1. What did you like or dislike about taking an online course?
I liked the flexibility of the course. I very much liked the organization of the modules on WEB CT. They were easy to follow and made it clear what the expectations for the course were. I disliked the inability to ask questions face-to- face with the instructors and get immediate directions on topics that were confusing to me.
2. What topic did you learn the most about and what was your favorite topic?
I enjoyed learning about END NOTE. I believe I will find this a very useful tool as I proceed through the DNP program. I would suggest you have a tutorial on END NOTE similar to the one on PubMED. It would make the process so much easier to understand.
I also enjoyed the several NPR podcasts on subjects such as plagiarism and E-Health. I am a big Diane Rehm and Science Friday fan, so I always enjoy listening to these programs.
3. If you were the instructor, and this being the first course for all DNP and Master students, what would you do the same or different?
I would have students develop a simple online teaching project from beginning to end incorporating the concepts we learned in this course. I think this would make the information more useful, applicable and fun. A project also solidifies the concepts and long term sustainable learning. I could tell that both of you, Mollie and Allen, put alot of time, energy and effort into this class. Thanks.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Module V Ethics and Plagarism
Visit the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality at http://www.ahrq.gov/. What, if any relationship do you see between the information available on this webpage and regulatory, accreditation, and reimbursement issues and healthcare information system use and design? Post your ethical considerations as a message in your blog.
The AHRG website has an abundance of information for a large and varied audience. For the purposes of this posting, I choose to focus on consumer health information and health literacy, which in my opinion go hand-in-hand. I have become very interested in the subject of health literacy and recently gave a lecture on it to a group of undergraduate students. The AHGR website has a fairly comprehensive section on health literacy as well as a separate section on health information for consumers. It is estimated that only 12% of American adults over the age of 16 are proficient at understanding health information. Of great concern is that 36% or 90 million Americans have basic or below basic health literacy skills. (NAAL 2003) Health literacy or more accurately limited health literacy has a huge impact on health care outcomes both financially as well as physical and emotional health. People with inadequate health literacy have a poorer health status. The economic burden is an additional $7500 per person annually in avoidable costs. (NAAL 2003) The at risk groups include the elderly, minorities, high school dropouts, non-English speaking, low -income and people insured with Medicare and Medicaid. (NAAL 2003).
The relationship I see between the information found AHRG regarding health literacy and this module’s information is comprehensive and widespread. From a regulatory and accreditation standpoint, JCAHO’s public policy statement on patient-centered communications states, “Effective communication is critical to the successful delivery of health care services. The Joint Commission supports a number of efforts to improve communication between health care professionals and patients.” (JCAHO 2009) One of these efforts is related to health literacy and it’s impact on patient outcomes.
In Hebda and Cszar Chapter 12, The Electronic Health Record, it lists some of the benefits of the EHR to patients as; improved access and control over health information, improved ability to ask informed questions and greater responsibility for one’s own care.” This demonstrates the usefulness of technology in increasing health literacy and improving patient education.
As stated earlier, limited health literacy places a huge economic burden on our health care system. Two at risk groups are the elderly and Medicare recipients. Reimbursement ICD 9 codes were discussed in this module and unfortunately there are no classifications for re-hospitalizations due to misunderstood medication regimens, or follow-up appointments, etc. If we had those, perhaps we would all take the time to make sure our patients understood their health care plan.
The AHRG website has a consumer information section. I was surprised that most of the information here was not written at a level the consumer can understand. Health literature should be written at a 5th grade level. Most of it is written at a 10th grade level. It appears to me that this is true of the consumer information on this web site. This is surprising since they have such good information on health literacy. I don’t think I would send a patient to this website for health education. I think it was hard to navigate and understand.
Ethical considerations are to always keep patient information confidential and show respect and regard for their privacy. This is very important when educating the patient and assessing them for their level of health literacy. I think this can become more of a challenge as we move toward electronic medical records and health information as safety and security can be more easily violated. I was impressed with AHRG’s initiative for health care technology to bring more resources to rural areas. I was involved with the Utah Telehealth Program for several years and one of our challenges in delivering care to the rural areas was that we had to have a very secure private network when doing patient exams, history, and education via telemedicine. AHRG is committed to quality care and research and does seem to be the “watchdog” in many instances, which in my opinion is a needed and useful service. Overall I found the website to be very helpful and interesting.
