Module 6

Module 6 What is one new thing you learned in this module? I learned that there are a lot of ethical considerations in computer informatics. Ethical considerations are almost more important to consider when computers are involved because more is at steak. If something is wrong it could be viewed by lots of individuals within minutes. I also thought about what a benefit that information technologies are to health care workers. They cost a lot of money to initiate but they seem to help workflow a lot. I was able to reflect on my own growth in knowledge about information technologies in the semester. I have enjoyed this module.

Module 5

Module 5 How did the readings influence your perceptions of your own clinical decision making? In my work place, we have computerised access to CPG's. I frequently have students that come through and I have had the opportunity to show the students the CPG's when they have questions on something. As I read the articles, I thought about the way that I make decisions. I feel like I don't have a lot of nursing background but I feel a certain type of nursing intuition. Weighing my decisions on when to go with evidence based practice and when to go with my nurisng intuition. When I have difficult decisions to make, I will often rely on the combination of my own clincal judgement, and the second and third opinion of other Dr's and nurses. I have turned to CPG's and current research at times. I found the readings to be interesting and informative. I want to do all that I can to be sure that I am an evidence-based nurse. I work at a facility that I feel facilitates this through the use of technology.

Module 4 entry

1. What sort of teaching is done in your professional role? I work in Shock Trauma ICU and I have to do patient and family teaching on a daily basis. We generally do not incorporate technology into bedside teaching. However, for employees of intermountain health care, we are all expected to complete online modules for required education. Technology is a necessary part of keeping up on required education at intermountain health care facilities.
2. Is there any nursing/health care provider role that does not involve teaching in some manner? No. Education is always the role of a health care professional. Teaching is important in every aspect of patient care. Even for my patients who are mechanically ventilated, teaching plays a vital role in their care.
   

Module 3

You used an electronic index, a guideline index, and a web search engine to retrieve information relevant to your clinical problem. Compare and contrast your results. Which resources were useful/ not useful for your information retrieval task, and why?
I was able to perform a search using an electronic index, a guideline index, and a web search
The electronic index used was productive. I used Pubmed and then utilized endnote to store my references. This enables me to search for relevant, limited research in the realm desired and then to be able to easily site my references. The web search was overall unproductive. It produced many results but I have no guarantee that any of them are valid. General ideas were able to be gathered from a google search but I would not consider many of the sources found valid. For instance, sites such as wikipedia may provide a lot of information about ischemic strokes and the use of TPA but there is no guarantee of the source of information. I would rather gather research from a valid source that can be limited through well know systems that are approved by people I trust.

Module 2 entry

1. What is one way you could become involved in designing, selecting, evaluating, or implementing an information system in your workplace? In Shock Trauma ICU, we are currently piloting ECIS which I discussed in my prior entry. One way that I could become more involved in the design, selecting, evaluating and implementing of this program is through participating in the pilot. Both ECIS and Help 1 (STICU's old computer charting system) are still functioning systems for charting on every computer. Therefore, staff has the agency to choose which charting system they will use. This is necessary due to the fact that ECIS is new and it often has glitches that require it to be shut down for a period of time. However, having the old system still available also decreases compliance as the tendency of most staff is to be resistant to change. So, my way of helping in the ECIS project is to actively use ECIS in my charting and to report any problems that occur and think of possible improvements for the program development.
   

Module 1 entry

1. Introduce yourself to the group. Include your graduate area (e.g., teaching, Acute care NP, etc.) My name is Jessica Curtis. I am in the Acute care NP program. I am a nurse in an ICU. I am excited to be in this class!
   
2. Why do you as a graduate level nurse need to know about information management? Information management is important to know about as a graduate level nurse. As a graduate level nurse, part of my role is to support and improve advancements in patient care. Information systems and information technology are an integral part of health care advancements. As a graduate level nurse, I am committed to learning about information management in order to improve patient care.
   
3. Describe what is happening related to IT in your clinical or practice setting. The ICU I work in is currently piloting a program called ECIS. ECIS integrates two seperate computer programs; Help 1 or tandem, and Help 2. ECIS's primary role is to improve the healthcare workers ability to stay up to date with the patient's status and also to have a more integrated approach to patient care between different disciplines. The charting for all staff is supposed to be more efficient and less time consuming for all parties involved. Nursing staff, respiratory therapists, and Medical Staff are asked to participate in the ECIS pilot and provide feedback on ways to improve the computer program. The primary goal of this pilot is for an ideal program to improve patient care to be developed.