Healthcare information technology (HIT) is the heartbeat of today’s healthcare system. McCormick & Saba (2015, p.3) defines HIT as the technology used in the management of healthcare processes and collection healthcare data. HIT, therefore, influence nearly all aspects of healthcare, including quality of patient care, training of healthcare professionals, healthcare research, patient safety, legal, ethical, and payments (p.3). Nursing executives make delicate HIT decisions that may have significant ramifications on healthcare systems (p.277). In executing their mandate, nurse executives require broad and deep knowledge in nursing technology to facilitate constructive engagement with technology experts.
Effective HIT executives require broad interdisciplinary knowledge that can only be acquired through lifelong learning. Although there lacks a requirement of specialized knowledge in other disciplines, there is a growing consensus that effective HIT executives require vast expertise in information technology, patient care and research (McCormick & Saba, 2015, p.277). HIT executives participate in high-level debates and consultation forums where they have an opportunity to foster healthcare system improvements through converting these to computer language and working with technology experts who lack healthcare knowledge (p.278). To deliver in their role effectively, health executives require advanced and up to date knowledge in mapping patient care and developing IT workflow designs (p.278). Developing a mobile app for monitoring patient adherence to treatment, for example, demand knowledge of different therapies and computer programming knowledge that form a link with experts in technology who add in their specialized knowledge.
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Technological innovations are churned out continuously and demand consistent efforts to keep abreast of the latest technology. The role of nurses in tracking, monitoring, and managing patient care increases the impact of technological changes on the profession (McCormick & Saba, 2015, p.276). As a result, nurses must be adequately represented at all stages of the technology lifecycle other than allowing third parties to define how nurses use technology systems, products, and devices (p.276). Mistakes in technology development are expensive and time-consuming. An example is the FDA monitoring device recalled three months after official deployment despite the costs and efforts of training staff (p.277). HIT executives must therefore possess all-round knowledge in technology development given the potential of ever cycling deployed technologies.
The essential role played HIT is to eliminate challenges in healthcare systems and improve patient care. Progress in the healthcare systems is best reflected by ‘big data’ (Sensmeier, 2015). ‘Big data’ refer to broad and extensive electronic data that emanate from different sources such as patients’ electronic records, medical laboratory, patient feedback loops like social media, medical insurance, medical journals, and health regulators (Sensmeier, 2015, p.24). HIT executives have the responsibility to monitor, analyze, and interpret ‘big data’ in a manner that reflects the current conditions in the healthcare systems. Therefore, they must adapt to continually learning new data computing and storage technologies such as cloud-based storage and cloud computing (McCormick & Saba, 2015, p.4). Telehealth is an example of a current technology informed by today’s health challenges of growing numbers of aged patients and the number of chronic diseases (Taylor et al., 2015). Telehealth has effectively changed the experience of frontline health professionals based on remote diagnosis and management of patients. This proves that technology has immense capabilities of transforming global healthcare systems in the face of future pandemics.
In conclusion, long-life learning enhances the quality of decisions and innovations in healthcare. This is a progressive culture than should be adopted by the entire nursing fraternity given the changing healthcare landscape characterized by changing healthcare challenges and the threat of future pandemics. Lifelong learning is an essential tool that can be utilized in transforming patient safety, quality of healthcare, patient outcome, management of human resources and processes, monitoring, and response to health challenges such as pandemics.
References
McCormick, K., & Saba, V. (2015). Essentials of nursing informatics. McGraw-Hill Education.
Sensmeier, J. (2015). Big data and the future of nursing knowledge. Nursing Management.
Taylor, J., Coates, E., Brewster, L., Mountain, G., Wessels, B., & Hawley, M. S. (2015). Examining the use of telehealth in community nursing: identifying the factors affecting frontline staff acceptance and telehealth adoption. Journal of advanced nursing.
