Ethical issues In HealthCare Informatics Applies to nursing practice Research Paper

Ethical issues In HealthCare Informatics Applies to nursing practice and Education - Research Paper Example Besides, informatics has been widely used in nursing education process. Future nurses improve their reading, writing, and communication skills through blogs writing, participation in discussions, and writing journal entries. The ethical considerations of the use of informatics in nursing and health care are above all related to data security and data quality issues. Overall, informatics has brought numerous benefits to the field of nursing and nursing education, yet more should be done to resolve ethical dilemmas. Introduction Computers have greatly altered the way we do various things. Health care is not an exception. Within the sphere of health care, informatics is widely used. This paper examines benefits the benefits of health care informatics for nursing practice and education. It also focuses on ethical considerations of the use of informatics in nursing and health care. Benefits of Health Care Informatics for Nursing Recognition of information as the leading health resource ha s led to development of health care informatics (Conrick, 2006, p.12). ... ures which would help medical staff diagnose and treat customers in a more efficient and accurate way (â€Å"The History of Health Informatics†, 2013). Historically, benefits of computers for health care were recognized early in the 20th century, practically application of computers to health care did not became possible until 1950s, when informatics took off in the States. Early computers were mostly used for office purposes as large calculating machines. It is believed that the stage for further developments of health care informatics was set by Robert Ledley, an inventor of the body CT scanner, who used informatics in his dental projects carried out in collaboration with the National Bureau of Standards. After the invention of the LISP and MUMPS languages of programming in the 1960s, computers started to be seen as a means of creation of medical databases, diagnostic systems, and other programs related to health. Throughout the 1970s the potential of informatics for improvi ng data storage and overall quality of patient care was realized (Conrick, 2006, p.12). The cost-saving benefit of using computers in financial and management areas of health care was stated. At the same time, MYCIN was developed for the purposes of helping physicians find the bacteria that caused several infections, as well as recommend medication and dosage for treatment. Besides, it aimed at treating blood clotting problems. INTERNIST-1 was developed at around that time. It was conceived as a system that could be used for supplying medical information to non-medics. The major advancement of 1980s was the development of nursing information systems. This enabled physicians to document a few aspects of records for their patients, which included vital signs, medical orders, discharge planning, and