National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL). National Center for Education Statistics. 2003
http://nces.ed.gov/naal Retrieved Dec. 7, 2009
Joint Commission Public Policy
http://jointcommission.ort/publicpolicy/facts_healthliteracyhtm Retrieved Dec. 7, 2009
Hebda, T., Czar P. (2009) Handbook of Informatics for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals . (4th ed.) Upper Saddle Ave. NJ. Pearson
The AHRG website has an abundance of information for a large and varied audience. For the purposes of this posting, I choose to focus on consumer health information and health literacy, which in my opinion go hand-in-hand. I have become very interested in the subject of health literacy and recently gave a lecture on it to a group of undergraduate students. The AHGR website has a fairly comprehensive section on health literacy as well as a separate section on health information for consumers. It is estimated that only 12% of American adults over the age of 16 are proficient at understanding health information. Of great concern is that 36% or 90 million Americans have basic or below basic health literacy skills. (NAAL 2003) Health literacy or more accurately limited health literacy has a huge impact on health care outcomes both financially as well as physical and emotional health. People with inadequate health literacy have a poorer health status. The economic burden is an additional $7500 per person annually in avoidable costs. (NAAL 2003) The at risk groups include the elderly, minorities, high school dropouts, non-English speaking, low -income and people insured with Medicare and Medicaid. (NAAL 2003).
The relationship I see between the information found AHRG regarding health literacy and this module’s information is comprehensive and widespread. From a regulatory and accreditation standpoint, JCAHO’s public policy statement on patient-centered communications states, “Effective communication is critical to the successful delivery of health care services. The Joint Commission supports a number of efforts to improve communication between health care professionals and patients.” (JCAHO 2009) One of these efforts is related to health literacy and it’s impact on patient outcomes.
In Hebda and Cszar Chapter 12, The Electronic Health Record, it lists some of the benefits of the EHR to patients as; improved access and control over health information, improved ability to ask informed questions and greater responsibility for one’s own care.” This demonstrates the usefulness of technology in increasing health literacy and improving patient education.
As stated earlier, limited health literacy places a huge economic burden on our health care system. Two at risk groups are the elderly and Medicare recipients. Reimbursement ICD 9 codes were discussed in this module and unfortunately there are no classifications for re-hospitalizations due to misunderstood medication regimens, or follow-up appointments, etc. If we had those, perhaps we would all take the time to make sure our patients understood their health care plan.
The AHRG website has a consumer information section. I was surprised that most of the information here was not written at a level the consumer can understand. Health literature should be written at a 5th grade level. Most of it is written at a 10th grade level. It appears to me that this is true of the consumer information on this web site. This is surprising since they have such good information on health literacy. I don’t think I would send a patient to this website for health education. I think it was hard to navigate and understand.
Ethical considerations are to always keep patient information confidential and show respect and regard for their privacy. This is very important when educating the patient and assessing them for their level of health literacy. I think this can become more of a challenge as we move toward electronic medical records and health information as safety and security can be more easily violated. I was impressed with AHRG’s initiative for health care technology to bring more resources to rural areas. I was involved with the Utah Telehealth Program for several years and one of our challenges in delivering care to the rural areas was that we had to have a very secure private network when doing patient exams, history, and education via telemedicine. AHRG is committed to quality care and research and does seem to be the “watchdog” in many instances, which in my opinion is a needed and useful service. Overall I found the website to be very helpful and interesting.
National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL). National Center for Education Statistics. 2003
http://nces.ed.gov/naal Retrieved Dec. 7, 2009
Joint Commission Public Policy
http://jointcommission.ort/publicpolicy/facts_healthliteracyhtm Retrieved Dec. 7, 2009
Hebda, T., Czar P. (2009) Handbook of Informatics for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals . (4th ed.) Upper Saddle Ave. NJ. Pearson
Sunday, November 1, 2009
MODULE IV
How did the readings influence your perception of your own clinical decision-making? How do we reconcile the value of nursing experience with known heuristics and biases used in human decision making?
