Posted: October 2nd, 2024

Information Systems in Nursing Essay

Information Systems in Nursing.

Modern nursing practice has become increasingly automated in many areas and provides opportunities to achieve greater efficiency and streamlined processes throughout the practice setting. The use of technology in nursing has improved patient care and outcomes, and has also enhanced the role of nurses in the healthcare system. One of the most critical areas of nursing practice is medication administration because this requires nurses to administer medications on a regular basis without errors so that patient safety is optimized and all patients receive their medications in a timely manner. Medication administration errors can have serious consequences, including patient harm, increased healthcare costs, and decreased patient satisfaction. Therefore, the use of bar-coded medication administration systems has become increasingly common throughout healthcare organizations to enable nurses to provide patients with medications that are the appropriate dosage and within the appropriate time frame.

These systems have been adopted to enable nurses to provide their patients with safe medication administration practices as best as possible to promote recovery and wellbeing. The implementation of these systems has been shown to reduce medication errors and improve patient safety. This type of system was chosen because it has generated much interest in recent years and its availability in many healthcare organizations has expanded at a high level. The use of bar-coded medication administration systems has become a standard of practice in many healthcare organizations, and is considered a best practice in patient safety. This system is significant because it is aligned with the expanded use of electronic health records and charting to improve access to care and treatment in healthcare environments that have become increasingly patient-centric in nature. The use of electronic health records has improved the accuracy and completeness of patient data, and has also enhanced the ability of healthcare providers to share information and coordinate care.

This type of system is relevant because it provides nurses with a means of improving their medication administration practices. The use of bar-coded medication administration systems has been shown to reduce medication errors and improve patient safety, and is considered a best practice in nursing. However, I believe that medication administration errors will continue to occur unless all nurses have the appropriate training and guidance in the use of these systems and receive any updated education or guidance as needed to improve compliance rates. Ongoing education and training are essential to ensure that nurses are competent in the use of these systems and can provide safe and effective care to patients.

The use of bar-coded medication administration systems offers a means of streamlining medication administration processes and supporting an error-free experience for nurses and for patients. The implementation of these systems has been shown to improve patient safety and reduce medication errors, and is considered a best practice in healthcare. However, this reflects a need to further examine this option and how it may lead to negative outcomes for nurses and patients in some cases. For example, the use of bar-coded medication administration systems may lead to a false sense of security, and may cause nurses to become complacent and less vigilant in their medication administration practices. For instance, the level of non-compliance in the use of medication administration systems may be higher than anticipated because nurses may have too many patients at one time, they might be distracted during this process, or they may lack the training that is required to operate the system effectively, and there is a relatively high rate of medication administration errors, up to seven percent (Lee, Lee, Kwon, & Yi, 2015).

From this perspective, it is important to identify areas where this process might be improved and how to best address any deficiencies in medication administration that impact patient health and wellbeing. The use of data and analytics can help to identify areas for improvement and inform strategies for reducing medication errors and improving patient safety. Nurses who experience problems during medication administration must address these problems as quickly as possible to prevent compromising patient health and this supports a need for nurses to identify areas whereby problem-solving may be limited and the opportunity exists to engage in new forms of engagement that will minimize these problems and reduce the risk of medication errors (Holden, Rivera-Rodriguez, Faye, Scanlon, & Karsh, 2013). Effective problem-solving requires a combination of critical thinking, creativity, and effective communication, and is essential for providing safe and effective care to patients.

Therefore, the manner of problem-solving in bar-coded medication administration is increasingly important and supports an expanded learning curve and environment that impacts decision-making and actions regarding medication administration for patients (Holden et al., 2013). The use of simulation and other educational strategies can help to improve problem-solving skills and prepare nurses for the challenges of medication administration in a rapidly changing healthcare environment. In this context, nurses must recognize their own levels of risk with the use of bar-coded medication administration systems and aim to minimize these risks through improvements in problem-solving that will have a positive and lasting impact on patient outcomes and wellbeing (Holden et al., 2013). Nurses must also be aware of the potential risks and benefits of these systems, and must be able to use them effectively to provide safe and effective care to patients.

