Demonstrate skills in using patient care technologies, information systems, and communication devices that support safe nursing practice in a variety of healthcare settings
Many
tools are available to nurses these days. As technology advances, so do the
tools that become available. However, these tools are exactly that – tools.
Often times we forget that and fail to trust our best resource – the nurse. Managers
need to be able to help educate about and advance the use information systems.
One opportunity I have had recently is the implementation of a new charting
system. I was oriented as a “Super User”
and was able to help show my co-workers how to use the new system. Although
there was some initial resistance due to a few bugs in the system, the majority
of staff has actually quickly adapted and accepted the change.
Like
many, I feel that the primary BSN course that helped me with this outcome was
the Nursing informatics course. This course taught me a significant amount
about technology and information systems in the nursing environment. One
section in particular was the focus on websites. I was taught to evaluate not
just the information presented by the website, but also to evaluate how the
information was presented. Growing up in the computer age, I often overlook
many of the small details that are key in presentation. During Nursing
Informatics we learned to assess health websites. For the final I wrote a paper on my assessment
of a website, and this is the paper that will be included in my portfolio.
