The application of data to problem-solving peer responses

CANCER DATA COLLECTION 6

The Application of Data to Problem-Solving PEER RESPONSES

PEER NUMBER 1: Luis Arencibia 

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Clinical data is fundamental in the medical field. It is from this data that change and efficiency are made possible. Clinical data forms the basis of clinical care given to patients and research studies and is also used by the administration for decision-making and influencing change (Deckro et al., 2021). Modernization has come up with better ways of processing and storing clinical data, popularly known as informatics. This has led to the increased utilization of computers and information technology in clinical data management. The informatics results have increased efficiency in managing patients’ data (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2022). It is crucial to ensure proper data management because it is from clinical data that crucial decisions and problems are solved in healthcare.

An example of a scenario where data can be helpful in problem-solving is the case where a healthcare facility wants to determine the average number of patients they receive in a day and use that information to establish whether the staff to patient ratio is satisfactory. This data can be obtained by registering all patients who attend the facility for a certain period, for example, three months, and stored electronically. The average is then done to get the approximate number of clients in a day. Additionally, the data should capture the age of patients, significant complaints, and the departments where the patients were attended. It is vital to secure this data to avoid unauthorized access to promote patients’ privacy and compliance with the HIPAA to avoid legal consequences.

            The knowledge derived from the data described above is the number of patients visiting the facility and their health needs. From this, the healthcare center will be able to critically analyze and evaluate whether the facility’s staffing and resources are enough to meet the patients’ demands. Suppose the number of patients is higher compared to the resources. In that case, the facility will be able to tell there is a shortage and the staff is being overworked, which is likely to compromise the services given to the patients.

            From the data, a nurse leader can use clinical reasoning and judgment to explain why the health facility could be performing less efficiently and not meeting its goal of providing optimum medical services to patients. Additionally, the nurse could judge that the patients are not satisfied with the services provided from the data (Zhu et al., 2019). With that information, a nurse leader can successfully convince the management that there is a need for more staffing and resources to meet the patients’ needs more successfully.

            In conclusion, data management is crucial in the healthcare practice. With proper informatics, nurses and other healthcare providers will function optimally, and the results will be better quality care and minimal errors. Additionally, proper data management ensures compliance with the HIPAA.

 

 

References

Deckro, J., Phillips, T., Davis, A., Hehr, A. T., & Ochylski, S. (2021). Big data in the veterans’ health administration: A nursing informatics perspective. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 53(3), 288-295.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2022). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (5th Ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Zhu, R., Han, S., Su, Y., Zhang, C., Yu, Q., & Duan, Z. (2019, March 7). The application of data and the development of nursing science: A discussion paper. International Journal of Nursing Sciences. Retrieved May 27, 2022, from 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352013218305507
 

Peer number 2 :AYOMIKUN OLAIYA 

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The modern technology, which includes IT, has improved the various healthcare environments to ensure that critical information on patients with clinicians is shared, that policy and procedure are accessible quickly when necessary, and that the data are integrated easily even if a function hasn’t been performed. Through having an integrated program in one place, qualified nurses and leaders can analyze any problems or concerns in the current setting of practice and ways it can change. (Laureate Education, 2018).

 

When I was working as an CLABSI Champion in my unit, one of my focuses was to reduce the number of hospitals acquired infections (HAIs). This is because in general knowledge and based on our observation, my unit was becoming the favorite breeding ground of opportunistic pathogens given that most of our patients are immunocompromised. Aside from noticing it, we’ve confirmed the matter through collaborating with the Infection Control Department and Informatics Department, we utilized the electronic health records (EHRs) to determine the prevalence rate of HAIs in our unit over a certain period (2 years), the type of HAIs that were common, and their causative factors. Turns out that from the knowledge that we derived from that data, the rate was somewhat alarming and that the common HAIs we had were Catheter- Associated Infection, Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia, Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection, and a few others more caused by microorganisms such as Acinetobacter baumannii, Clostridioides difficile, MRSA, Klebsiella, and more.

 

Using my clinical judgment and reasoning as the nurse leader, I utilized this knowledge to initiate an extensive form of research, with partnership with stakeholders such as the Infection Control Department and Infectious Disease Specialists in our hospitals, to prevent HAIs in our unit. I performed review of evidence-based research, benchmarking from best practices of local and international hospitals, eliciting expert opinions, and more to address and solve this problem. As a result, an action plan was formulated and incorporated in our policy such as additional assessment and documentation for monitoring of the potential development of HAIs (e.g., changing the contraptions on a certain prescribed time), antibiotic stewardship, strict aseptic measures, proper cohorting of patients, active screening, firm surveillance approaches (with the ICD), and continuous educational updates regarding infection control. As a result, the incidences of HAIs in our unit became significantly lower within a year and was apparent prior the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Data is highly relevant in nursing practice because it reflects the current healthcare outcomes. Informatics also plays an important role because it allows easier access of these data. This becomes the nurses’ and the nurse leaders’ basis for improvement of safety and quality of care (Glassman, 2017), allowing the initiation of the first step of the nursing process which is the assessment, where problems and needs are identified. From there, appropriate planning and interventions are performed to address them, ensuring that care is resulted from evidence-based and patient-centered care.

 

The evolution of nursing informatics has been a major development in patient safety in the healthcare community. According to McGonigle & Mastrian, the American Nurses Association (ANA) describes nursing informatics as a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practices (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). With the increasing use of informatics, the healthcare environment has been turned into a technical system where patient data is gathered and mainstreamed for healthcare practitioners to access patient data simultaneously. Healthcare practitioners will gain a view of the patient’s electronic healthcare records and work together to achieve a better level of patient care and safety outcomes. 

 

 References:

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Health Informatics and Population Health:

Trends in Population Health (Video file). Baltimore, MD: Author. McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge(4thed.) Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Glassman, K. S. (2017, November 8). Using data in nursing practice.

American Nurse. https://www.myamericannurse.com/using-data-nursing-practice/.

University of California. (2017, October 23). Health Informatics team uses EHRs to track hospital-acquired infection.

       Medical Xpress – medical research advances and health news. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-10-health-informatics-team-ehrs-track.html

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