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Role of Nursing Informatics in Promotion of Healthcare: A Literature Review

There is general consensus that effective healthcare delivery is largely pegged upon optimal decision making in nursing actions. In this vein, nursing practice is recognized as relying on knowledge as may be developed from available information. The process of nursing starts with information gathering and communication (during patient initial assessment), and the manner this information is processed and utilized to a great extent dictates nursing and healthcare outcomes in general. It is in this context that nursing informatics, which basically entails data management and the development of knowledge and wisdom based on information, gains elevation. A question worth answering in this respect is: What role do nursing informatics play in the promotion of safe and quality healthcare particularly in the psychiatry sub-discipline? This paper presents a literature review on this subject.

The elevated role of informatics in nursing is emphasized in literature with Repique (2013), for instance, giving an overview of its development in the same context. The author makes reference to a United Nations (2011) declaration that in this age access to the internet is a human right. True to the spirit of this declaration, the internet today serves as a connection medium, linking nurses across the world and overcoming an array of barriers to the effect of allowing for the rapid sharing and exchange of knowledge and information. This has indeed transformed the nursing field in ways that could only be imagined before. By and large, it appears healthcare practitioners know, comprehend, and appreciate the role of nursing informatics in as far as the promotion of safe and quality healthcare is concerned. This is evident considering the manner in which “today, psychiatric nurses, at all levels, in different health care settings are continuing to adopt, learn, and integrate various forms of information technology, harnessing its benefits in three major areas pf psychiatric-mental health nursing-practice, education, and research “(Repique, 2013: p. 47). The author illustrates his point on the role of nursing informatics by referring to APNA (American Psychiatric Association of Nursing) website statistics, examples of which include online traffic and internet searches. Overall, Repique’s article emphasizes that practitioners, educators, and health organizations have recognized and appreciated the role of informatics in health promotion. This point is made clear by the fact that these actors are continually adopting, learning, and integrating informatics is its various forms in research, education, and practice.

Darvish et al. (2014) detail a review and extensive literature search in which they sought uncover what prior studies contained in relation to the current topic. Their study entailed searching major databases namely Science Direct, Ovid, Google Scholar, and Pubmed. They were able to retrieve 135 articles, 40 of which formed the center of focus for their analysis (as they were in English). The authors found out that besides increasing/improving patient care, nursing informatics is also leading to a more evidence-based practice. According to the authors, aspects of the implied improvement include nursing management, proper resource allocation/distribution, and data reporting and management. However, an interesting finding in this study was that while it may make care safer, it is highly likely to impair critical thinking. This is because decision support systems pegged on information technology significantly reduce the role and application of human knowledge. The researchers criticize expert systems that as stand-alone tools cannot replace human expertise but go further to suggest that integrating the same with knowledge (both explicit and implicit) management could lead to greater efficiency. They state that using such tools potentially reduces medical errors, financial loss, and harm to humans. Notably, this inference seems inconsistence with an earlier claim that informatics impairs critical thinking. Nevertheless, the authors, just like Repique (2013) sum up their piece by recognizing the significance of integrating nursing informatics in nurse training and education as well as research and practice due to its numerous advantages. These findings are congruent with those of Emiliano et al. (2018) who concluded that indeed informatics improves nursing competencies. Considering that they used a fairly representative sample of 37 students and standardized tools in their quasi-experimental study, one would say the study findings are quite reliable and generalizable. However, there is no certainty that the competencies being tested in the study would be similar to those actually required in practice. Nevertheless, the authors achieved their study objective and demonstrated that nursing informatics improves competencies in generally.

Equally significant in the current conversation is an article by Safdari and Azadmanjir (2014) that details a study in which the authors sought to examine the status of administrative structures, information and education infrastructure, and governmental policies in various countries. These were as would be appropriate for the development of nursing informatics. The authors explain that nursing informatics facilitates decision-making, improves the efficiency and safety of nursing care as well as nursing education effectiveness. Their study, in essence a simple review focusing on several selected countries, revealed that promotion and education competencies occupy center stage in the development of nursing informatics. Overall, the authors emphasize not only the role of informatics in nursing but also how such can best be developed through education programs and well-laid out strategic plans. However, it would have been more interesting if the researchers would have included more countries in their study, more so those in the developing world bracket. Most of the countries (that is Australia, United Kingdom, Taiwan, and Australia) they included in their study are developed, and this arouses curiosity as to if the findings would have been the same if impoverished countries had been included. This casts doubt on the generalizability of the study findings.

Last yet important in the current literature review is the work of Topkaya and Kaya (2014), researchers who also explored nursing informatics, albeit from a different angle. They conducted a cross-sectional and descriptive study in a bid to determine nurses’ computer literacy and attitudes towards IT/computer use in healthcare and contextual correlation. Using a reasonably representative sample of 688 nurses (hence a source of strength for the study) the authors found out that a positive correlation exists between computer competency and attitudes towards information technology and the use of computers in healthcare. They inferred that if computers are to assist in improving healthcare delivery, it is important to ensure that nurses are assisted in improving competency as far as such use is concerned. In as far as the study by Topkaya and Kaya (2014) might not seem to directly contribute to the current conversation, the authors offer important insight in the introductory part of their article where they highlight the significance of nursing informatics. They point out the improvement of decision-making and the quality of healthcare through increased competencies. Indeed, they do well by proceeding to details their study, which was merited against the backdrop of the mentioned advantages of nursing informatics.

In conclusion, the literature encountered shows that nursing informatics improves nursing competencies, healthcare safety, effectiveness of nursing education, and quality of patient care. It also plays a leading role in promoting evidence-based practice. While the literature presentations are largely consistent, a serious inconsistency is noted in the work of Darvish et al. (2014) where one of the findings was that nursing informatics impairs critical thinking. In light of the role of critical thinking in nursing practice, this revelation deserves attention and should act as a motivation and point of departure for further research on the current subject. Perhaps a reason that can explain this inconsistency is the fact that there is no research that has attempted to investigate the possible negative effects of informatics in nursing practice. Future research should be designed in a more objective manner as to reveal both sides of the coin. Nevertheless, this literature view reveals that nursing informatics is generally good for nursing practice and education.

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