I teach community health in the undergraduate program at the University of Utah CON. Community or public health is a very diverse, ever-changing, dynamic, political and interesting subject matter. It touches almost every aspect of our daily lives. One of the subject matters we discuss is inequity in health care or more commonly known as health care disparities. On this particular subject matter, it is always very interesting to me to compare and contrast the comments, biases, and beliefs of my students. I found Dr. Kahneman’s lecture regarding intuition and biases very applicable to myself and my students. When answering the above question regarding heuristics, biases and nursing experiences, I find myself most drawn to the observation that people often derive their decisions based on availability of experiences and prior conceptions of people. When talking about health care disparities, it is a fact that African Americans have a higher incidence of hypertension. It is also true that there is a higher incidence of low birth weight babies among African American women. But why? Before I go on, ask yourself this question and see what your answers are. Often health care providers believe it is because of genetics, poor diet, poverty, low socioeconomic status, etc. These are common beliefs because this is the available information and description or biases about African American people. Based on this heuristic decision making, the health care provider would probably advise and /or prescribe interventions based on these assumptions or biases. For example, a dietary change or weight loss may be prescribed. In fact some of these may be contributory causes but studies have shown that a primary cause of hypertension and low birth weight babies in African Americans is due to high cortisol levels as a result of years of chronic stress due to social stigma and discrimination. Therefore a much great social change needs to occur to begin to reuce or eliminate this health care problem.
On another note, a very interesting book to read is How Doctors Think by Dr. Jerome Groopman. It indirectly talks about making decisions based on intuition, bias and availability of experiences versus evidenced-based practice and insensitivities to probabilities, etc. I think you would all enjoy it. (But not until you are done with school!)
How Does Nursing Quality Data Relate to Decision Support?
Science is the collection and analysis of data that we build and make our decisions with, whether it is in nursing, chemistry, physics, social sciences etc. If the data quality is not good or accurate then we risk making the wrong decision and therefore the wrong treatment is given, or the incorrect intervention is made and the results of the treatment could be worse than the original disease or problem. Quality nursing data is imperative to making the right decisions regarding patient care and is very important in providing consistency of care. In the article, Clinical Support Systems in Nursing by Anderson and Willson, it was interesting to learn that there was a low compliance among clinicians with clinical practice guidelines (CPG). One of the goals of this study was to discover how computerized decision support systems could bridge the gap between evidence and practice. They found that with a well managed and user friendly data management system, communication was improved among interdisciplinary teams, there was an improved consistency of care, issues related to care of pressure ulcers were more quickly identified and that available resources for information was more readily used.
I bring this up in my posting, because I also teach first semester nursing students and I am constantly stressing to them, the importance of evidenced-based practice. For example, I ask them how they know if a patient is at risk for a pressure ulcer and what the nursing interventions are to prevent one. They need to make the assessment and nursing intervention consistent from patient to patient. Without quality data this would not be possible.
This module’s readings have presented convincing evidence that decision support systems are effective in improving consistent and quality nursing care, when used in conjunction with quality scientific data.
I teach community health in the undergraduate program at the University of Utah CON. Community or public health is a very diverse, ever-changing, dynamic, political and interesting subject matter. It touches almost every aspect of our daily lives. One of the subject matters we discuss is inequity in health care or more commonly known as health care disparities. On this particular subject matter, it is always very interesting to me to compare and contrast the comments, biases, and beliefs of my students. I found Dr. Kahneman’s lecture regarding intuition and biases very applicable to myself and my students. When answering the above question regarding heuristics, biases and nursing experiences, I find myself most drawn to the observation that people often derive their decisions based on availability of experiences and prior conceptions of people. When talking about health care disparities, it is a fact that African Americans have a higher incidence of hypertension. It is also true that there is a higher incidence of low birth weight babies among African American women. But why? Before I go on, ask yourself this question and see what your answers are. Often health care providers believe it is because of genetics, poor diet, poverty, low socioeconomic status, etc. These are common beliefs because this is the available information and description or biases about African American people. Based on this heuristic decision making, the health care provider would probably advise and /or prescribe interventions based on these assumptions or biases. For example, a dietary change or weight loss may be prescribed. In fact some of these may be contributory causes but studies have shown that a primary cause of hypertension and low birth weight babies in African Americans is due to high cortisol levels as a result of years of chronic stress due to social stigma and discrimination. Therefore a much great social change needs to occur to begin to reuce or eliminate this health care problem.
