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Valerie Wallace
its members. Under the professional practice council, the nursing informatics committee aims to
resolve problems, irritations, or install improvements in Connect Care. This specialized role is
more focused than it has been over previous years, as was discussed during the meeting held on
April 11th. The nursing informatics committee used to hold the additional purpose of training
staff in the world of Connect Care; however, Connect Care has now been in place for over five
years, and for those that are not already comfortable with the documentation systems there is
now a 24/7 Connect Care hotline for reaching staff that can answer Connect Care questions. So,
the primary purpose of the informatics committees April 11th meeting was to refine and redefine
the groups mission to improve Connect Care for end users. As the charter for this committee
was under revision, there was much discussion concerning the credentialing required for the
committee members. Previously, many of the members had to be a credentialed trainer for
Connect Care, a title that is only earned when many requirements are kept us to date. As it is,
many of the members currently have let their credentialed trainer title expire. Below the
credentialed trainer position is the role of super user; it was then discussed whether or not the
super user title should be mandated for committee membership. Regardless of titles, all members
preset agreed that all of the departments within the hospital needed to be represented in the
committee. During the meeting, past successes, such as the requirement for patient and
medication labels to be scanned in the MAR, were recognized; this recognition lead the group to
separated between different entities in the hospital, such as surgical services, medical surgical
INFORMATICS COMMITTEE MEETING 3
services, mother and children services, and critical care, in addition to others. While the hospital
may be broken up into these different compartments, the hospital is still a unified whole that
relies on the cooperation and interconnection of all of the varying care services. This principal is
governance allows for decisions to be made at a lower level than upper management (Mikelaitis,
2016). The informatics committee consists of nurses that represent all of the different
departments within the hospital; despite their different backgrounds, all of these nurses work
together on this board to find Connect Care solutions for the entire hospital.
Laws and regulatory agencies have improved healthcare, ensuring that minimum
standards are met. One potential source of healthcare threats comes in the form of medication
errors. The Joint Commission has stated patient safety goals to improve healthcare safety in
hospitals; the goals related to medication errors include use medicine safely and identify
patients correctly (2016). The informatics committee identified medication errors as a top
priority problem that needed mending; it was discussed that the informatics committee met this
challenge several years ago by working with pharmacists and the Connect Care team to require
medication errors, the informatics committee improved patient safety within St. Marys hospital,
informatics committee strives to improve the quality of care at St. Marys hospital. The members
of the informatics committee serve as liaisons between end users and those in control of Connect
Care. In this middleman role, the members of the informatics committee receive suggestions and
complaints from staff about Connect Care, which in turn the informatics committee uses to
formulate improvements, such as the implementation of the patient and medication barcode scan
INFORMATICS COMMITTEE MEETING 4
rule. By constantly seeking ways to improve, the informatics committee implements regular
the profession of nursing as a whole. Professional nursing meetings are compromised of mostly
front-end staff, the workers who directly face the challenges of patient care, and thus the people
most likely to see areas needing improvement. The unique perspective nurses offer to these
meetings allows for improvements that can benefit the entire hospital, including improved
patient care and improved collaboration between members of the healthcare team. Torres et al.
therapists, physical therapists, and speech therapists that worked with stroke patients; the results
that came out of this collaborative committee were improved staff communication, satisfaction,
critical thinking, and improved patient results (2015). As more nurses have their voices heard,
and thus affect policies, the profession of nursing is strengthened. As nurses elicit improvements
by installing policy changes, the profession of nursing gains more depth, potential, and respect.
Professional nursing meetings provide an outlet for nurses to make significant, lasting impacts on
Reflection
Observing a group of dedicated, passionate nurses seeking routes for improvement was
inspiring. I found it impressive that the members of the informatics committee were all well
entrenched in the hospital; from front-end staff complaints, to the history of the organization, to
the procedural structure of the facility, the knowledge among these ladies was immense. Clearly,
they were all so invested in St. Marys hospital and to the mission to improve it. My attendance
at the informatics committee meeting helped me to realize the potential strength in my voice as a
INFORMATICS COMMITTEE MEETING 5
professional nurse. Whether I join a committee or simply lodge a complaint, my voice will be
heard. I now expect to see myself actively seeking ways to improve the facilities within which I
References
https://bsmcon.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/execute/displayLearningUnit?
course_id=_2444_1&content_id=_104594_1
INFORMATICS COMMITTEE MEETING 6
The Joint Commission (2016). Hospital national patient safety goals. Retrieved from
http://www.jointcommission.org/
Torres, A., Kunishige, N., Morimoto, D., Hanzawa, T., Ebesu, M., Fernandez, J., . . . Borg, S.