Healthcare is no longer simply sitting in an office waiting to see a healthcare professional. Technology has transformed nursing practice beyond the brick-and-mortar walls of a healthcare facility. What role might nursing informatics play in assessing the impact of these changes? Why might an assessment of these changes be imperative to ensuring quality of patient care?

Whether a virtual visit, a wellness tracker, or a wearable health monitor, these technological advancements in healthcare are proving to be immediate, evident, and continuing in nursing practice. This week, you will explore the impact of these advancements, as well as explore the specific impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare organizations and your practice.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare organizations and nursing practice
• Analyze how informatics competencies influence quality of care and safety improvements for nursing practice
• Assess personal strengths and challenges in relation to informatics competencies
• Analyze informatics frameworks for application to healthcare organizations and nursing practice
• Recommend strategies for enhancing project management and informatics competencies
• Create a GAP analysis for a small nursing informatics project*
• Analyze the work breakdown structure related to a small nursing informatics project*
• Construct a project timeline for a small nursing informatics project*

* Assigned in Week 3 of Module 2 and submitted in Week 5 of Module 3

Learning Resources

Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)

Required Media (click to expand/reduce)

Optional Resources (click to expand/reduce)

Blog: How Has Nursing Informatics and Technology Impacted Your Practice?

• It is March 2020, and COVID-19 has resulted in lockdowns and stay-at-home orders nationwide. Patients are fearful to visit healthcare offices and hospitals, for routine care or other illnesses. As a result, virtual technologies are introduced to bridge the gap between healthcare needs and an emerging pandemic. Patients are encouraged to schedule visits virtually and seek care in new ways.

• Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

While the impacts of COVID-19 in 2020 were immediate, how might these changes influence the capabilities of healthcare beyond a pandemic? How might these changes become permanent or even facilitate further change and innovation?

For this Discussion, you will explore the impact of digital technology on nursing practice. Consider the influence these technologies may have on nursing practice, and what skills you might need to hone in on in order to address these needs.

To Prepare

• Review the Learning Resources for this week and focus on the article, “How COVID-19 Accelerated the Digital Transformation of Healthcare.”
• Reflect on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare and nursing practice.
• Consider your nursing background and professional interests as you view the video.
• What potential skills, knowledge, or competencies might you need to develop for your healthcare organization or nursing practice given the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic?

By Day 3 of Week 3

Post a response to your blog describing your own experiences with digital changes and how the COVID-19 has affected your healthcare organization or nursing practice. Address the following:

• Summarize how informatics has impacted or changed nursing practice, especially with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Provide an example from your personal or professional experience. Be sure to also include the name of the professional organization you belong to.
• Explain how established informatics competencies may influence quality of care, safety improvements, and any other changes since the pandemic for excellence in nursing practice. Be specific. What would you need to do to develop skills, knowledge, and competencies in order to apply the technology?
• Describe your informatics strengths and preferences, as well as potential challenges and areas for development.
• Do you think the information technology framework discussed in the Ye, et al. (2020) article is applicable in the U.S. to manage COVID and other major pandemics? How much of what is discussed do we currently use?
• Describe one strategy for enhancing and updating your project management and informatics skills and competencies. You will reflect on this again in Week 11 and application to the development of your dissertation.

By Day 6 of Week 3

Read a selection of your colleagues’ blog posts and respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by expanding upon their responses or sharing additional or alternative perspectives.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 3 Blog Rubric

Post by Day 3 of Week 3 and Respond by Day 6 of Week 3

To Participate in this Blog:

Week 3 Blog

Assignment: Developing a Small Nursing Informatics Project for Your Organization, Part 1 (Continued)

• You will use project management tools and strategies to propose how you would support and potentially implement a small nursing informatics project. While you may not have the opportunity to implement this proposed project, this project will allow you to apply the skills needed and the considerations that are required in deducing how a project of this scope might take place in your nursing practice. To complete this project, you will define a small informatics project that would be beneficial to your healthcare organization or nursing practice. You can discuss this with upper leadership, in your practice or organization, explaining that you will need to design, plan, and propose how to implement and evaluate a small informatics project that can be completed within a 9-week time frame during this course. This project will be completed in two parts.

• Photo Credit: auremar / Adobe Stock

This week, you will continue working on the Scope, Charter, and SWOT Analysis that you have been working on throughout the past 2 weeks.

For Week 3, complete the following:

• Create a visual using the Gap Analysis map of the identified gap, documenting the flow from the point of origin to the destination. After watching the YouTube video, “How to do a GAP Analysis” media piece in this week’s Learning Resources, identify the gap and analyze the flow or lack of flow of information as the gap in a process.
• Create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) using PowerPoint slides or another method. Be sure to review the media piece, What Is a Work Breakdown Structure? in this week’s Learning Resources.
• Create a Project Timeline using aGantt chart, which defines who is responsible, due dates to start /finish activities. (You might also use this as you track your dissertation IRB submission for your proposal). You can find an example on pp. 95–96 of the course text, using PowerPoint slides or another method. Be sure to review the Gantt Charts, Simplified media piece in this week’s Learning Resources.

By Day 7 of Week 5

These three planning documents will be added to the three design and planning documents from Weeks 1 and 2 (totaling six tools) and kept current/updated as you develop this project.

You are not required to submit this assignment this week.

Note: You will need to update your Part 1 submission, incorporating Instructor feedback before the Final Project submission in Week 9.

What’s Coming Up in Week 4?

• Photo Credit: [BrianAJackson]/[iStock / Getty Images Plus]/Getty Images

Next week, you will analyze issues related to Big Data, explore barriers for implementation in nursing research, and identify the role of change theory and systems thinking in healthcare. You will also delve further into your project with a focus on nursing informatics.

Next Week