On another note, a very interesting book to read is How Doctors Think by Dr. Jerome Groopman. It indirectly talks about making decisions based on intuition, bias and availability of experiences versus evidenced-based practice and insensitivities to probabilities, etc. I think you would all enjoy it. (But not until you are done with school!)
How Does Nursing Quality Data Relate to Decision Support?
Science is the collection and analysis of data that we build and make our decisions with, whether it is in nursing, chemistry, physics, social sciences etc. If the data quality is not good or accurate then we risk making the wrong decision and therefore the wrong treatment is given, or the incorrect intervention is made and the results of the treatment could be worse than the original disease or problem. Quality nursing data is imperative to making the right decisions regarding patient care and is very important in providing consistency of care. In the article, Clinical Support Systems in Nursing by Anderson and Willson, it was interesting to learn that there was a low compliance among clinicians with clinical practice guidelines (CPG). One of the goals of this study was to discover how computerized decision support systems could bridge the gap between evidence and practice. They found that with a well managed and user friendly data management system, communication was improved among interdisciplinary teams, there was an improved consistency of care, issues related to care of pressure ulcers were more quickly identified and that available resources for information was more readily used.
I bring this up in my posting, because I also teach first semester nursing students and I am constantly stressing to them, the importance of evidenced-based practice. For example, I ask them how they know if a patient is at risk for a pressure ulcer and what the nursing interventions are to prevent one. They need to make the assessment and nursing intervention consistent from patient to patient. Without quality data this would not be possible.
This module’s readings have presented convincing evidence that decision support systems are effective in improving consistent and quality nursing care, when used in conjunction with quality scientific data.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Intelligence Test
The Intelligence Test indicated that my intelligence type is Intrapersonal and Interpersonal with scores of 29 and 28 respectively. I think that is fairly accurate. I much prefer face to face interaction with people and specifically, as a teacher, with students. I teach both online and face to face courses. The main advantages to online courses are accessibility, convenience and flexibility, which are great advantages. I like them as well, and believe they are the reasons online courses are so popular. However, my personal belief is that the advantages do not outweigh the disadvantages. With online courses I am not able to see students’ faces, hear their voices and speech inflections. I cannot observe their personal interactions with their peers and myself. This takes away the opportunity to read their non-verbal language of understanding a concept, confusion, boredom, inability to pay attention, sense of humor, sense of accomplishment., enjoyment of the class etc. When I cannot observe a student’s behavior it is more difficult for me to know if or when I need to spend more time with them, explain a concept differently, and improve or make changes to a course. It is difficult to know if I the goals and objectives I establish for the course are truly being met because I cannot talk to them about it directly. One of the things I truly love about teaching is laughing with the students. Nursing school and nursing can be very funny, and that is a huge part that is missing from online courses. It is one of the things about teaching, that for me, defines the joy of teaching. In summary, I will continue to teach and take online courses, but my bias will always be towards in- person or face to face courses
Sunday, September 27, 2009
MODULE II
1. Describe your clinical problem and choice of electronic index. How did the index facilitate (or impede) your ability to construct an efficient search? How time consuming was your search? Would there be barriers to using the index in daily practice?
The electronic index or data base I chose to use was PubMed. I chose this index because it lets the user know if the article is available in either full text, abstract or both at Eccles Library in either a hard or electronic copy. This is a very important and valuable service to me since I teach at the University of Utah and often need immediate access to articles. However, MeSH terms were not very helpful in my public health topic search as they did not narrow it down significantly. I did my search on prevention and control of obesity. I came to the conclusion that PubMed may be better suited for disease treatment and clinical data rather than public health information or studies. However, I was able to find some very interesting and useful articles on my subject.
This search was very time consuming—it took me about 3 hours. I think most of that was learning PubMed. In the future I think I could do a similar search in about an hour or less. I believe time would be the only barrier in doing a literature search. So how does one get around this issue—hire a librarian.
2.What features in your chosen reference management software can be used to sort, classify, and otherwise organize references? Describe software functionality that allows you to better organize and share information for efficient retrieval and use.
