologies in search engines and access to modern databases of scientific literature helps to expand professional horizons. Evidence-based medicine data analysis, evidence options, meta-analysis are the methods available in the study of informatics. Modern advances in informatics in health care are not limited only to work with information bases. It also includes such areas as computerization and robotics in medicine; the use of automatic analyzers when performing scientific research; prospects for the use of telemedicine; 3D technologies in research and clinical practice.

Over the past years, every developed country has been striving to improve the quality of its health care and at the same time control the growth of costs. Information is the key to realize goals, as is a workforce that has been trained in relevant health informatics skills. In addition, the decline in the cost of computers, the explosive growth of the Internet as a communication and information resource has intensified awareness of the potential of information technology as a tool for increasing labor productivity. These factors have reinforced the importance of the knowledge and skills needed to harness this potential

References

Kassam, Iman et al. “Informatics competencies for nurse leaders: protocol for a scoping

review.” BMJ open vol. 7,12. 14 Dec. 2017, doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018855

Nibbelink, Christine W. et al. “Informatics Solutions for Application of Decision-

Making Skills.” Critical care nursing clinics of North America vol. 30,2 (2018): 237-246. doi:10.1016/j.cnc.2018.02.006