To start answering this question, it is essential to identify what consulting and consultants are. There are several definitions of what consulting is, but they generally follow that consulting involves aiding other people per their request. In turn, consultants are professionals that use their expertise, knowledge, skills, and tools to resolve problems, assisting them in improving their condition.
As such, consulting requires certain skills and abilities in working with people, increasing the professional’s efficiency regarding conveying his or her recommendations to the client (Sipes, 2016). In every area of expertise, especially in medicine, the consultant will have to identify a problem, assess the current situation, search for solutions, or, if there is none, search for alternatives (Sipes, 2016). Sometimes, after the decision of the client, situations call for the development of the solution.
Regarding the consulting of nursing informatics, the process remains essentially the same, though specific skills, in addition to the analysis and communications, are required. Basic computer skills are essential for any consultant working in the field. Those skills include good typing skills, information browsing, the ability to use word processors, databases, and information systems, and to use multimedia (Sipes, 2016).
Besides that, correct and secure information management is vital in protecting the patient’s security and anonymity of their data. Collecting, processing, and processing data are also essential for accurate decision making, resulting in applying correct data for decision support and ensuring data integrity (Green, Hardie, Dohan & Tan, 2016). In addition to that, a high level of information literacy is required to ensure both the hospital and the patient are given relevant, accurate, and timely information. Deciphering and classifying of information to determine whether it is relevant or irrelevant requires critical thinking and proper usage of data (Sipes, 2016).
The decision-making process begins with assessment and diagnosis, searching for relevant information, and planning of the treatment/intervention. However, not all medical help providers use that process (Green et al., 2016). Information technology and consulting have shown support to the decision-making for nurses, using such technology as a decision support tool. They are called decision support systems and are easily adaptable and flexible, supporting, and facilitating decision making among the staff, providing them with solutions (Green et al., 2016).
Decision support systems are mechanisms used to assist decisions within some organizations such as electronic health records or enterprise content management systems. Enterprise content management systems are decision support instruments, which can positively influence decision quality, decision making analysis, and even decision making speed (Green et al., 2016). Those tools allow medical staff to make decisions by providing them with additional information.
Decision-making systems are usually rated through decision making satisfaction by analyzing the patient’s satisfaction with the provided treatment (Green et al., 2016). That feedback allows rating, calibrating, and enhancing the resulting decision, allowing for the improvement of health care. As such, decision making satisfaction becomes a valuable tool, positively affecting the quality of the systems.
Those practices result in the increasing levels of information literacy among the staff, making them more suited to work with modern technologies to streamline and improve the provided level of health care and renovating the industry (Green et al., 2016). Recording a patient’s satisfaction and correcting the flaws of the system, along with quicker acquiring and interpretation of data, leads to more efficient diagnosis and treatment. Overall, nursing informatics can benefit the healthcare industry, improving the growth of knowledge and management in an industry which rapidly develops through learning.
References
Green, M., Hardie, T., Dohan, M., & Tan, J. (2016). Assessing the Impact of Nursing Informatics Competencies on Decision Making Satisfaction: Results of a Preliminary Study. Web.
Sipes, C. (2016). Project management for the advanced practice nurse. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.