True confessions (can we put these on our blog?) I do not like all these electronic computer programs and I am not an IT person and don’t find anything about any computer program as being ‘intuitive’. However, as we all know information technology is here to stay and it is a necessary tool in our lives. That said, and there is a point to my rambling, I used EndNote as my reference management software. Being the information technology dolt that I am, I was pleasantly surprised to see how easy Endnote is to use and what a very useful tool it is. It has very user friendly features on the left hand tool bar. I was able to sort, classify and organize my references by simply right clicking on My Groups. This let me organize major groups, subgroups, rename or delete groups. I chose Obesity as my major group and then created a subgroup of Prevention and Control of Obesity. Once this was done I was able to preview individual citations or search for additional ones. It also keeps all references in one main file and then lets you store and organize these into different files or groups. You can organize by author, journal, date, and title.
3.You used an electronic index, a guideline index, and a web search engine to retrieve information relevant to your clinical problem. Compare and contrast your results. Which resources were useful/ not useful for your information retrieval task, and why? Identify some alternative strategies for retrieving relevant information - would context relevant information retrieval be useful?
In comparing PubMed (electronic index) NCG (guideline index) and Google (Web Search) I found Google to be the easiest but least reliable in terms of evidence based practice and peer review reliability. NCG offers three ways to do a search. The Basic Search, The Detailed Search and the Frequently Requested Search. I liked the variety of search option in NCG. I particularly liked the frequently requested search option. Using this option I was able to find several topics that I could click on and immediately find some references and articles that I found useful. PubMed is the most difficult search, yet the most comprehensive and professional in terms of peer review journals and evidenced-based practice, clinical trials and research. It is the gold-standard in terms of academics and research and clinical practice.
I think all these retrieval information systems can be useful depending on what information you are seeking. For example, I often use Google to search for current events related to public health issues. It is an invaluable resource for this kind of search. As stated earlier, I will use PubMed for professional publications. I will use NCG for a quick search. It is also useful in telling you how to do a comprehensive detailed search. It thought the instructions on NCG were very clear and concise.
I’m not sure what the question means on what alternative strategies for retrieving information are, but one other source I use and really like is Medscape. It is a terrific data base for peer review journals and always gives you full text articles at no charge. The librarians at Eccles Medical Library referred me to this electronic index. I highly recommend it to all of you.
The electronic index or data base I chose to use was PubMed. I chose this index because it lets the user know if the article is available in either full text, abstract or both at Eccles Library in either a hard or electronic copy. This is a very important and valuable service to me since I teach at the University of Utah and often need immediate access to articles. However, MeSH terms were not very helpful in my public health topic search as they did not narrow it down significantly. I did my search on prevention and control of obesity. I came to the conclusion that PubMed may be better suited for disease treatment and clinical data rather than public health information or studies. However, I was able to find some very interesting and useful articles on my subject.
This search was very time consuming—it took me about 3 hours. I think most of that was learning PubMed. In the future I think I could do a similar search in about an hour or less. I believe time would be the only barrier in doing a literature search. So how does one get around this issue—hire a librarian.
2.What features in your chosen reference management software can be used to sort, classify, and otherwise organize references? Describe software functionality that allows you to better organize and share information for efficient retrieval and use.
True confessions (can we put these on our blog?) I do not like all these electronic computer programs and I am not an IT person and don’t find anything about any computer program as being ‘intuitive’. However, as we all know information technology is here to stay and it is a necessary tool in our lives. That said, and there is a point to my rambling, I used EndNote as my reference management software. Being the information technology dolt that I am, I was pleasantly surprised to see how easy Endnote is to use and what a very useful tool it is. It has very user friendly features on the left hand tool bar. I was able to sort, classify and organize my references by simply right clicking on My Groups. This let me organize major groups, subgroups, rename or delete groups. I chose Obesity as my major group and then created a subgroup of Prevention and Control of Obesity. Once this was done I was able to preview individual citations or search for additional ones. It also keeps all references in one main file and then lets you store and organize these into different files or groups. You can organize by author, journal, date, and title.
3.You used an electronic index, a guideline index, and a web search engine to retrieve information relevant to your clinical problem. Compare and contrast your results. Which resources were useful/ not useful for your information retrieval task, and why? Identify some alternative strategies for retrieving relevant information - would context relevant information retrieval be useful?
