Using the Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom Continuum Paper Example

Clinical Question: Has the application of electronic administration of medication led to the improvement of safety and the quality of services within the healthcare setting?

Information technology plays a very important role in the field of health care. The new inventions in the field that include but not limited to software, new tools, and devices are responsible for the great transformation in the field of nursing. The application of nursing informatics helps in the organization of data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. The continuum of data, information, knowledge, and wisdom depict how nurses apply facts in the provision of care and making important decisions. In retrospect, the continuum provides insight on how nursing informatics contribute to the various levels of decision-making, evidence-based practice, and understanding of processes and procedures of within the care environment (Ronquillo, Currie & Rodney, 2016). The application of nursing informatics leads to faster processing of raw data and the subsequent storage of information, which is important particularly in the field of epidemiology. The main objective of nursing informatics is to ensure high quality medical care to the patients. Essentially, having concrete, relevant data is crucial in diseases management.

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Application of the Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom Continuum

As mentioned, nursing informatics helps in the organization and the subsequent application of data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. The continuum shows how nurse apply information or facts in providing care and making decisions. The aim is to provide the best possible care to the patients. Nursing informatics enable the nurses to access the information of the patients within practical time, which is consistent with the individualized aspirations of each patient. The use of the electronic application in healthcare simplifies the processes and procedures of healthcare provision (Sensmeier, 2015). Storing the data in the databases for easy retrieval at the point and the time of need is the main strategy of ensuring disease management.

Navigating through the stages of data, information, knowledge, and wisdom continuum is possible and beneficial after the nurse determines the prevalence and the cause of the condition or disease as suggested by the data. The aim is to determine the condition by collecting the right data using the relevant apparatus (Hussey & Kennedy, 2016). For example, when the nurse measures the bold pressure of a patient and establishes it as 140/100 then that figure constitutes the data. Transforming the data to information requires the nurse to ask additional questions to the patient. For instance, if the patient has a history of a condition such as cardiac arrest or is contemporarily feeling any form of chest pain. A sudden drop in the blood pressure may signify the beginning of myocardial infarction, and that is what constitutes knowledge. After gathering all that information, the nurse should determine the best treatment for the condition and that constitutes wisdom. For example, in the above scenario after the nurse establishes that the patient could be suffering from myocardial infarction it is imperative to administer aspirin, nitrates, and oxygen. Wisdom is the last bit in which the nurse applies the data, information, knowledge to administer treatment to the patient to ease the condition.

The right or the relevant databases to use are the Nursing or the Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases (Hussey & Kennedy, 2016). To access the databases, it is beneficial to use the university website by typing in the search words. The next step is to focus the search engines to the field of nursing to ensure that the information obtained is within the relevant field. An example of the search words to use in this regard may include critical trauma, admission, hypertension, cost, the deposition of the fats, fatigue, or the constriction of the blood vessels. The words are will certainly lead the search engines to the information on the patient and the condition since they are the most commonly used ones in the nursing profession in a case of suspected hypertension or cardiac conditions.

The transformation of the analyzed data (information) into knowledge, the nurse should make sure that the findings are clear, accurate, and relevant, which is the main principle of the transformation process. Applying the information to make meaning of the topic is of great importance. Gathering and subsequently using the information requires the nurse to use all the relevant sources. The next step is to evaluate the information from the different sources gathered to determine relevance to the field of study. Organizing or sorting the information by eradicating the irrelevant ones to isolate the ones that are helpful to the study (VaughanGraham & Cott, 2017). Finally, it is important that the information is free from any academic, or otherwise, errors such as spelling mistakes and plagiarism. Eliminating plagiarism requires special software or site such as (turn-it-in) while proofreading requires proofreading the work thoroughly. The last stage in transforming the information into knowledge is the evaluation of the information obtained throughout the process.

Lastly, nursing informatics is quite important in the acquisition and the subsequent application of wisdom. As stated earlier, wisdom is the result of the transformation of data to information and then to knowledge. Wisdom is the final stage of the mentioned transformation. The information is majorly useful if passes through all the stages and then graduates to the last stage, which is wisdom (Hussey & Kennedy, 2016). Wisdom then directs the nurse to either reject or accept the information obtained based on the perceived degree of utility or usefulness. In a case of lacking wisdom, it is difficult, almost impossible to decipher between the true, relevant information and the fake one. Wrong information is the pre-requisite for wrong decisions, which are fatal in the field of nursing and by extension healthcare. Irrelevant or wrong information leads to wrong diagnosis and subsequently the administering of the wrong medication or treatment. Such will certainly lead to more complications that may lead to death if left unchecked or goes undetected. The main objective or role of any practitioners is to protect the patient's life, and such is only possible by making the right judgment based on relevant information.

Summary

Data provides the basis for making the right decision based on information. Careful collection of data is important. It should happen within the set rules and procedures. The information collected by the nurse should address the clinical question formulated by the nurse of the medical practitioner comprehensively and satisfactorily. Elimination of the information not related to the question or the field is necessary. The next step of the continuum is to store the information in the right database to facilitate proper decision-making based facts. Information sharing is important in the nursing profession to facilitate proper service delivery to the patients. The application of the data, information, knowledge, and wisdom Continuum permits information sharing, proper decision-making based on facts, and promotes better patient outcomes.

References

Hussey, P. A., & Kennedy, M. A. (2016). Instantiating Informatics in Nursing Practice for Integrated Patient Centered Holistic Models of Care: A Discussion Paper. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72(5), 1030-1041.

Ronquillo, C., Currie, L. M., & Rodney, P. (2016). The Evolution of Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom in Nursing Informatics. Advances in Nursing Science, 39(1), pp.1-18.

Sensmeier, J. (2015). Big Data and the Future of Nursing Knowledge. Nursing Management, 46(4), 22-27.

VaughanGraham, J., & Cott, C. (2017). Phronesis: Practical Wisdom the Role of Professional Practice Knowledge in the Clinical Reasoning of Bobath Instructors. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 23(5), 935-948.