I believe I learned the majority of skills pertaining to
using patient care technologies, information systems, and communication devices
that support safe nursing practice in a variety of healthcare settings from my
nursing informatics class that was part of the BSN program. During this class I wrote an annotated
bibliography on barcode medication administration, which yielded positive
results regarding patient safety. Throughout
the nursing informatics class I participated in many discussions including
varying aspects of technology available that expedite patient care including
CPOE, clinical decision support (CDS), public health surveillance data systems
that monitor disease prevalence and outbreaks, and digital Accucheck machines.
I must say
that I love nursing informatics because it is the technology we use every day
in patient care that helps us provide quality and safe patient care and allows
us to spend more time with our patients by eliminate repetitive tasks. For example, I love utilizing the barcode
medication administration system because it serves as a double check before
administering patient medications. I
know that the nurse completes a triple check before giving a med, but humans
can make mistakes. Since humans are not
perfect and technology is not full proof, this system enables someone to double
check myself and vice versa. I have
heard stories of nurses scanning medications after they were given, which has
resulted in medication errors because the nurse choose not to utilize their
eMAR appropriately. I will always scan
my medications before I give them because I do not want to cause a medication
error due to disregarding a safeguard that is in place for my patient’s
safety and my license. In my future practice I will also make use of online
resources available to me through my place of employment’s intranet including
Krames On Demand, printable medication resources for patients, and Clinical
Pharmacology, medication and compatibility information for nurses.
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