In comparing PubMed (electronic index) NCG (guideline index) and Google (Web Search) I found Google to be the easiest but least reliable in terms of evidence based practice and peer review reliability. NCG offers three ways to do a search. The Basic Search, The Detailed Search and the Frequently Requested Search. I liked the variety of search option in NCG. I particularly liked the frequently requested search option. Using this option I was able to find several topics that I could click on and immediately find some references and articles that I found useful. PubMed is the most difficult search, yet the most comprehensive and professional in terms of peer review journals and evidenced-based practice, clinical trials and research. It is the gold-standard in terms of academics and research and clinical practice.
I think all these retrieval information systems can be useful depending on what information you are seeking. For example, I often use Google to search for current events related to public health issues. It is an invaluable resource for this kind of search. As stated earlier, I will use PubMed for professional publications. I will use NCG for a quick search. It is also useful in telling you how to do a comprehensive detailed search. It thought the instructions on NCG were very clear and concise.
I’m not sure what the question means on what alternative strategies for retrieving information are, but one other source I use and really like is Medscape. It is a terrific data base for peer review journals and always gives you full text articles at no charge. The librarians at Eccles Medical Library referred me to this electronic index. I highly recommend it to all of you.
Information to Informatics: Sherri Evershed
Information to Informatics: Sherri Evershed
MODULE I con't.
1. What do you as a graduate level nurse need to know about information management?
I believe the most important thing to know is how to determine and evaluate if the information I read is valid, reliable, accurate, current, or bias. This is often difficult to do when using the internet, particularly when some of the articles I use for public health are current event articles. The current event may be accurate, but the writer/publisher can insert their bias and slant into the article, which then renders it only partially accurate. Another important aspect of information management I need to know is exactly that—how to manage it. That includes how to search and organize data bases, know which journals or internet articles are the most applicable to my practice and/or research, and last but not least, to integrate this knowledge into practice to improve patient outcomes and prevent diseases, such as obesity.
2. Describe what is happening related to IT in your clinical or practice setting.
I am not as informed about IT in my field of public health as I hope to become. But, I know there is the National Association for Public Health Information Technology (NAPHIT). NAPHIT’s stated purpose and goal is to provide leadership in public health information technology. They assist in selecting, evaluating and implementing IT tools in public health and encourage professional development in public health information technology. They also help coordinate efforts between state, local, national organizations. Another organization is the Public Health Data Standards Consortium (PHDSC) which is a national non-profit membership-based organization of federal, state and local health agencies and academic institutions. It supports the exchange of information technology between public health and clinical care via Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems (EHR-S). This is important for patient data such as in the case of an infectious disease outbreak (H1N1) so data can be quickly synthesized to alert the public regarding preventive measures.
3. What structured documentation, standards, and/or coded terminologies do you see within your practice setting (if none--where might they be applicable)?
Again, I am not that familiar with the specifics of the standards of IT in public health, but upon doing a little research I learned that studies have been done and are currently being done to look at effective public health information systems. Specifically, looking at how public health informatics (PHI), apply to the improved health of the community. The difference between PHI and other information technology is that public health is focused on the use of IT for disease prevention.
4. How are structured/coded clinical data useful in promoting quality patient care?
Structured data in public health is used for disease surveillance and prevention. When data follows a structured format it allows labs, hospitals, health departments to accurately determine the cause, incubation period, agent, host, treatment and prevention of disease. It facilitates public health education to the accurate target or susceptible population.
MODULE I con't.
1. What do you as a graduate level nurse need to know about information management?
I believe the most important thing to know is how to determine and evaluate if the information I read is valid, reliable, accurate, current, or bias. This is often difficult to do when using the internet, particularly when some of the articles I use for public health are current event articles. The current event may be accurate, but the writer/publisher can insert their bias and slant into the article, which then renders it only partially accurate. Another important aspect of information management I need to know is exactly that—how to manage it. That includes how to search and organize data bases, know which journals or internet articles are the most applicable to my practice and/or research, and last but not least, to integrate this knowledge into practice to improve patient outcomes and prevent diseases, such as obesity.
