Health informatics is the recording and storing of data related to the patient, doctors, and the medical environment (McGonigle & Mastiran, 2015). The introduction of computers has necessitated the growth of nursing in many areas. In nursing, nurses can share information related to their profession. The patients have also benefited as they can follow their track record in terms of health history, medication record, and recovery process. Doctors too can share the information with experts. Hospital details are also stored to ensure that any inadequacy is noted earlier and replaced. Therefore, the study and practice of nursing informatics have benefited society in maintaining health records.
Current and past opinions regarding health informatics
There have been suppositions in regards to the act of nursing informatics in the past until today. With the presentation of computers before, it was difficult to work them. Individuals needed to move to computer colleges to prepare how to utilize them. Since computers were not well known as they are today, numerous attendants, patients, and healing center heads were not certain about putting away information on the computers (Rogers, Sharp & Preece, 2011). They picked to compose all identified with well-being data on a bit of paper or a booklet. The medical caretakers’ assessments were that they may overlook how to recover the data concerning the patients when they require them. Their sentiments were on account of there were a couple of prepared computers specialists who could deal with specialized issues.
The nurses were also concerned with the idea that patients were allowed by the law to have access to their information stored in the computer. The nurses feared that the patients’ access to their information was risky. A patient could change some details concerning the disease. This could result in poor medication and recovery, a situation that could result in the death of the patient. Therefore, nurses worked in lose watch on the information.
The opinion on health informatics has greatly changed today. The development and evolution of computers have raised the confidence of their users. Most of the nurses have access to computers, even before taking a course on nursing informatics. In modern days, storing data in the computer has become part of the daily activity. Patients have been enlightened on the purpose of storing their health records in the accessories. The sensitization program enables them to acquire the best health checks from all over the country.
Our strengths and weaknesses related to nursing informatics
Our relation in terms of nursing informatics lies in the familiarity that we have received as far as the health informatics system is concerned. We have also learned about the legislation governing the nursing informatics and, therefore, we will have an easier time when working as nurses. The knowledge about the policies concerning our profession, the ethics, system development, safety, and consumer use of health information adds up to our benefits. We will have an easier time when working in the field as we already know what is expected of us by the government.
On the other hand, there are some weaknesses of the students taking the subject. The familiarity with computers does not mean that one can ignore the subject training. Nursing informatics is a sensitive career and students need to understand it keenly. Some of the students assume that their knowledge of computer operations is enough. When they get dispatched to their working stations, they end up making some mistakes that are dangerous to the patients. For example, such nurses may leave the information concerning the patients open to the public rather than observing confidentiality. This practice has been the major weakness in nursing informatics and must be addressed by the necessary stakeholders.
References
McGonigle, D., & Mastiran, K., (2015). Nursing Informatics and The Foundation of Knowledge. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Rogers, Y., Sharp, H. & Preece, J. (2011). Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. London: John Wiley & Sons.