Üsküdar University, Faculty of Health Sciences Nursing Department organized an online seminar titled “Informatics in Nursing”. The guest of the event, held as part of a university course, was Dr. Nuray Aydın Ateş, President of the Informatics in Nursing Association and a Lecturer at Medipol University. Ateş stated, “We know that informatics is now a necessity. Denying this is inevitable. We are now at the very heart of the informatics world.”
“We nurses also constitute a significant part of this system”
Moderated by Prof. Dr. Selma Doğan, Head of the Nursing Department, Üsküdar University Faculty of Health Sciences, the program saw intense participation from nursing students. Doğan highlighted the usage areas of the informatics age in professions, stating; “As you know, our world is in the age of informatics. We use computers and information technologies in every aspect of our lives. And it seems inevitable that we will evolve further in that direction. Information systems have been a part of our lives for a long time. Especially in recent years, their professional application areas have started to gain more prominence. To prevent errors in quality and increase work efficiency, it is recommended that we use information systems more. Hospital environments where we predominantly work are complex environments with very intense information flow. Storing information within the system, processing it, and transforming what we call informatics into a complete system is complex. We nurses also constitute a significant part of this system. Nursing is not called the backbone, the basic building block, for nothing. Therefore, nurses are involved in all areas of obtaining information, acquiring data, and transferring it. They need to effectively manage information.” she said.
“Robot nurses are being talked about”
Prof. Dr. Selma Doğan, stating that Üsküdar University always advances its students in the field of informatics and trains them accordingly; “At every level of nursing, individuals need to increase their equipment and sensitivity to informatics-related issues more than in the past. As those working in education and practice, we need to strengthen our infrastructure. Robot nurses are being talked about. There are many situations that enable our progress. As Üsküdar University Faculty of Health Sciences, starting from our students, we aim to raise awareness and educate our graduates to be more advanced, considering this as a starting point. We wanted to hold this first meeting to pave the way for them to use information systems more effectively. I hope it continues.” she spoke.
“Nursing is a much more variable profession compared to other professions”
Dr. Nuray Aydın Ateş, President of the Informatics in Nursing Association, stating that the nursing profession is more variable than other professions; “Nurses want care to be the best, and quality and safety to be high. We want to provide the best care at the lowest costs. We are one of the team members who think about this the most. While providing the best care at the best cost, it is, of course, our responsibility to acquire and interpret current information. Moreover, within this interpretation, there are many possibilities and options. We are not dealing with a static entity; we are dealing with a dynamic one. That is, no two people are alike. Furthermore, a person's day does not match their day, nor their hour their hour. Therefore, nursing is a much more variable profession compared to other professions. Amidst all these variabilities, we must provide information accurately, effectively, and quickly.” she said.
“We are at the very heart of the informatics world”
Ateş, speaking about the relationship between nursing and informatics; “By using digital methods, we can increase the frequency of visibility. In nursing, if you record that you perform a procedure frequently, you will be able to count how many times a nurse has recorded a task. Informatics provides evidence-based, easy access to up-to-date information, enabling accurate, effective, and rapid decision-making. Informatics has begun to play an important role in preventing and reducing clinical practice errors and in improving patient care and outcomes. We know that informatics is now a necessity. Denying this is inevitable. We are now at the very heart of the informatics world.” she stated.