Exam 15: Informatics Tools to Promote Patient Safety and Quality Outcomes

A benefit of computerized physician order entry is the ability of alerts that warn against the possibility of drug interaction, allergy, or overdose.

The GAO (2016) interviewed patient safety experts and the related literature to identify three key gaps in patient safety practice implementation: a lack of (1) information about the effect of contextual factors on implementation of patient safety practices, (2) sufficiently detailed information on the experience of hospitals that have previously used specific patient safety implementation strategies, and (3) valid and accurate measurement of how frequently certain adverse events occur. (p. 22) Select one of these gaps and describe in detail how nursing informatics could help close this gap.

The top patient safety issues are identified as early discharge and polypharmacy.

Although nurses have an ethical duty to ensure patient safety, increasing demands on professionals in complex and fast-paced healthcare environments may lead to workarounds. What is a workaround?

A nurse is conducting research on methods to reduce alarm fatigue. Which of the following is one way technology can aid in this research?

Nursing informatics skills and knowledge can assist in data collection to identify adverse events in hospitals.

A healthcare organization partners with a technology manufacturer to identify risks to patients. This approach to safety is known as a:

Multiple false alarms may lead to alarm fatigue and compromise patient safety by slow response or no response to physiologic alarms. Strategies to improve alarm response include:

What are the current patient safety characteristics of your organizational culture? Identify at least three aspects of your culture that need to be changed with regard to patient safety, and suggest strategies for change.

An electronic health record (EHR) undergoes an upgrade, and in order to ensure the end users' ability to use the system, which action should the informatics nurse take?

In addition to organizational commitment of resources to address safety concerns, what is a key feature of a safety culture as identified by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality?

Smart pumps are designed for safe administration of high-hazard drugs and to reduce adverse drug events during intravenous medication administration. What happens when a hard alarm is generated by a smart pump?

Describe a current technology that you use in patient care that would benefit from human factors engineering concepts. What are some ways this technology should be improved?

Smart pump technologies are designed for safe administration of high-hazard drugs and to reduce adverse drug events during intravenous medication administration. Smart pumps have software that is programmed to reflect the facility's infusion parameters and a drug library that compares normal dosing rates with those programmed into the pump.

Many organizations are looking to informatics technology to help manage complex safety issues by using smart technologies that provide knowledge access to users, provide automated safety checks, and improve communication processes.

A nurse is educating a new nursing student on the culture of safety in the healthcare organization. The nurse emphasizes which of the following as essential to a culture of safety?

Radio frequency identifier (RFID) technology may gradually replace bar-code technology in the medication administration cycle because RFID provides:

A nurse understands that medication errors occur commonly with the use of health information technology and uses which of the following to reduce this risk?

Nurses have an ethical duty to ensure patient safety.

A patient is allergic to penicillin, and a trigger in the electronic health record will alarm after which of the following occurs?