. RNs need to take control of their future, put themselves at forefront of IT strategy
Sunday’s Nursing Informatics Symposium at HIMSS15 asked an age-old question about healthcare technology: What do providers, who interact and care for patients daily, do with technology designed to streamline and take some of the interaction out of healthcare?
Keynote speaker Maureen McCausland, RN, vice president and chief nursing officer at MedStar Health in the Baltimore and Washington, DC, area, said the important thing to remember is that healthcare is changing, and there is little that remains static anymore.
Nurses, said McCausland, need to continue their education, obtain the training necessary to keep pace with technological advances and get involved in planning and strategy when organizations add to their host of healthcare IT platforms. “Informatics will change the way we practice,” said McCausland to a standing-room only symposium. “Nursing informatics is an essential component of the care continuum today and will be tomorrow as well.”
In the near-term, McCausland said nurses need to be involved. They need to listen and collaborate with their colleagues and hone their skills in health IT.
“Do not stop at implementation,” said McCausland.
How healthcare, and nursing in particular, approaches the cresting wave of technology matters in the long run, and nurses need to make sure they’re part of the decision-making, planning and implementation of new technology to ensure they’re not left out in the cold.
“Where are we in the future of nursing?” said McCausland. “Are we meeting the demands of the healthcare system?”
McCausland’s spouse, who had observed her come home from an electronic health record go-live gone wrong, saw the problem as being that nursing is not a “binary profession.”
“It’s so true,” said MaryAnn Connor, director of nursing informatics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
“Nursing is very hard to describe and put into a system,” said Connor. “It’s hard to capture all the aspects of what nurses do.”
Connor, who has been in the junction of nursing and informatics for the last 15 years, said she is starting to see the two come together.
Vendors, she added, are also working to bring nurses on board when creating new technology.
“We’re starting to see that,” said Connor. “They’re bringing experienced nurses to the table.”
Chris Hayden,
Healthcarenews
ABUJA: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
PORTHARCOURT: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
LAGOS: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
You may also like
BEYOND NEGLECT: OUR ADVOCACY IS FORGING A TRANSFORMED PROFESSION
BEYOND NEGLECT: OUR ADVOCACY IS FORGING A TRANSFORMED PROFESSIONTo all memb…
Nigeria Moves Closer to Eliminating River Blindness, Says NIMR
The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) has expressed renewed opt…
Nigeria’s Silent Crisis: Confronting the Realities of Hypertension and Diabetes
Amidst Nigeria’s wide-ranging public health challenges, two chronic conditi…
The Practicality and Benefits of Paying Ward Coat Allowance to Medical Professionals
In the evolving landscape of medical education and healthcare practices, th…
World Sickle Cell Day: A Descriptive Essay on Nigeria’s Struggle and Hope for a Cure
As the world marks the 2025 World Sickle Cell Day, Nigeria finds itself at …
