Building a nursing management analysis capacity in a teaching hospital

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Informatics
• Nursing Administration
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Standard hospital information systems (HIS) offer vast potential for clinical and operational insights.
• Historically, nursing has faced challenges in accessing and utilizing data from HIS for evidence-based practice.
• Integrating nursing data needs with existing HIS requires addressing both technological and human factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the process of developing nursing capacity to utilize standard hospital information systems.
• To explore the technical and human elements necessary for making HIS data accessible and useful for nursing.
• To enable nursing to contribute data-driven insights to institutional policy discussions.

Main Methods:

• Development of an integrated information management system tailored for nursing inquiries.
• Implementation of training programs to enhance data literacy and system usability among nursing staff.
• Alignment of nursing data requirements with existing data sources used by operational and financial departments.

Main Results:

• Successful creation of a system enabling nurses to address clinical and operational questions using HIS data.
• Enhanced 'human currency' through training, improving data accessibility and utility for nursing practice.
• Established a common data language, allowing nursing to participate effectively in policy-making.

Conclusions:

• Hospitals can build capacity for data-driven nursing by integrating HIS with nursing workflows.
• A dual focus on technical system development and user empowerment is crucial for maximizing HIS value.
• Empowered nursing, equipped with data from HIS, can significantly influence healthcare policy and operational improvements.