Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Engaging Nurses in HIT is Critical to Its Success

By Susan Kreimer, MS, contributor
Feb. 5, 2010 - As federal funds begin to revolutionize health information technology (HIT), nurses will play a pivotal role in developing and implementing electronic medical records. Many are already on the cusp of making computerized reform a reality, and some are even finding new career opportunities along the way.

"It's great to see resources flowing to this area. This will help the industry make significant strides in getting electronic health records implemented," said Joyce Sensmeier, MS, RN-BC, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, vice president of informatics at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

While nurses with informatics expertise will be needed to lead these, those at the bedside should be trained in using the new technology.


With this technology, there would be an advantage in the part of the nurses because it would be easier for them to reach out to other departments and doing their documentations would also be a lot easier. However, could this advantages outweigh the possible disadvantages that it could bring to the nurses and to the patients as well?