course material

1. NURS 6051 week 1 Discussion: The Application of Data to Problem-Solving
There are quite a few topics or issues that come to mind when it comes to further data that
needs collected, accessed, and then used to better nursing and the quality of care that is
delivered. I currently work in a hospital here in Hagerstown, MD. A major issue that needs a
new approach is correct patient placement. There are five floors in this hospital, and I work
on the pediatric/womans/medsurge unit. There is a lot of criteria that my floor is not
supposed to take regarding patient care due to it not being an intermediate or intensive
care unit. This is the same with pediatrics. We are not a pediatric intensive care unit either.
The system we currently use needs some type of flowsheet or notification that carries over
to the physicians with the level of care certain patients need so they get placed on the right
unit. Some orders such as stroke scale should flag the physician and the in-house
supervisor, so they know where to accurately place the patient (McGonigle & Mastrian,
2017).The knowledge that could be received from this data can be beneficial. A system that
flags certain criteria or specialists that belong on a particular unit can help prevent so much
chaos and increase physician knowledge on patient criteria and orders for the current
placement. There can be trial runs of a comprehensive unit-based safety program (CUSP)
Toolkit to help gather supportive data to either benefit this process or show another option
may need to take place (AHRQ, 2021).A nurse leader would be able to take this information
and compare it to all the patients that were wrongly placed and compare it to any issues
that have come of the new flowsheet or notifications to physicians and the in-house
supervisor. It is a waste of resources and time when a unit gets a chemo patient or
peritoneal dialysis patient when the unit the patient was sent to does not specialize in that
specific skill. This result is an unhappy patient that just sat half of their day in the
emergency room and now must be moved again and it holds up a bed that needs to be re-
cleaned. Another issue that is taking place at my current place of employment (that is new)
is the ER not calling the floor with report. Once the patient is placed on the board, they must
wait 15 minutes for us to look up the patient (if we are lucky to have time right away) and
they ask if we have any questions, then send the patient right on up. Another problem that
contributes to this issue is a hospital on high census. There are many benefits of
implementing the correct patient flow in facilities. The proper care if given, decreases the
length of the patient’s stay and improved documentation of treatments (Chcf, 2017). This all
has resulted in multiple incidents, including COVID positive patients being brought to a non-
airborne unit. I do believe having some sort of tool that triggers where patients should be
placed would benefit this whole process and protect other patients as

2. well.ReferencesAgency for Healthcare Research & Quality. (2021). AHRQ Patient Safety
Tools and Resources.https://www.ahrq.gov/patient-
safety/resources/pstools/index.htmlCalifornia Healthcare Foundation. (2017). Using
Tracking Tools to Improve Patient Flows inHospitals. https://www.chcf.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/12/PDF-UsingPatientTrackingToolsInHospitals.pdfMcGonigle, D., &
Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge (4th ed.)
Chapter 2, “Introduction to Information, Information Science, andInformation Systems” (pp.
21-33). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Discussion: The Application of Data to
Problem-SolvingIn the modern era, there are few professions that do not to some extent
rely on data. Stockbrokers rely on market data to advise clients on financial matters.
Meteorologists rely on weather data to forecast weather conditions, while realtors rely on
data to advise on the purchase and sale of property. In these and other cases, data not only
helps solve problems, but adds to the practitioner’s and the discipline’s body of
knowledge.Of course, the nursing profession also relies heavily on data. The field of nursing
informatics aims to make sure nurses have access to the appropriate date to solve
healthcare problems, make decisions in the interest of patients, and add to knowledge.In
this Discussion, you will consider a scenario that would benefit from access to data and how
such access could facilitate both problem-solving and knowledge formation.To
Prepare:Reflect on the concepts of informatics and knowledge work as presented in the
Resources.Consider a hypothetical scenario based on your own healthcare practice or
organization that would require or benefit from the access/collection and application of
data. Your scenario may involve a patient, staff, or management problem or gap.By Day 3 of
Week 1Post a description of the focus of your scenario. Describe the data that could be used
and how the data might be collected and accessed. What knowledge might be derived from
that data? How would a nurse leader use clinical reasoning and judgment in the formation
of knowledge from this experience?By Day 6 of Week 1Respond to at least two of your
colleagues* on two different days, asking questions to help clarify the scenario and
application of data, or offering additional/alternative ideas for the application of nursing
informatics principles.*Note: Throughout this program, your fellow students are referred to
as colleagues.As a labor and delivery nurse for over 13 years, the most common scenario
that data shapes nursing practice is caring for a labor patient. Nursing informatics comes
into play incredibly because, like many other units, central monitoring of patients is
essential to run a labor unit safely. Electronic fetal monitoring is a fetal heart rate monitor
that continuously graphs the fetal heart, and the graph determines the oxygenation level of
the fetus (Romo, Huelsmann, & Koperski, 2011). I have been a float nurse among different
hospitals and a travel nurse. All nine labor and delivery units had central monitoring to
monitor how a fetus is doing in labor, and maternal vital signs are visible to the unit's staff.
In the last decade, the doctors and midwives on the case can also monitor the patients
remotely. This data gives nurses and providers the data to make informed choices in how
labor must proceed. Some examples are using the maternal vital signs information to draw
labs and start magnesium for a patient exhibiting symptoms of preeclampsia or doing a
cesarean section due to fetal distress. Many other scenarios arise because nurses and
providers have the data to provide care for their patients safely. Electronic fetal monitoring

3. is the standard of care among high-risk laboring patients (Small et al., 2021). The future of
electronic fetal monitoring is to beyond remote monitoring and make an intelligent monitor
that can help interpret electronic fetal monitoring patterns to better serve the patient
population (Knupp, Andrews, & Tita, 2020). Nursing informatics is the center of a labor unit,
and the new technology to come will continue to help patients safely deliver their
babies.ReferencesKnupp, R.J., Andrews, W.W., & Tita, A.T.N. (2020). The future of electronic
fetal monitoring. BestPractice & Research Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 67, 44-
52.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2020.02.004Romo, P., Murray, M.L., Huelsmann, G., &
Koperski, N. (2011). Essentials of fetal monitoring (4th ed.).Springer Publishing
Company.Small, K., Sidebotham, M., Gamble, J., & Fenwick, J. (2021). Does intrapartum CTG
save lives? MidwiferyMatters, 168, 20–22.