Models of collaboration and dissemination for nursing informatics innovations in the 21st century.

BACKGROUND: Nursing informatics innovations are constantly adapting to a rapidly changing health care environment. PURPOSE: This study aims to present the lessons learned from 4 nursing informatics projects and rationale for development decisions to inform future informatics innovations. METHODS: Using a comparative cross-case analysis, four case studies of informatics projects led by nurse scientists were described and analyzed through the lens of the Informatics Research Organizing Model which was modified to include policy and interoperability contexts. FINDINGS: The comparison analysis examined dynamic relationships between processes and constructs in nursing informatics interventions and also highlighted the scientific, intellectual property, technical, and policy challenges encountered among the four case studies. DISCUSSION: The analysis provided implications for future intervention development and implementation in consideration of multiple contexts for nursing informatics innovations.

Filipino Nurses' Use of Smartphones in Clinical Settings.

While previous research has examined specific ways that nurses have used smartphones for work purposes in clinical settings, large-sample quantitative studies are limited, particularly in Asia. To address this research gap, this study provided a ranking on how nurses have used their smartphones for work purposes in clinical settings and identified differences based on demographic and organizational factors. In January to June 2017, a pen-and-paper survey was administered to 517 staff nurses employed in 19 tertiary-level general hospitals in Metro Manila, Philippines. Results show that nurses frequently used their smartphones to exchange voice calls and text messages with other nurses and doctors. Results also showed that specific items reflecting the use of smartphones for communication purposes differed according to gender, age, hospital ownership, nursing area, number of patients handled in last shift, and presence of a hospital-provided mobile phone. Next, some items for information-seeking purposes differed according to highest educational attainment and years of clinical experience. Moreover, some items for documentation purposes differed according to age, hospital ownership, and number of patients handled in last shift. Overall, the results of this study can be used to guide policies on the use of smartphones in clinical settings.

Evaluation of Acceptance of Nursing Information System in a German and American Hospital.

Nursing Information Systems (NIS) are not well-adopted and accepted in Germany. The evaluation of a NIS deployment in a German University Hospital supports this assumption. A second side study in the US should point out the differences regarding the technical and organizational differences. We use a questionnaire including standardized instruments like the Unified Theory of Acceptance (UTAUT). Results indicated that nurses in Germany compared to in the US do not use nursing process documentation to the same extent. The main reasons behind the low usage in comparison with the US are deficits in ease-of-use, system performance and the high expenditure of time and paper work for charting nursing plans.

Representing nursing assessment documentation with ICNP.

The purpose of this study was to identify key concepts and semantic relations necessary to represent standardized and local patient assessment items in an electronic documentation system and to evaluate the degree to which coverage of both are represented by ICNP. A total of 805 unique assessment concepts were identified. Forty-three percent had exact matches in ICNP, and an additional 20% had matches in the ICNP classified as narrower, broader or other.

A state profile of IT sophistication in nursing homes.

In healthcare, IT Sophistication has been defined as the diversity and maturity of information system hardware and software that support clinical services. Clinical services relevant to this study include resident care management, clinical support and administrative activities in nursing homes. An IT sophistication survey previously validated in acute care settings and adapted for nursing homes was used to develop a state profile of Missouri nursing homes. The IT survey was disseminated via paper and electronic methods as chosen by a selected responder that had IT oversight and knowledge of IT stakeholders. A census of 199 respondents completed the survey, representing a 41% (199/491) response rate. Findings support recent literature indicating a higher percentage of nursing homes are still using technology for administrative purposes; however, there is growing recognition that technologies with greater functionality, is used more extensively for electronic and automated transfer of resident care information.

Skill needs for nurses in their role as health informatics professionals: a survey in the context of global health informatics education.

In the process of developing global health informatics education, a common understanding of educational outcomes is required. Therefore, an educational framework for health informatics professionals is desirable to support student mobility, trans-national and borderless education. Nurses form a significant part of the health workforce and need to be properly educated for their roles in health informatics. To ascertain their perceptions of needs and priorities, we developed a web-based questionnaire and surveyed Australian nurses on the preferred knowledge/skills set for health informatics professionals. Among others, the questionnaire is based on the International Medical Informatics Association's (IMIA) set of recommendations on education and IMIA's scientific map. Benner's five levels of competencies were applied to measure the degree of competency required for each skill/knowledge. Altogether, 82 Australian nurses completed the questionnaire. The nurses' perceived degree of competency required for a total of 74 specific skills and knowledge in five skill categories is presented in this paper as well as the overall results for each of the five categories. Further, significant differences between the nurses' primary roles and primary interest in health informatics are discussed. The development of a comprehensive health informatics education framework needs to take into account nurses as well as other health professionals. Repeating the survey in other countries and for various professions is essential to develop an international educational framework.

Linking nursing care to medical diagnoses: heterogeneity of patient groups.

AIM: The new budget system for Dutch hospitals makes use of patient groups that are highly homogeneous in terms of diagnosis and treatment combinations (diagnose behandeling combinaties (DBC)). These DBCs are the Dutch DRG variants. The DBC mainly concerns medical care; nursing care is almost regarded as a constant factor. In this study the DBC is linked to the nursing minimum data set for The Netherlands (NMDSN), to explore the degree of homogeneity in terms of nursing care for patient groups that are homogeneous in terms of the DBC. METHOD: In nine Dutch hospitals, patient information was collected by means of the NMDSN. To answer the question, we performed a secondary data analysis on the NMDSN. First, groups were formed in terms of medical diagnoses as defined in the DBC. Next, explorative statistical analyses were used to form homogeneous groups in terms of nursing diagnoses. These groups were compared in terms of the nursing care interventions and in terms of medical diagnoses. FINDING: Some medical diagnoses seem to be homogeneous, others more heterogeneous in terms of nursing care. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Limitations in the study design hinder a firm conclusion. However, the results discourage the use of the medical DBC for nursing care.