Informatics: A Nursing Perspective

Here at The Miriam Hospital we accomplish this through the department of clinical informatics, project management, the clinical informatics committee and inter-affiliate communication (LINC, the Lifespan Informatics Nursing Council)

The department of clinical informatics is responsible for strategic and tactical planning. Planning and implementation for new technology systems at The Miriam is a combination of project management and organizational support. The key groups currently in place to assist in that effort:

Project Management/Implementation

As key projects are initiated at The Miriam, project teams are convened and represent key system users including staff nurses. The following are considered to be the responsibility of project team members:

• Project Planning
• Workflow analysis/ requirements definition:
• Software testing
• Training / Documentation
• Evaluation/ Quality Improvement:

The project teams are responsible for assuring that application specific materials, policies/procedures and methods to evaluate implementation are available at the time of implementation.

• The Clinical Informatics Council is a council with representation from all areas within Nursing services to discuss ongoing and new projects. Our charter is to improve patient care and the work environment of the nurse through clinical informatics. Currently the team is working on enhancing our intra- and internet presence as well as planning for an educational session to increase awareness about informatics.
• LINC (Lifespan Informatics Nursing Committee) is team of Nursing Informatics leaders from The Miriam Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital, and Newport Hospital. This group meets to share ‘best practices' and experiences at the other affiliates.
• The IS Strategy and Steering Council is a strategic planning committee comprised of Senior Lifespan Executives. Meetings are held quarterly and nursing is represented on the council.

In addition the clinical informatics department provides clinical system support , and staff development. The department is the front line of support for many point of care systems including POM and on-line medication administration charting. At The Miriam, we embrace clinical informatics as a new and exciting professional discipline.