Discussion:

“Discuss the roles of federal, state, and local public health agencies in the development of standards for informatics in healthcare.”

Let’s begin a discussion on the various local, state, and federal agencies and their influence in standardizing nursing informatics.  

What roles do each of these agencies play and how do they affect the standardization of informatics? What specific ideas or tools have they created and why do these ideas and tools assist in preventing poor patient outcomes? Do you see any potential issues with this where human error can play a factor? If so, please provide examples.

• CO 1: Describe patient-care technologies as appropriate to address the needs of a diverse patient population.
• CO 2: Analyze data from all relevant sources, including technology, to inform the delivery of care.
• CO 4: Investigate safeguards and decision-making support tools embedded in patient care technologies and information systems to support a safe practice environment for both patients and healthcare workers.
• CO 5: Identify patient care technologies, information systems, and communication devices that support nursing practice.
• CO 8: Discuss the value of best evidence as a driving force to institute change in delivery of nursing care.

Respond to this discussion below: 

Hello class, 

The standards of nursing practice are very distinct, like many other healthcare fields, when compared to other careers in general.  Nurses and healthcare professionals are always under observation and have to justify these high standards in the nursing profession (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018).

Federal: The CDC is one of those federal public health agencies that is aiding in the development of standards for informatics in the healthcare field.  They provide a lot of information nationally for the public, and on a daily basis, with the newest updates on all things relevant.  An example of this would be the new Omicron Variant of Covid and how the CDC is providing all of the information that they have at the moment about this new variant.  Because it is fairly a new variant, they are still conducting research.  But they do know that getting vaccinated, especially getting the Booster shot, will help fight against this new variant (CDC, 2021).  The CDC gathers all sorts of information and data, analyzes it, and then relays it to the public so that everyone is well-informed.

State: The Illinois Dept. of Public Health is one of the agencies that is aiding in the development of standards for informatics in the healthcare field as well.  There is a plethora of information provided by this agency as well for the residents of Illinois.  IDPH is able to provide a hospital report card for all hospitals across the state.  You can obtain information on quality and safety data, nurse staffing, the number of beds, patient satisfaction, services that are performed there along with their costs for all hospitals and surgery centers (IDPH, 2021).  This allows you to compare and contrast between different hospitals within your insurance network and in your area.  You can be an informed consumer and can make better healthcare choices for yourself and your family.

Local: The Village of Hoffman Estates Health & Human Services is a great local resource as they aid in the development of standards for informatics in the healthcare field.  They offer many services such as immunizations, health screenings, TB testing, medical equipment loaning program, counseling, community education, and pharmaceutical drugs/sharps recycling (Village of Hoffman Estates, 2021).  They have created these programs to make things easier for their residents, especially those who are not able to travel too far, such as the elderly.  Their goal is to improve and restore both the physical and mental health of their residents.  They try to help residents of this city on a local level as much as they can and they even give presentations on certain topics such as mental health, healthy eating, parenting, caregiver support, etc.  

The standards of nursing practice have to be upheld on all levels, whether it be federal, state, or local.  Nursing informatics is something that helps us as healthcare professionals gather data, analyze it, and then use it to provide better outcomes for our patients.