Health Information Technology: Solving Nursing Issues

Health Information Technology: Solving Nursing Issues

The advent of health information technology has revolutionized nursing practice and the field of healthcare in general. HIT enables nursing professionals to transfer and exchange information about patients through computerized systems that are secure. In addition, HIT facilitates use of evidence-based practice to deal with nursing issues (Jones et al., 2014).

Safety

One of the major issues in nursing is on the job hazards and safety. Nurses are exposed to various risks on a daily basis. For instance, slippery floors and sharp objects have caused serious injuries to nurses. In response to these risks, hospitals are taking precautionary measures to protect their nurses. The American Association of Nursing mounted efforts to reduce the risks in the nursing profession and made several recommendations (American Nursing Association, 2016).

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Evidence of Risks

The recommendations by ANA are informed by evidence-based practice, and research on risks posed by nursing professionals.  According to statistics provided by Public Citizen, nursing is one of the most dangerous professions in America. In 2010, for instance, whereas 502,000 manufacturing workers were injured at work, approximately 654,000 healthcare workers were injured on the job (Public Citizen, 2013). Further evidence of these injuries is provided in Trinkoff et al. (2008). Nurses are at high risks of back injuries, which ultimately may lead to turnover, disability, and sickdays. In addition, nurses are exposed to blood-borne infections that are life threatening. The risks are posed through needle stick injuries. The hierarchy of control framework has been proposed as one of the effective methods of preventing exposure to blood (Wilburn, 2004).

HIT and EBP

Health information technology facilitates use of evidence based practice in nursing. In this case, the resources were obtained through refined search of nurse safety in various databases. Consequently, information obtained can be used to make credible clinical-decisions that are evidence-based (Jones et al., 2014).

Conclusion

The use of health information technology has increased the convenience of obtaining research on evidence-based practice. Information sought is obtained faster, allowing quick decision-making that may prove crucial to patient health and life.