The Consequences of Delaying Elective Surgery Discussion Paper
Concepts of Informatics
Healthcare organizations face myriad challenges in efforts to provide safe and quality patient care. Technological advancements and informatics encourage positive changes in processes and policies to mitigate challenges. Jen et al. (2022) state that informatics entails using biomedical data, knowledge, and information to solve problems, perform scientific inquiries, and make decisions that improve health services. Furthermore, evaluating statistics enables organizations to assess their performance outcomes and improve them where there is a need (Bayot & Abdelgawad, 2022). This paper reviews a hypothetical healthcare scenario that would benefit from accessing, collecting, and applying data.
One of the challenges I have experienced in my clinical practice is delays in the timely commencement of procedures in operating rooms. Delays in surgeries negatively affect patient outcomes, healthcare finances, resources, research, and training programs (Fu et al., 2020). Furthermore, it leads to time wastage and impedes timely patient care. To identify the reasons leading to late starts, we can track the late codes nurses record in the electronic medical records (EMRs). Reasons why procedures start late include rooms not being ready, unsigned consents, awaiting orders, and the attending physician arriving late, among other reasons. By tracking the late codes in the EMRs, we can identify the main reasons leading to the challenge and institute policies to address the same. The Consequences of Delaying Elective Surgery Discussion Paper
Using the collected information, the nurse leader can plan to meet the relevant stakeholders (nurses, physicians, support staff, and other healthcare team members) and discuss with them the identified reasons for creating the challenge. Using evidence-based information and statistics, the nurse can demonstrate how the delays in operating rooms impede optimal patient care. Consequently, the nurse leader can help institute policies. These include requiring attending physicians to arrive fifteen minutes before the scheduled time, streamlining the communications patterns, and ensuring that nurses complete their documentation in good time, as unprepared nursing reports also delay procedures.
References
Bayot, M. L., & Abdelgawad, I. (2022). Statistics. PubMed; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538315/
Fu, S. J., George, E. L., Maggio, P. M., Hawn, M., & Nazerali, R. (2020). The Consequences of Delaying Elective Surgery: Surgical Perspective. Annals of Surgery, 272(2), e79–e80. https://doi.org/10.1097/sla.0000000000003998
Jen, M. Y., Mechanic, O. J., & Teoli, D. Definition/Introduction. PubMed; StatPearls Publishing https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470564/
Concepts of Informatics
Healthcare organizations face myriad challenges in efforts to provide safe and quality patient care. Technological advancements and informatics encourage positive changes in processes and policies to mitigate challenges. Jen et al. (2022) state that informatics entails using biomedical data, knowledge, and information to solve problems, perform scientific inquiries, and make decisions that improve health services. Furthermore, evaluating statistics enables organizations to assess their performance outcomes and improve them where there is a need (Bayot & Abdelgawad, 2022). This paper reviews a hypothetical healthcare scenario that would benefit from accessing, collecting, and applying data. The Consequences of Delaying Elective Surgery Discussion Paper
One of the challenges I have experienced in my clinical practice is delays in the timely commencement of procedures in operating rooms. Delays in surgeries negatively affect patient outcomes, healthcare finances, resources, research, and training programs (Fu et al., 2020). Furthermore, it leads to time wastage and impedes timely patient care. To identify the reasons leading to late starts, we can track the late codes nurses record in the electronic medical records (EMRs). Reasons why procedures start late include rooms not being ready, unsigned consents, awaiting orders, and the attending physician arriving late, among other reasons. By tracking the late codes in the EMRs, we can identify the main reasons leading to the challenge and institute policies to address the same.
Using the collected information, the nurse leader can plan to meet the relevant stakeholders (nurses, physicians, support staff, and other healthcare team members) and discuss with them the identified reasons for creating the challenge. Using evidence-based information and statistics, the nurse can demonstrate how the delays in operating rooms impede optimal patient care. Consequently, the nurse leader can help institute policies. These include requiring attending physicians to arrive fifteen minutes before the scheduled time, streamlining the communications patterns, and ensuring that nurses complete their documentation in good time, as unprepared nursing reports also delay procedures. The Consequences of Delaying Elective Surgery Discussion Paper
Reflect on the concepts of informatics and knowledge work as presented in the Resources.
Consider a hypothetical scenario based on your own healthcare practice or organization that would require or benefit from the access/collection and application of data. Your scenario may involve a patient, staff, or management problem or gap.
By Day 3 of Week 1
Post a description of the focus of your scenario. Describe the data that could be used and how the data might be collected and accessed. What knowledge might be derived from that data? How would a nurse leader use clinical reasoning and judgment in the formation of knowledge from this experience? The Consequences of Delaying Elective Surgery Discussion Paper