Posts Tagged ‘Healthcare Informatics Employment’

Progress, Change, Future

January 22, 2012

The future of healthcare information systems and a career in healthcare informatics holds exciting opportunities for healthcare organizations. Many improvements will be made in current technologies available. Although the concept of the electronic medical record (EMR) has been around for quite some time, we are just starting to see some advances in the actual implementation of automating portions of the patient medical record. To get to a fully automated health record, where all aspects of the legal medical record communicate to all systems, seems like a daunting task and yet so exciting to be a part of during these times. A career as a healthcare informatics professional will continue to be a desired profession and will gain momentum in the value these professionals will bring to an organization. Identifying their roles and responsibilities will become unique to each organization’s needs. Because of the many abilities and knowledge of healthcare informatics professionals, one healthcare facility may utilize these professionals in a different way and environment than another facility. Perhaps if there is not a developed informatics department, these professionals may even have different reporting structures based on where the organization sees them contributing and fitting into the organizational chart for that particular facility. The healthcare informatics field of study will be fundamental to bridging the gap between Information Technology Departments, Administration, clinical staff, physicians, vendors, and end-users. These positions are knowledgeable in a vast amount of areas, such as: information literacy, human computer interaction, human factors, usability testing, project management, working as change agents, standardizing language, evidence-based healthcare, numerous types of computer software such as database systems and spreadsheets. One cannot argue the fact that these knowledgeable individuals have developed skills, which bring much value to an organization. If these positions are utilized, directed, and supported, they will be extremely beneficial within a healthcare facility. Implementing, supporting, and maintaining an EMR is progress for any organization. The power of progress is amazing and builds upon each generation’s knowledge. Suppose each new generation had to rediscover numerals or language or medicine. The world would see no progress. Each generation stands on the shoulders of the previous generation to reach higher. Therefore, change is the price we pay for progress, and the EMR will bring about change for healthcare organizations. Change itself is not progress; it is the price we pay for progress. We will see some of the most advanced technology and the quest for a fully developed electronic health record will begin to take hold. As generations replace older generations an environment of automation will be expected and accepted by healthcare consumers and healthcare providers.

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Healthcare Informatics Employment, comment

May 30, 2011

To the nurse writing about Acuity levels, I feel your frustration. This is a big reason I left clinical nursing to obtain a career in Healthcare Informatics. I do not worry about our nurse to patient ratio, acuity levels, or about working extra and not getting paid. In Healthcare Informatics, I handle policies, statistics, computer programs, and machines. I miss the clinical nursing. However with clinical nursing I was missing time with my family, with my health, and with my sanity. Now I feel better about myself and the work I am doing to help patients in a different way.

Original Post
March 23, 2011
Acuity levels
Using higher acuity as a talking point for our need for lower nurse:patient ratios has had no effect. I am totally frustrated, as are the nurses on my unit, on how to get the point across to administration. We are unable to provide the total amount of care our patients need.

We use HPPD, hours per patient day, to set up our allocation tables. And even though my Telemetry unit is at 8.35 HPPD and another unit may be at 7.5; we all end up with a 1:5 nurse patient ratio.

Looking for a way to assign acuity levels to the patients doesn’t seem to hold much impact. As I researched this, I found articles that found inconsistent results with changing ratios to acuity, with inconsistent results in outcomes.

So where do I go from here? Patients are barely getting the attention they need……..the patients are sicker, older, heavier, more are diabetic…..nurses can only find time to complete the tasks and not much more…nurses are so frustrated, they are looking for jobs elsewhere?

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