1. Chapter 30
Nursing Informatics and the
Foundation of Knowledge

2. Objectives
• Assess nursing as a knowledge-intensive
profession.
• Explore the contribution of nursing
informatics to the foundation of
knowledge.

3. Foundation of Knowledge Model
• The Foundation of Knowledge Model ©
2007 (refer to model) has provided a
framework for examining the dynamic
interrelationships between data,
information, and knowledge used to meet
healthcare delivery system’s,
organizations’, patients’ and nurses’ needs.

5. Foundation of Knowledge Model
• At its base, the model has bits, bytes
(computer terms for chunks of
information), data and information in a
random representation.
• Growing out of the base are separate
‘cones of light’ that expand as they reflect
upward and represent knowledge
acquisition, knowledge generation, and
knowledge dissemination.

6. Foundation of Knowledge Model
• At the intersection of the cones and
forming a new cone is knowledge
processing.
• Encircling and cutting through the
knowledge cones is feedback which acts on
and may transform any or all aspects of
knowledge represented by the cones.

7. Foundation of Knowledge Model
• Early on in our education as nurses, we
focus our conscious attention mainly on
knowledge acquisition and depend on our
instructors and others to process, generate
and disseminate knowledge.
• As we become more comfortable with the
science of nursing, we begin to ‘take over’
some of the other knowledge functions.

8. Foundation of Knowledge Model
• As nurse knowledge workers, information is
our primary resource and when we deal
with information it is done in overlapping
phases.
• We are acquiring, processing or
assimilating and retaining, and using this
information to generate and disseminate
knowledge.

9. Foundation of Knowledge Model
• Knowledge is thought of as either explicit
or tacit knowledge.
• Explicit knowledge, is the knowledge that
we can convey in letters, words and
numbers.
• Tacit knowledge is individualized and highly
personal or private including your values or
emotions.

10. Reflective Practice
• A way to capture and codify tacit knowledge.
• Reflection is a way of both learning about practice
and a basis for changing practice.
• Enables a practitioner to find a means in which to
put this personal or experiential knowledge into
words
• Helps to understand why a situation turned out
as it did and whether future practice could be
improved

11. IT Tools for Organizational
Knowledge Management
• intranets,
• extranets (shared intranets among several
like organizations),
• knowledge directories,
• blogs, and
• wikis.

12. Collaborating to Build Knowledge
• Joining a Nursing Practice Council
• Subscribing to a List-serv
• Joining a Community of Practice

13. Knowledge Workers
• There are three types of knowledge
workers:
– knowledge consumers
– knowledge brokers
– knowledge generators.
• This breakdown of knowledge workers is
not mutually exclusive but instead we
transition between them as situations and
our experience, education, and knowledge
change.

14. Knowledge Consumers
and Brokers
• Knowledge consumers are mainly users of
knowledge who do not have the expertise
to provide the knowledge they need for
themselves.
• Knowledge brokers know where to find
information and knowledge, they generate
some knowledge but are mainly known for
their ability to find what is needed.

15. Knowledge Generators
• Knowledge generators are the “primary
sources of new knowledge”.
• These are our nursing researchers and
nursing experts, the people who “know”.
They are able to answer our questions,
craft theories, find solutions to nursing
problems or concerns and innovate
practice.

16. Nursing Knowledge
• The healthcare industry, the nursing profession
and our patients all benefit as we develop nursing
intelligence and intellectual capital by gaining
insight into nursing science and, its enactment,
practice.
• In order to be able to enhance the acquisition,
processing, generation, dissemination and reuse
of nursing knowledge, we must codify or be able
to articulate our knowledge structures so that
they can be captured within the knowledge
management systems (KMS).

17. Foundation of Knowledge Model
• The Foundation of Knowledge Model ©
2007 reflects that knowledge is power and
for that reason, nurses focus on
information as a key resource.
• Nurses are knowledge workers, working
with information and generating
information and knowledge as a product.
We are knowledge acquirers, providing
convenient and efficient means of
capturing and storing knowledge.

18. Knowledge in Nursing
• Nursing science is dependent on
knowledge generation and nursing
informatics should facilitate all aspects of
nursing.
• Nursing informatics can also be used to
facilitate nursing administration and
managerial studies of the work of nursing.
• Knowledge must be dynamically generated,
disseminated and assimilated.

19. Foundation of Nursing
Knowledge
• This dynamic interplay means that as
knowledge is generated, disseminated and
assimilated, new questions about the
impact of NI will arise that will help new
knowledge to be generated and assimilated
and so on.
• As nurses, we challenge what is known and
want to acquire, process, generate and
disseminate knowledge.

20. Summary
• As a result of reading this book, you should
have a deeper understanding of knowledge
and informatics and the power they have
to inform the science of nursing.
• We invite you to become active
participants in molding the future of both
nursing and informatics sciences.

21. Thought Provoking Questions
1. How can I apply the knowledge I gain from
my practice setting to benefit my patients
and enhance my practice?
2. How can I help my colleagues and patients
understand and use the current technology
that is available?
3. How can I use my wisdom to help create
the theories, tools, and knowledge of the
future?