Pediatrics versus Adult Clinical Settings

Answer

Pediatrics versus Adult Clinical Settings

                Different clinical settings are established with an aim of offering quality care to the patients within an established group. For instance, the manner in which care is administered to pediatrics patients vary significantly to that offered in adult care institutions. Pediatric clinical settings are established to deal with health care concerns associated with children while adult settings are mainly established to offer care to grownups. Therefore, the manner of care delivery within these settings varies significantly. This paper compares the pediatric and adult clinical settings based on aspects such as features, content, need and decision support.

Comparison

                Pediatrics refers to the branch of medicine which deals with medical and health care in children, infants and adolescents. The care is offered to patients from birth up to when they attain the age of 18. In pediatric clinical setting, a physician will offer medical care to a child who is acutely ill and at the same time administer preventative care to promote the general wellbeing of the child. An adult clinical setting is majorly focused on offering treatment and care to persons aged 18 and above. Electronic Medical Records (EMR) comes in handy in both pediatric and adult clinical settings. In both cases, the EMR is effective in guaranteeing safety and privacy of the patient records. Moreover, with EMR, the potential for error development is reduced significantly. However, it is a fact that the use of EMR lag behind in pediatric care in comparison to the adult clinical settings. In support of this, Sittig and Singh (2011) indicate that only 31% of pediatricians utilize EMR whereby only 14% is fully functional.

                In comparison to adults, children have more critical values. The varied norms are depicted in the features of physical examination, vital signs, or the findings generated from imaging studies. Sittig and Singh (2011) state that technology is used to store values in pediatric clinical settings since they are of fundamental importance. The inpatient systems not only store but also display the values based on age-appropriate references which is also depicted through the use of graphs. The importance attached to such values stems from the fact that they are effective in providing logical explanations during diagnosis. Despite the fact that they values are also important in adult settings, they are not greatly considered when conducting diagnoses since most adults are mature and more independent to express themselves unlike children.

Warehousing is an important concept in pediatric clinical settings as it is in adult ones. The only difference is that warehousing is provided with a greater value in the former than in the later. According to Sittig and Singh (2011), inpatient settings which deal with newborns in pediatric centers should have desirable systems in place which stores milk properly while monitoring their expiration dates which preventing instances of exposure to promote good health of the children. Despite the fact that inpatient systems in adult settings also have warehouses in place, it is evident that the quality measures are also provided in such settings but not with much caution as in the case of the pediatric settings.

Clinical decision support systems are common elements within pediatrics settings, particularly in intensive care unit. Tools focused on supporting decision making in such cases are majorly directed towards promoting the safety of the patients. Computer software programs are utilized in both clinical settings to offer timely and quality care to the patients. For instance, the health providers in pediatrics and adults health centers will rely on reminders and alerts to guide them in making a decision about the right time to administer medications to the admitted patients. The Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) is feasible in both clinical settings since both organizations have recognized its associated benefits. Despite this, it is still a fact that health providers in the pediatric and adult settings are still reluctant in implementing its usage as a result of the high costs of maintenance of the technology.

The differences between the pediatric and adult clinical setting addressed above can affect the design of the shared clinical setting which is to be established between the two. Not only would the differences results to operational difficulties but also misunderstanding between the members of the workforce and change resistance.

Vital Elements for a Shared System

A shared system established between the pediatrics and the adult system should contain several unique elements such as EMRs, proper decision support systems, quality management systems within a warehouse, and an effective patient management system focused on storing patient values and clinical data. The proposed elements are important since they are focused on promoting efficiency, quality, and safety of the patients which is the mission of health care providers in both pediatric and adult clinical settings.

A shared clinical system is justified from an ethical perspective in that it suggests an effective means of saving costs in healthcare (Baird, Davidson & Mathiassen, 2017). Notably, the taxpayers’ money will be put to proper use since the shared system will enable the sharing of resources between the adult and pediatric outlets. From a legal view, it is evident that the shared system will include the use of EMRs which is vital in protecting patient data and maintaining privacy as required by the law. From a social view, the system comes in handy by encouraging the interaction of different members of the healthcare department which also promotes social cohesion (Baird, Davidson & Mathiassen, 2017). From a public policy view, it is apparent that the shared clinical system will seek to provide a quality health care since the new system will observe the needs of the people more through the use of effective technology.

Implementation Plan

Prior to the implementation of the new system, the staff members will be included in a communication process to ensure that they understand the need for change. The aim of this move is to curb instances of change resistance. After the implementation of the system, the nurse with a master in informatics will work with the computer systems and data. The nurse will be directly involves with patient care and will facilitate the process of communication between the clinical nurses and the IT staff.

Conclusion

                In summary, a shared system linking different healthcare fields and departments is an important consideration since it facilitates the process of cost saving through resource sharing. Systems such as EMRs are common in shared systems which make documenting and retrieving patient data easier. This reduces the potential for medical errors development which promotes quality and efficiency. Communicating to the members of the staff before change implementation is important as it reduces instances of change resistance. A nurse informaticist is directly responsible for the manipulations of computer system with a shared clinical system focused on a desirable patient care.