Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge - Essay Example

Nursing is a changing discipline that constantly monitors human behavior and changes (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015). In recent years, the information and knowledge in healthcare delivery have been growing at an unprecedented pace. My current work environment supports the use of informatics tools to generate and adopt the new and constantly changing nursing knowledge. We use electronic health records for documentation of patients’ information and data system. EHR was set in place to enhance continuity care of patients, manage information related to the nursing process, and has become an essential component of providing quality healthcare.

One way that informatics allows nurses to provide more patient care is by decreasing the amount of time spent on documentation and searching for data (i.e. lab results, recent service rendered, last pain level and the care that was provided to decrease it). EHR also helps to ensure that every healthcare member is updated on the patient’s progress (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015). This is valuable when determining a safe discharge plan so that every member of the health team can read progress notes and add the knowledge they have toward making sure there is no recurrence of the patient's illness.