The Pulse | Thursday, February 20, 2020
Bridging Technology and Patient Care: The Role of Clinical Informatics
SGNA spoke with Angela Kranich, BSN RN, about her switch from bedside nursing to clinical informatics and how this role has an impact on patient care. Learn how Kranich became interested in this specialty, the role of technology in nursing today and the importance of leadership for GI nurses.
What is clinical informatics? Can you describe a typical day in this position?
Clinical informatics is a nursing specialty that integrates information technology (IT) and the nursing profession. My day begins by attending the morning hospital safety huddle. I assist leaders with any urgent safety needs and help escalate any electronic health record (EHR) concerns. This is also a great place for leaders to catch me for help with other needs, like running reports and finding elements of documentation in the patient chart.
From there, I round in my departments; I support GI, urology, surgery, anesthesia and preadmission testing. I provide at-the-elbow support to nurses and physicians. I listen to the clinical team and take their suggestions back to the IT side. I attend various leadership meetings and offer suggestions for how to use the EHR to improve workflow, reduce medical errors and patient care delays. I also train new nurses and providers to use the HR. I like that every day is different.
How does this differ from your previous roles? How did you decide this was the next step in your career?
I became interested in this role while working as a GI nurse clinician. I was involved with projects as a GI subject matter expert at a system level. Several of these projects involved informatics. One example is the redesign of our electronic health record for GI documentation. I worked closely with the informatics team. I watched as the informatics nurses were able to take what we needed as clinical nurses and communicate with IT in a way they understood. The nurses tested and validated the build and were able to work with IT to create what we needed to efficiently document. The more I partnered with the informatics nurses, the more I wanted to be part of that team!
I watched as the informatics nurses were able to take what we needed as clinical nurses and communicate with IT in a way they understood.
What advice would you give someone looking into clinical informatics?
I advise becoming involved in leadership. This could be a formal or informal role. It is important to have good communication skills, project management and staff development/education experience. Do not be afraid to step away from bedside nursing. I feel the work I do has a large impact on patient care. I show nurses and physicians how to use EHR data to analyze and manage patient outcomes.
How is the role of technology in healthcare changing?
Technology has improved patient care and reduced medical errors. Mobile devices are a part of our everyday workflow. We can now take images and upload this into the EHR using an app. Barcode scanning for medication and specimens have reduced errors, too. Patients have immediate access to their medical records in more detail. Provider notes can be shared with patients through a hospital based portal.