Theories in Nursing Informatics

A.   CHANGE THEORIES

Ø Computerization of information system involves change, moving from paper-based environment to a completely paperless environment. Change may be unplanned or planned.

1.     Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation Theory (unplanned change)

·        Examines the pattern of acceptance that innovations follow as they spread across the population of people who adopt it. This are divided into 5 categories:

§  Innovators (2.5%) – They readily adopt the innovation.

§  Early Adopters (13.5%) – They are respectable opinion leaders.

§  Early Majority (34%) – They are averse to risk of the innovation but are willing to make safe investments.

§  Late Majority (34%) – Adopt Innovation.

§  Laggards (16%) – They are suspicious about innovation and change and are very stubborn.

2.     Lewin’s Change Theory (planned change)

Ø It occurs in 3 stages:

§  Unfreezing – That reinforces an individual’s involvement in the change.

§  Moving – Planned change in implemented where anxieties are high that has to be dealt with.

§  Refreezing – Change becomes the norm.

B.   INFORMATION THEORIES

1.     Blum’s Theory

Ø One where data is processed, another group where information is processed and another one where knowledge is processed.

2.     Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom Continuum

Ø Information has various levels of complexity depending on how much interaction is done to attain it.

§  Data are elements that are uninterpreted.

§  Information are comprises interpreted data based on one’s capacities, attitude and behavior.

§  Knowledge is an organized collection of information

§  Wisdom considered the use of ethical, moral, personal, social, cultural, religious, political and other values.

C.   COGNITIVE THEORIES

Ø Includes mental models, skill acquisitions, perceptions, and problem solving that adds understanding.

Four Problems of Local Nurses in the Workplace

• Documentation is excessive
• As a Nurse it is really hard for us to balance our time during duty because of  lots of paper works and intervntions to do. In Documentation itself from Assessment down to Nurse's Notes, nurses really have so much to do with this part plus dozen of patients we receive every shift. with 30 to 60 percent of nurse's work time eaten up due to documentation, nurses seldom engage in a normal comforting conversation with their patients. With this problem sometimes errors and mistakes with writing the documentation especially endorsement from a nurse to another nurse every shifting  causes a problem because of so much patients to handle every nurse.

• Turnaround time is too long 

• Turnaround time starts from the time a request is made to the time it was fully accomplished. This problem most commonly happen in public hospitals because all people in there are all busy you cannot see a nurse or other staffs who are sitting and chatting with each other inside the hospital. With this problem it, every departments of the hospital will be the problem why every patients cannot discharge early or the papers of the patients would not be processed early because one department has a problem in getting the result of the patients test or the department is not available, something like this problems can waste time of a nurse to do the daily tasks that should be done on that day.

• Nursing Processes are Inaccurate
•  Rushing of other nursing processes may lead to commission of errors even if modern equipments and modalities are around to assist them in caring for their patients. Even if our part as a nurse in a actual area when it comes to time management is really hard we should always think first to our patient not ourselves because rushing things can cause errors especially during admission and administering medications because we didn't think the phrase "Client-centered" surely this can lead us in causing errors in the area. Presence of Mind is what we should always think and bring as we enter the hospital.

• Communication is Poor
• Technologies invented so many things to make communication from person to another person easier but when it comes to hospital this is not enough it is much better if the 2 communicators are present in the area because we don't no if the telephone is not available because it is damage and you need that person because of serious problem that happened when he/she endorsed to you his/her patient.

Four Essential Elements of Computer System

          In these 4 Essential Elements of Computer System this would be easier to comprehend a nurse-computer interface by understanding this 4 Elements. These elements will help the computer system interplay.

         

The first element is hardware, this element can help the nurses to save data in storage devices like hard disk, optical disk, flash memory card and so much more, this will also allow you to enter information and view work. Hardware is consist of Input Devices that includes the keyboard, mouse, touch screen, scanner, camera, and microphone this is called Devices for entering data, another is Output Devices, this are the devices that are used to store data and can view works like hard disk, lastly is the Input/output Devices for processing and transmitting data like main board, processor, internal memory, card and communication devices. The second element is the software part of this is the graphical user interface, this GUI is most commonly do by the present computer now a days because by GUI it will provide a way to point and click with mouse or other pointing devices to select options in the screen we are like controlling what is flashed by the computer screen, compare to the command-line interface which required users to type memorized commands to run the program and accomplish tasks. The third element is user; this user is referring to the nurses. The nurse just like any user has to interact with the computer by this we are the one who will control the computer in order to do the tasks. But before using this it is required for us nurses who haven’t try using computers especially the old people now a day to have trainings in using this so that in the actual area it will be much easier for nurses to use computer. The last element is electronic data, being electronic, a computer works on discrete electrical impulses. To be useful, electronic data must undergo thre processes namely: transmission, processing, and storage. This can be stored into other physical forms by converting them into magnetic spots on hard disks, floppy disks, or magnetic tapes; or pits and bumps.