IT-Related Incidents

As many things do, nursing continues to evolve. In particular, nursing has gone from paper charting to electronic charting for various reasons. Our technology is not just limited to charting, but has also developed into performing more surgeries, bringing people back to life, and organ transplants among other things (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014, p.260). I will be identifying two types of IT-related incidents. In addition, I will be discussing a case study. Lastly, I will be discussing how nursing leaders can establish a culture of safety related to IT. The purpose of this discussion is to discuss the culture of safety related to health information technology (IT).

The two types of IT-related incidents are human related and computer related

(Wallace, Zimmer, Possanza, Giannini, Solomon, 2013, p.7). Human related includes issues such as wrong input of data or the user ignored an alert (Wallace et al., 2013, p.7). Computer related issues include a down network or not up to date software (Wallace et al., 2013, p.7). The type of IT incident seen in the case study is computer related. I say computer related due to the computer cutting of important data. Although, why did the nurse not question this order or how was it not recognized in the Omni cell? The potential consequence could have been the patient expiring.
Furthermore, nurse leaders can help establish a culture of safety related to IT. First, the staff must be fully educated, which can start through a training class (Wallace et al., 2013, p.12). Next, the staff needs to be encouraged to report issues or near misses (Wallace et al., 2013, p.12). It is important to have open communication amongst staff (Wallace et al., 2013, p.12). Staff needs to be ensured a blame free environment when reporting issues as well and have resources available (Wallace et al., 2013, p.13).
Personally, I have encountered IT issues numerous times. The time that pops into my mind is when scanning in medications. A medication will match up exactly with the EMAR, but still will not accept it in the computer system. I usually have another nurse verify the medication with me. Then, I call pharmacy and tell them what the issue is. They either try to fix it or tell me it is safe to give to the patient.
In conclusion, technology is nursing has evolved. We are faced with seeing incidents with technology. Particularly, there are two categories for IT related incidents. Incidents can help be fixed or prevent by reporting the incident. Nurse leaders needs to promote a safe and open environment to help see the best results. There are some incidents that are inevitable.