Impact of Nursing Informatics on Practice

In today's technology-driven, fast-paced world, health care professionals are faced daily with increasing amounts of information, technology, and data that require a wide-range of skills. In an effort to cope with these increasing demands, information management technologies are being employed to improve access to a larger volume of information and to enhance the flow of information. These technologies have changed the way nurses receive, send, and apply information on medications, procedures, medical knowledge, patient data, and interventions.

For this Discussion, review the Learning Resources presented this week and consider your nursing career.

• Have you seen any events, actions, or other phenomena you would classify as nursing informatics?
• If you have not experienced a nursing informatics phenomenon, imagine such an experience and, then, answer the following questions:

1.  Briefly describe one of these phenomena. 

2. Would you say that the impact of this nursing informatics phenomenon has been mostly positive or mostly negative on practicing nurses, health consumers, or the nursing profession (select one group)? Why?

Be sure to include citations from your primary source articles in your Discussion, and provide the APA reference at the bottom of your response. Support your ideas or those of others with references from the professional nursing literature.