Necessity for protecting patient privacy related to accessing
A nursing student is requesting permission to complete an evidence-based practice (EBP) project on the medical/surgical unit you are managing. The project will include the implementation of an EBP aimed at solving an identified problem at the facility and subsequent measurement for correlated results. You are excited to partner with this student, however, there are concerns related to patient privacy and data tracking. Address these concerns with the creation of a student handbook related to Evidence Based Practice projects.
Instructions:
Create a student handbook that:
1. Explains the impact of information technology and data analysis on improving patient outcomes.
2. Supports the nurse’s role in utilizing information technology and data analysis to improve patient outcomes.
3. Describes the necessity for protecting patient privacy related to accessing, using, and sharing patient data for purposes of an EBP project through the responsible use of information technology.
Sample Solution
Patient safety is a subset of healthcare and is defined as the avoidance, prevention, and amelioration of adverse outcomes or injuries stemming from the processes of health care (Patient Safety Dictionary). In 1999 the Institute of Medicine`s (IOM) report “To err is human” called for developing and testing new technologies to reduce medical error (Kohn, Corrigan, & Donaldson, 2000), and the subsequent 2001 report “crossing the quality chiasm” called for using information technology as a key first step in transforming and changing the healthcare environment to achieve better and safer care (Crossing the Quality Chasm, 2001). Health information technology improves patient`s safety by reducing medication errors, reducing adverse drug reactions, and improving compliance to practice guidelines. There should be no doubt that health information technology is an important tool for improving healthcare quality and safety.
