Findings of the TIGER leadership collaborative
The TIGER leadership collaborative team focused on the use of groups of nurses to foster the adoption of health information technology (HIT) within healthcare organizations (TIGER, 2011). The collaborative established that nurses could enhance their leadership with regard to HIT by focusing on five main areas. First, nurses could enrol in graduate programs that concentrate on administration. The programs have to be based on informatics education. Second, nurses could enrol in nursing leadership programs that are offered within networks in the healthcare industry. Third, nurses could reap from self-education opportunities. The opportunities greatly help executives and managers in the field of nursing to advance their careers. Fourth, nursing executives could enrol in organizational fellowship programs that are aimed to provide nursing informatics mentorship. Fifth, nurse leaders could reap from learning opportunities offered by technology vendors, which aim to train nurses on specific applications of HIT within healthcare organizations (TIGER, 2011).
The TIGER nursing informatics competencies model from a leadership standpoint
The model focuses on promoting nursing informatics leadership because it is crucial in the adoption of HIT projects within the healthcare industry (TIGER, 2011). The TIGER views HIT from a leadership perspective. For a successful implementation of nursing informatics within healthcare organizations, nurse leaders have to lead others in the design and adoption of HIT programs. Nursing leadership is crucial in soliciting for funding aimed to support HIT programs. Also, prudent leadership is important in overcoming barriers that could hinder successful implementation of HIT projects.
My setting and an information technology initiative
I work in a setting where gunshots are used as a diagnosis code. An information technology initiative would be a new information system. The rationale for the choice of this initiative is that it would promote healthcare by enhancing the storage, processing and retrieval of patients’ data. A new information system would be used by healthcare providers within and outside the setting to promote the process of making crucial clinical decisions and contribute to better processes of sharing healthcare resources (Caballero & Hullin, 2010).
Management strategies
The management needs to adopt crucial strategies for a successful implementation of a new technology initiative. The management should ensure that end-users are educated in the various aspects of HIT. This would go a long way in ensuring that there is a high degree of users’ information technology (IT) competence (Caballero & Hullin, 2010; Liaw & Gray, 2010). The management should adopt a strategy that aims to train nurse leaders on the adoption of information systems within healthcare organizations. The leaders would train their juniors. Another management strategy that should be adopted would revolve around increasing the level of users’ participation in the stages of planning and implementation of the new information system. The approaches would help to establish a culture that supports a new information technology initiative.
Potential barriers and resources to overcome them
Cost and complexity of implementation would hinder the adoption of a new information system (Caballero & Hullin, 2010). A new information technology initiative would have significant financial implications that would require sustained funding. The implementation process would be carried out in phases, and this would imply that the implementation process would take a lot of time. Disruption of the normal workflows would hinder the adoption of a new information system. Healthcare providers are accustomed to certain workflows, and they would not easily adopt new workflows. Also, a new information system would be faced with IT illiteracy on the part of end-users (Caballero & Hullin, 2010).
Financial resources would be used to ensure a successful adoption of a new information system (Caballero & Hullin, 2010). The management would have to be assured of long-term funding so that a new system would not fail along the way due to financial uncertainties. The funding would also support user training that would aim to make users competent in HIT applications. Also, the adoption of a new technology would require management resources that would prevent potential disruptions due to workflow changes.
References
Caballero, M. E., & Hullin, L. C. C. (2010). Engaging clinicians in health informatics projects. Studies in health technology and informatics, 151(1), 195-206.
Liaw, S. T., & Gray, K. (2010). Clinical health informatics education for a 21st century world. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 151(1), 479-491.
TIGER. (2011). Informatics competencies collaborative team. Web.