Assignment: The Nurse Leader as Knowledge Worker
The term “knowledge worker” was first coined by management consultant and author Peter Drucker in his book, The Landmarks of Tomorrow (1959). Drucker defined knowledge workers as high-level workers who apply theoretical and analytical knowledge, acquired through formal training, to develop products and services. Does this sound familiar?
Nurses are very much knowledge workers. What has changed since Drucker’s time are the ways that knowledge can be acquired. The volume of data that can now be generated and the tools used to access this data have evolved significantly in recent years and helped healthcare professionals (among many others) to assume the role of knowledge worker in new and powerful ways.
In this Assignment, you will consider the evolving role of the nurse leader and how this evolution has led nurse leaders to assume the role of knowledge worker. You will prepare a PowerPoint presentation with an infographic (graphic that visually represents information, data, or knowledge. Infographics are intended to present information quickly and clearly.) to educate others on the role of nurse as knowledge worker.
Reference: Drucker, P. (1959). The landmarks of tomorrow. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
To Prepare:
- Review the concepts of informatics as presented in the Resources.
- Reflect on the role of a nurse leader as a knowledge worker.
- Consider how knowledge may be informed by data that is collected/accessed.
The Assignment:
- Explain the concept of a knowledge worker.
- Define and explain nursing informatics and highlight the role of a nurse leader as a knowledge worker.
- Develop a simple infographic to help explain these concepts.NOTE: For guidance on infographics, including how to create one in PowerPoint, see “How to Make an Infographic in PowerPoint” presented in the Resources.
- Your PowerPoint should Include the hypothetical scenario you originally shared in the Discussion Forum. Include your examination of the data that you could use, how the data might be accessed/collected, and what knowledge might be derived from that data. Be sure to incorporate feedback received from your colleagues’ responses.
hypothetical scenario originally shared in the discussion forum is:
Nursing, as with all other professional fields, has seen an amazing speed in which technological changes in the last 25 years. Information systems provide limitless possibilities for learning and exploring, connecting and bringing the world to within reach. For nursing, the widening range of available technology enables the opportunities for research and reform unproven clinical practices to evidence-based practices. Nursing informatics is synthesis of nursing science, information science, computer science, and cognitive science for the purpose of managing, disseminating, and enhancing healthcare data, information, knowledge, and wisdom to improve collaboration and decision making provide high quality patient care; and advance the profession of nursing.( McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017).
Nursing Informatics also needs to stay updated on policies and processes, so they know how to correctly build them in the systems. Technology in hospitals are ever growing, which means that nursing informatics is just scratching the surface and will continue to grow over the year.
Sweeny, 2017 define informatics as “the integration of healthcare sciences, computer science, information science and cognitive science to assist in the management of healthcare information” (p. 223). The future development of nursing capabilities in data science will essentially lead to an entirely new cadre of nursing informatics specialists whose work will focus on deriving new nursing knowledge from not only electronic health record data, but also the data from sensor and remote monitoring technologies, patient portals and mobile apps described above. The implications of omics data such as genomics, metabolomics, and proteomics, being included as part of the electronic health record in the near future, should be taken into account. Nurse informatics specialists will be pivotal in assisting to identify potential ethical and practice implications in the use of these data. The future development of nursing capabilities in data science will essentially lead to an entirely new cadre of nursing informatics specialists whose work will focus on deriving new nursing knowledge from not only electronic health record data, but also the data from sensor and remote monitoring technologies, patient portals and mobile apps described above. The implications of omics data such as genomics, metabolomics, and proteomics, being included as part of the electronic health record in the near future, should be taken into account.
According to Nagle et al,(2017) Nurse informatics specialists will be pivotal in assisting to identify potential ethical and practice implications in the use of these data. Using The future development of nursing capabilities in data science will essentially lead to an entirely new cadre of nursing informatics specialists whose work will focus on deriving new nursing knowledge from not only electronic health record data, but also the data from sensor and remote monitoring technologies, patient portals and mobile apps described above. The implications of omics data such as genomics, metabolomics, and proteomics, being included as part of the electronic health record in the near future, should be taken into account. Nurse informatics specialists will be pivotal in assisting to identify potential ethical and practice implications in the use of these data.
A clarified scenario is patient admission to the hospital, patients with a medical or surgical condition may not be identified as having a substance abuse problem. Nurses need to be able to recognize alcohol withdrawal syndrome and start appropriate interventions within the first 24 hours. Otherwise, such complications as seizures and substance withdrawal delirium may arise. Most hospitals have implemented this practice by including it in initial nursing assessments by checking the vital signs every three hours. But because not all patients are identified on admission as having the potential for alcohol withdrawal, you must stay alert for signs and symptoms. These may arise 4 to 12 hours after the patient’s last drink and may emerge while the patient’s still intoxicated. Many patients with long-term alcohol dependence don’t allow their blood alcohol level (BAL) to drop below a comfortable level, so withdrawal may begin when BAL is still in the intoxication range.autonomic hyperactivity (such as sweating or a pulse faster than 100 beats/minute), increased hand tremor, insomnia, nausea or vomiting transient visual, tactile, or auditory hallucinations or illusions, psychomotor agitation, anxiety, grand mal seizures. Consider the rapid action on the patient, nurses relied on the immediate data and information that the patient as shown during the initial rapid assessment to deliver appropriate care to the patient. Message send to on call- doctors via telehealth. Using the technology like the pulse oximeter and blood pressure machine and breathalyzer with assist with the support of the delivery care.
References:
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; National Institutes of Health. Helping Patients Who Drink Too Much: A Clinician’s Guide and Related Professional Support Resources. www.niaaa.nih.gov/Publications/EducationTrainingMaterials/Pages/guide.aspx. Accessed May 15, 2012.
Nagle, L. M., Sermeus, W., & Junger, A. (2017). Evolving Role of the Nursing Informatics Specialist. Studies In Health Technology And Informatics, 232, 212–221. Retrieved from https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mnh&AN=28106600&site=eds-live&scope=site
Sweeney, J. (2017). Healthcare informatics.(1)Online Journal of Nursing Informatics, 21
Resources:
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)
Sweeney, J. (2017). Healthcare informatics. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics, 21(1).
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.