Healthcare technologies are designed to improve patient’s safety, improve, and efficiently manage work process and improve outcome of healthcare delivery. Nursing informatics is a field within the medical field which involves data and information collected through technology that aids nurses in the performance of their task and assist with quick and timely decision making (Sweeney,2017)
Based on my health care practice as a Med Surg nurse, The scenario I considered is the Automated medication dispenser. The automated dispensing machine provides secure medication storage for patients care units along with electronic tracking of the use of narcotics and other controlled medications. Hospital and facilities have different names for their Medication dispenser depending on the manufacturing term facility where I work as a PRN staff and has also witnessed MAR ON PAPER in a smaller facility where I also did PRN at a time where medications are documented on paper. I observed with dismay how medications were being handled and documented in papers and this had a great chance for medication errors and discrepancies it was so easy to lose accountability of how and when medications were dispensed including narcotics and other controlled medications there are greater chances of administering wrong medication, wrong dosage, wrong strengths to the wrong patients and at the wrong time. Med errors can happen in big hospitals where automated dispensing machines and electronic Emar are used due to human error by uncompliant nurses who are rather too fast in carrying out their duties. These machines have features to check and minimize these errors.
The electronic administration record offers excellent data formation and processing more than the paper MAR. EMAR is superior to paper based health record because it prevents medication errors improves clinical communication and patient outcome (Lin et al.2020). Automated dispensing machines provide computer controlled storage dispensing and tracking of medications especially narcotics and other controlled drugs , it stores accurate data and information.it provides safe dosing and screens for look alike and sound alike medication and promotes safe patient’s outcome(institute of safe med practice 2019) Under Professionalism, the nurse leader will use the data to advocate for patients and staff, make evidenced based decisions. These data will help to build communication and relationship management by helping to establish trust within the interdisciplinary team and sharing information for better impact.
References
Institute of safe medication practices (2019) Guidelines for the safe use of automated dispensing cabinet.https://www.ismp.org/resources/guildlines-safe-use-automated-dispensing-cabinets.
Laurette Education procedure (2018) What is Informatics? Walden’s technology proficiencies. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu.
Sweeney, J. (2017). Healthcare Informatics, online journal of Nursing informatics (OJNI) 21(1)