Healthcare Technology Innovation Paper Assignment: Using Informatics to Promote Quality and Safety

Submitter Information

Author: Cibele Webb, PhDc, MSN, RN, CNE
Title: Assistant Professor
Institution: Saint Mary’s College
Email: cwebb@saintmarys.edu
Coauthors: Julie Mack, DNP, RN

Competency Category(s)
Informatics, Quality Improvement, Safety

Learner Level(s)
Pre-Licensure BSN

Learner Setting(s)
Classroom

Strategy Type
Paper Assignments

Learning Objectives

1. Discuss potential and actual impact of national patient safety resources and initiatives (Safety KSA).
2. Demonstrate effective use of technology and standardized practices that support safety and quality (Safety KSA).
3. Explain why information and technology skills are essential for safe patient care (Informatics KSA).
4. Describe examples of how technology is related to the quality and safety of patient care (Informatics KSA).

Strategy Overview

Healthcare informatics is an integral part of clinical nursing practice because it supports the delivery of evidence-based, quality, safe care (Forman et al., 2020). Current studies indicate that nurse educators continue to struggle to infuse informatics content into the undergraduate nursing curriculum (Foster & Sethares, 2017). This teaching strategy addresses this need by integrating the QSEN competency of informatics into a medical-surgical course assignment.

This teaching strategy consists of an APA paper assignment. Students identify a healthcare technology innovation and use current literature to explain how this technology enhances patient outcomes. Students discuss the background of the technology, its impact on quality and safety, how the technology supports national patient safety goals, and identify ethical and cost considerations related to the use of this technology. This paper helps students articulate the importance of using healthcare technology innovations in clinical nursing practice to support the delivery of quality and safe patient care.

Submitted Materials

286.QSEN-Teaching-Strategy-286-RubricFinal.docx

Additional Materials

Assignment Description and Grading Rubric

References:

Forman, T. M., Armor, D. A., & Miller, A. S. (2020). A review of clinical informatics competencies in nursing to inform best practices in education and nurse faculty development. Nursing Education Perspectives, 41(1), E3-E7. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000000588
Foster, M., & Sethares, K. (Fall, 2017). Current strategies to implement informatics into the nursing curriculum: An integrative review. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics (OJNI), 21(3).

Evaluation Description

This paper is evaluated using the grading rubric tool attached.