Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Nursing Informatics team has highlighted the important role of technology in improving patient care through more
effective nursing practices.
The team led by Dr Wasmiya Dalhem al-Kuwari, executive director of Nursing Informatics at HMC, has recently supported this by leading training for nurses on a new Clinical Information System (CIS), being implemented across HMC hospitals and clinics.
“The new electronic system enables nurses to access consolidated patient records in real-time without the hassle of going through a lot of paperwork,” Dr al-Kuwari said.
“With all past medical histories, labs and diagnostics available on one system, nurses can make decisions quicker. The time saved can then be used more effectively for attending to patients’ urgent needs and most importantly, enhancing their safety.”
“Nursing Informatics is a developing domain in the field of nursing worldwide,” Dr al-Kuwari pointed out. “It is a specialty that advocates, trains and guides nurses to incorporate information technology into their practices.
“The main objective of Nursing Informatics is to advance the best use of clinical information and technological systems in the improvement of healthcare systems and patient care delivery at HMC. This includes enhancing documentation accuracy and decreasing the time spent by nurses creating and updating documentation, which ultimately benefits patients,” she said.
In addition to the CIS implementation, last year HMC became the first hospital facility in the Middle East to launch a new electronic system - Cerner Clairvia - for the management and organisation of more than 8,000 nursing staff.
Cerner Clairvia is considered one of the leading systems used to manage nursing staff in prominent healthcare institutions across the United States.
With HMC opening three new hospitals in 2017, Nursing Informatics will continue to work to equip nurses with the changing technological demands of their profession.
“We are preparing our nurses with the competencies and skills to practise in a future healthcare environment. New HMC facilities are opening and we are not only going behind the scenes but leading the preparation phase for the rollout of the CIS across those facilities,” Dr al-Kuwari said.
“Most importantly, we are aiming for the international accreditation of our department and will continue with our goal of being leaders in the nursing informatics field in the GCC,” she added.