The Application of Data to Problem Solving – Assignment 1 Solution

The Application of Data to Problem Solving

In the modern era, there are few professions that do not to some extent rely on data. Stockbrokers rely on market data to advise clients on financial matters. Meteorologists rely on weather data to forecast weather conditions, while realtors rely on data to advise on the purchase and sale of property. In these and other cases, data not only helps solve problems, but adds to the practitioner’s and the discipline’s body of knowledge.

Of course, the nursing profession also relies heavily on data. The field of nursing informatics aims to make sure nurses have access to the appropriate date to solve healthcare problems, make decisions in the interest of patients, and add to knowledge.

In this Discussion, you will consider a scenario that would benefit from access to data and how such access could facilitate both problem-solving and knowledge formation.

To Prepare:

• Reflect on the concepts of informatics and knowledge work as presented in the Resources.
• Consider a hypothetical scenario based on your own healthcare practice or organization that would require or benefit from the access/collection and application of data. Your scenario may involve a patient, staff, or management problem or gap. 

WRITE a description of the focus of your scenario. Describe the data that could be used and how the data might be collected and accessed. What knowledge might be derived from that data? How would a nurse leader use clinical reasoning and judgment in the formation of knowledge from this experience? 

Suggested resources that can be used:

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

• Chapter 1, Nursing Science and the Foundation of Knowledge (pp. 7–19)
• Chapter 2, Introduction to Information, Information Science, and Information Systems (pp. 21–33)
• Chapter 3, Computer Science and the Foundation of Knowledge Model (pp. 35–62) 

https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_4A0FEA56B8CB.P001/REF 

Sweeney, J. (2017). Healthcare informatics. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics, 21(1). 

Public Health Informatics Institute. (2017). Public Health Informatics: “translating” knowledge for health [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLUygA8Hpfo.  

Solution

The Application of Data to Problem-Solving

Technological innovations in different sectors continue to improve reach and capabilities in the mode of operation. For instance, the nursing continuum benefits immensely from nursing informatics as it facilitates training, efficient practice and the use of evidence-based practices. In this case, as the nursing continuum seeks to manipulate and use data, informatics to identify, oversee, communicate and examine data to improve the quality of care, patient safety and satisfaction. As such, informatics is an instrumental paradigm that enhances decision-making for improved patient outcomes in the health care sector.

Patient Scenario:

An obese woman was extubated three days ago after undergoing a right-sided thoracotomy. Currently, the patient under sedation experiences low blood-oxygen levels despite the encouragement and stimulation to fill the lungs through diaphragmatic breathing and coughing. The patient has a facemask with oxygen flowing at 8L/min. Her arterial blood gas has pH 7.32, PaCO2 50mmHg, HCO3 25meq/L, and PaO2 65mmHg. Notably, the utilization of the nursing process to collect data is critical in the presented scenario.

In line with the Park Royal Hospital’s Charting system, the pre-operative nurse admits the patient. The nurse collects data by reading the patient’s history, assessing the patient’s condition, checking vitals, and writing down the collected information on the patient’s sheets. Subsequently, the patient’s sheet is disseminated to the intraoperative nurse, the anesthetist, and the surgeon.

The anesthetist relays the information to Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) nurses during the patient’s recovery. The data collected reveals patient had respiratory acidosis. The patient’s history/condition and surgery showed that the acid-base imbalance was likely to cause reduced blood-oxygen levels. For example, obesity is highly linked with obstructive sleep apnea, while a thoracic surgery interfered with normal breathing from the pain and bleeding (Kwak et al., 2017).

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The quality of care in the mentioned scenario depends on accurate data collection, assessments, and patient complications management. Therefore, data collection aids in identifying potential complications and establishing frameworks that holistically address the patient’s complications (Sweeney, 2017). In the above scenario, patient history, information of patient assessment, and surgery are critical towards care.

McGonigle and Mastrian (2017) validate that data improves the quality of services by gathering the necessary information to understand patients and knowledge from which nurse leaders can formulate EBP. Furthermore, the scenario highlights the importance of streamlining interprofessional collaboration in the clinical environment. Hence from experience, the nurse leader can develop frameworks that improve the flow of data within the clinical team, thereby enhancing the quality of care.

In addition, nursing managers encounter problems reducing patient wait times and determining the best time allocations for each patient. In this case, reducing wait times at critical stages could help improve patient satisfaction levels while also enhancing patient outcomes (Saputra, & Arif, 2019). By utilizing nursing informatics, one can identify bottlenecks in the workflow and effectively streamline clinical processes. Besides, nurses use problem-solving skills to assess and improve the quality of care.

Problem-solving skills entail an organized and systematic approach to data collection, identifying the problems, devising interventions, utilizing the interventions, and evaluating the outcomes toward patient care (Saputra, & Arif, 2019). The processes facilitate the development and implementation of evidence-based practices that are integral in quality improvement.

To sum up, the health care sector should embrace data collection and analysis to improve patient outcomes. For instance, patient’s subjective and objective assessments are critical to improving the quality of care. The hospital can engage patients in interviews through timed sessions to gather new knowledge or utilize data collected through clinical workflows to formulate evidence-based practices. Despite the ever-changing nurture of nursing practice, nursing informatics is pivotal to delivering quality care as it is a precursor to change and improvement with the nursing continuum.

References

Kwak, S. Y., Kim, Y. S., Lee, K. J., & Kim, M. (2017). Influence of nursing informatics competencies and problem-solving ability on nursing performance ability among clinical nurses. The Journal of Korean academic society of nursing education, 23(2), 146-155.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K.G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Saputra, C., & Arif, Y. (2019). Nursing informatics system in health care delivery. KnE Life Sciences, 38-46.

Sweeney, J. (2017). Healthcare informatics. On-Line Journal of Nursing Informatics, 21(1).