Using technology to Improve Patient Safety and Quality of Nursing Care
Yelitza Guzman
Walden University
Information Management in Nursing and Health Care
Nurs-3010-7
Dr. Annita Manns
May 19, 2013

Using technology to Improve Patient Safety and Quality of Nursing Care
The current severe shortage of nurses and health care workers contributes to an ongoing crisis in the US health care system that has many consequences. The inadequate number of qualify personnel in the care setting has a direct impact on the ability of nurses to deliver an appropriate level of care to their patients. Technology holds the promise of alleviating some of these problems by managing and organizing information that will facilitate the nurses, physicians and other members of the health care system to provide adequate and high quality of care. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the issues of data quality, patient safety, and access to health care in relation to information technology.
Data accuracy and safety
Ensuring data quality and accuracy is the most important factor to guarantee that the use of health technology is successful. To have an optimal working system in an electronic record we should have the most accurate, up-to date, and complete database. Having accurate identification of the patient should be the first step when gathering patient information. This is a task that most times is initiated by triage or admission nurses. Nurses are knowledgeable workers who require the use of information and data to provide the most effective patient care (Yoder-Wise, 2011).
When a patient enters the system ID cards are requested and an extensive interview of health history is performed. If the patient is already on the hospital database a review and update of the information is always necessary. In situations where the patient is not able to provide the information, we