Finally, nurses must demonstrate their understanding of how to improve upon existing standards of medication safety by sharing their knowledge and experiences with others (Smeulers, Onderwater, Van Zwieten, & Vermulen, 2014). This requires a commitment to ongoing education and professional development, as well as a willingness to share knowledge and expertise with others. This reflects the importance of expanding nurses’ accountability in medication administration and improving patient safety standards in this regard (Smeulers et al., 2014). The use of peer review and other quality improvement strategies can help to promote accountability and improve patient safety.

Finally, it supports an environment in which nurses embrace automated medication administration and aim to strengthen this practice through their own actions that will ultimately provide patients with a safer and more effective medication administration experience. The use of automated medication administration systems has the potential to improve patient safety and reduce medication errors, and is an important tool in the provision of safe and effective care to patients.

In some cases, nurses contribute to a variety of deficiencies that impact the use of medication administration systems, including an increased workload or patient load; lack of clarity in medication orders; periods when the medication administration requires maintenance and must be offline; duplicate documentation; and a reduced amount of time that is available for patients to manage other tasks involving direct patient care (Tian, Lee, Yucel, Abel, Hultgren, & Duffy, 2014). These deficiencies can have serious consequences, including medication errors and decreased patient safety. From this perspective, there is likely to be an increased risk to patients because medication errors are more likely to occur even when the system is automated (Tian et al., 2014). The use of risk assessment and other quality improvement strategies can help to identify and mitigate these risks.

These efforts require an expanded understanding of the key risk factors associated with these systems and how to provide sufficient time to administer medications to reduce the risk of errors for patients (Tian et al., 2014). Nurses must be aware of the potential risks and benefits of these systems, and must be able to use them effectively to provide safe and effective care to patients. The use of bar-coded medication administration systems has become increasingly relevant throughout nursing practice and provides nurses with a simpler approach to managing patient medications. The implementation of these systems has been shown to improve patient safety and reduce medication errors, and is considered a best practice in healthcare.

These systems are common because they provide a higher level of convenience and are designed to limit the amount of medication errors that occur on a given nursing unit. The use of automated medication administration systems has the potential to improve patient safety and reduce medication errors, and is an important tool in the provision of safe and effective care to patients. However, medication errors remain a significant problem in healthcare organizations and one of the key causes to consider is the lack of training and guidance regarding automated systems that are used as the primary means of medication administration. Ongoing education and training are essential to ensure that nurses are competent in the use of these systems and can provide safe and effective care to patients.

It is important for all nurses to receive the appropriate level of training and knowledge to operate these systems effectively and to promote greater efficiency in administering medications to patients in a timely manner. The use of simulation and other educational strategies can help to improve problem-solving skills and prepare nurses for the challenges of medication administration in a rapidly changing healthcare environment.

References
Alhendawi, K. M. (2024). Task-technology fit model: Modelling and assessing the nurses’ satisfaction with health information system using AI prediction models. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 17(1), 12-24.

Ohneberg, C., Stöbich, N., Warmbein, A., Rathgeber, I., Mehler-Klamt, A. C., Fischer, U., & Eberl, I. (2023). Assistive robotic systems in nursing care: a scoping review. BMC nursing, 22(1), 72.

Seibert, K., Domhoff, D., Bruch, D., Schulte-Althoff, M., Fürstenau, D., Biessmann, F., & Wolf-Ostermann, K. (2021). Application scenarios for artificial intelligence in nursing care: rapid review. Journal of medical Internet research, 23(11), e26522.

Hübner, U. H., Wilson, G. M., Morawski, T. S., & Ball, M. J. (Eds.). (2022). Nursing Informatics: A health informatics, interprofessional and global perspective. Springer Nature.

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Tags: Bar-Coded Medication Administration Systems, Healthcare Technology, Medication Administration, Nursing informatics, Patient safety