2. Describe what is happening related to IT in your clinical or practice setting.
I am not as informed about IT in my field of public health as I hope to become. But, I know there is the National Association for Public Health Information Technology (NAPHIT). NAPHIT’s stated purpose and goal is to provide leadership in public health information technology. They assist in selecting, evaluating and implementing IT tools in public health and encourage professional development in public health information technology. They also help coordinate efforts between state, local, national organizations. Another organization is the Public Health Data Standards Consortium (PHDSC) which is a national non-profit membership-based organization of federal, state and local health agencies and academic institutions. It supports the exchange of information technology between public health and clinical care via Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems (EHR-S). This is important for patient data such as in the case of an infectious disease outbreak (H1N1) so data can be quickly synthesized to alert the public regarding preventive measures.
3. What structured documentation, standards, and/or coded terminologies do you see within your practice setting (if none--where might they be applicable)?
Again, I am not that familiar with the specifics of the standards of IT in public health, but upon doing a little research I learned that studies have been done and are currently being done to look at effective public health information systems. Specifically, looking at how public health informatics (PHI), apply to the improved health of the community. The difference between PHI and other information technology is that public health is focused on the use of IT for disease prevention.
4. How are structured/coded clinical data useful in promoting quality patient care?
Structured data in public health is used for disease surveillance and prevention. When data follows a structured format it allows labs, hospitals, health departments to accurately determine the cause, incubation period, agent, host, treatment and prevention of disease. It facilitates public health education to the accurate target or susceptible population.
Information to Informatics: Sherri Evershed
Information to Informatics: Sherri Evershed
Module I
Hello. My name is Sherri Evershed. I am married with two college age children and have a wonderful Golden Retriever.
I have been teaching nursing for a cumulative six years at Westminster College and now the University of Utah. I am a clinical instructor for Community Nursing in the Fall and Spring and I am the Lead Instructor for Community and Family Focused Care in the RN-BSN program in the summer. I love teaching college students and thoroughly enjoy the clinical setting.
I have a commitment and passion for education, as a teacher and a student. Prior to my bachelor’s degree in Nursing and master’s degree is in Public Health, I received a bachelor’s degree in Community Health Education.
I have been fortunate to have a very rich and diverse career as a nurse. Looking back on my career, it is clear to me that regardless of my position I always found myself gravitating toward the educational and preventive health aspect of the job. I was instrumental in, or involved with the development of various education programs for pediatric oncology, pediatric LifeFlight, Utah Telehealth program, infection control, and my graduate thesis study on Hep. B for Centers for Disease Control in American Samoa. I was a volunteer, for one school year, as the Vice President for Health and Safety at Rosslyn Heights Elementary School. In that position I was instrumental in developing a program that was successful in increasing the percentage of children that wore seat belts and bicycle helmets.
At this point in my academic teaching career I would like to expand my horizons in teaching. My goals are to be eligible to teach on a wider variety of subjects, to teach in broader educational settings, and to teach at the graduate level in nursing education and community health nursing. I have chosen to pursue a DNP with an emphasis on public health to facilitate the achievement of my personal goals.
Module I
Hello. My name is Sherri Evershed. I am married with two college age children and have a wonderful Golden Retriever.
I have been teaching nursing for a cumulative six years at Westminster College and now the University of Utah. I am a clinical instructor for Community Nursing in the Fall and Spring and I am the Lead Instructor for Community and Family Focused Care in the RN-BSN program in the summer. I love teaching college students and thoroughly enjoy the clinical setting.
I have a commitment and passion for education, as a teacher and a student. Prior to my bachelor’s degree in Nursing and master’s degree is in Public Health, I received a bachelor’s degree in Community Health Education.
I have been fortunate to have a very rich and diverse career as a nurse. Looking back on my career, it is clear to me that regardless of my position I always found myself gravitating toward the educational and preventive health aspect of the job. I was instrumental in, or involved with the development of various education programs for pediatric oncology, pediatric LifeFlight, Utah Telehealth program, infection control, and my graduate thesis study on Hep. B for Centers for Disease Control in American Samoa. I was a volunteer, for one school year, as the Vice President for Health and Safety at Rosslyn Heights Elementary School. In that position I was instrumental in developing a program that was successful in increasing the percentage of children that wore seat belts and bicycle helmets.
At this point in my academic teaching career I would like to expand my horizons in teaching. My goals are to be eligible to teach on a wider variety of subjects, to teach in broader educational settings, and to teach at the graduate level in nursing education and community health nursing. I have chosen to pursue a DNP with an emphasis on public health to facilitate the achievement of my personal goals.
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