CHALLENGES IN NURSING INFORMATICS IN THE PHILIPPINES

 Nursing informatics in the Philippines is still in the state of infancy. Here in our country it is still in the process of achieving our goal in making health setting effective and efficient. Now health setting in other Asian countries are improving and upgrading nursing informatics, whereas here in the Philippines there is a massive need to embrace the changes between the gap in nursing informatics and nursing practice.

There are lots of factor influencing the management in implementing nursing informatics in health care.

v  One of the challenges in nursing informatics is a need of active participation in expediting the developing NI in the Philippines.

v   Second, health education problems. Even though it is already part of the curriculum “CMO no.14” we still lack instructors that are major in informatics and also school of nursing are still in the edge of imagining/assuming of technology used in informatics.

v  Re-nationalization of hospitals. The hospitals should take should one step at a time to adapt informatics in improving health care in the Philippines.

                         Medical field in the Philippines should have the realization and knowledge of the benefits brought by the new health technology. Here are also some of the issues that must be given attention of the said changes:

Ø  Implementing policies and management of information technology towards the development of informatics.

Ø  Environmental awareness of the clinical practitioners.

Ø  Maximizing the potentials of the nurses through implementation of what they have learned on NI.

Ø  Inclusion of national budget is a crucial process of the government financial capacity. NI application is not the first priority for there are superior problems that   should be given main concern.

Is Nursing Informatics existent in the Philippines?

      Nursing Informatics (NI) is not new in the Philippines but
it’s just in the line where it is not applied. As of the Ched
Memorandum Order No. 14 (CMO no.14) Nursing Informatics now is part of
the curriculum. It really does exist as one of the new subjects, but
the question is “It is really applicable in the Philippines?” The Ched
added this subject for the sake of the new soon to be nurses, for them
to have new knowledge on the new trends, teachings, and clinical
practices as well. They challenge the Philippines to embrace this as
one of the curriculum but not as part of the health care delivery
system. The lack of source and financial support of the government
 makes it not possible for NI to be applied in this third world country.

      
         Many organizations are supporting this CMO no. 14, but 

training's and seminars were not enough to make it be in reality. There

are so many health care issues to be prioritized rather than making NI

visible in medical fields. One of these problems is the status of our

hospitals where there is a need of renovations, new and high-tech

facilities. There is also a need of old nurses to study NI for them to

deal with the new trends.  We are trying to learn and understand its

use so that in the near future we can cope in the involving health

care facilities of the world.

(Article that proves nursing information exist in the Philippines)
http://www.informaticsnurse.com/
Nursing informatics: challenges to Philippine nursing curriculum.
AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2008;:876
Authors: Bernal AB, Tolentino PA, Gavino AI, Marcelo Ade B
The University of the Philippines College of Nursing curriculum has
been the foundation of most of the curriculum in the country. But such
is inferior with the current global health care delivery system. With
Telehealth as the current program launched as an alternative medium to
address health-care needs in geographically isolated areas through the
use of ICT, nurses provide care for populations through electronic
communication media and act as triage nurses who advise/consult with
patients.
PMID: 18998935 [PubMed - in process]    

Can ICT SOLVE our problems in health care?

      As a nurse/ nursing student focuses not only in patient care

but also as a whole. Whether you have a specialty in nursing practice

that has also has its own set’s of nursing problems to consider.As

nursing progresses it becomes complicated to handle if we continue the

traditional ways in dealing patient care management. As we in this

century of improvement, we in health setting should be able to adapt

new ways in making health effective and easy for the health care

provider and also the patient to access effectively so that the

standard of communication is an easy approach in making health setting

more efficient and reliable.

                                                  

            ICT provide us fast, accessible, time manageable in adopting

Electronic Health Record so that we are not wasting time and effort in

conducting written information about the patient. And when the patient

was admitted again we know longer repeat asking questions because it

really is annoying to the patient and also thru ICT we are able to

manage more quickly, so that we can have full understanding of patient

medical history, including what medications they’re allergic to.  Like

emergency situation it’s really impossible to wait in a scenario that

is too risky and can be an adding factor for the patient present

illness if the health team cannot provide efficiently and effectively

in case of crisis.

Using ICT in health setting we can provide full attention to the

patient care because without I.T. it takes time documenting patient’s

care, accessing files and transferring records to other clinics. And

many more problems encountered by health care providers.

    Nursing informatics is a multi-disciplinary that offers solution

with the goal of improving patient care. It integrates data,

information and knowledge to help nurses make well-informed decisions

in all circumstances. Most of all the nurse informaticist will be in

demand. The importance goes far beyond the use of technology.

Technology is nothing if it is misused or not taken advantage of. Its

importance is the ongoing education and training of health

professional in order to use technology appropriately.

"Nursing Informatics, A Key To Dramatic Transformation"

 Now in this changing world we try everyday to make our

life better and more efficient ways to cope in our daily battle of

diseases.To be able to provide good and better health care, we take

caution on giving appropriate method in managing patients wellfare.

Technology is one solution in this growing needs in providing quality

nurse care to the patient. it has a great importance in today's modern

health care. It is also essential in giving more effective ways to

support the health of the people worldwide, that nurses carried out in

performing their duties and also use their knowledge to broaden the

scope in enhancing informatics ability in professional practice.

            Thus, informatics was used in many fields in science and

in many country, because it is a co-related to nformation

science,computer science and health care. It enhance individual and

population health outcomes, improve care and strengthen the

clinician-patient relationship. It means that nurses should use their

knowledge of patient care combined with their understanding the

concepts,methods, and health informatic tools. Which promote patient

care that is safe, efficient, effective, timely, patient-centered and

equitable.

          Really, we can benefit all from this modern developing

technology that improves our overall health care industry. Though the

nursing students/nurses are computer literate there is still a

tremendous need to study and improve their general information/skills

towards Information Technology(IT). That's why it's vital for health

practitioners to make use of nursing informatics effectively and

accurately. For this is the key in transforming health management in

the modern ways.