Free «Informatics» Essay Paper

Discussion 1: Computer System Used at Work

The Computer Systems I Use at My Workplace

Currently, there are many computer and monitoring devices nurses employ in their day-to-day work. Many of the applications I use at work are wireless. These systems are normally used for email and research, to order supplies or medications, for timekeeping, and to schedule staff. In my place of work, I employ computers for all patient care documentation using a system referred to as Electronic Medical Records (EMRs). Other systems I utilize include fetal monitors, heart monitors, vital signs machines, IV monitors, and a bar-code scanner as well as the necessary software they require.

How These Systems Support Clinical Work

All the systems I use at work help improve patient care. For instance, the EMRs software improves diagnostics and patient outcomes because it allows me to have access to accurate and complete information concerning the patients. The EMRs system can improve the capability of diagnosing diseases and even reduce medical errors; thus, it improves patient outcomes. As a nurse, I use this system to document dressing changes, administration, medication dosages, and other treatment in the computer instead of using a paper and a pen. EMRs also help improve patient safety by alerting the nurse on issues like allergies, patient’s prior medications, etc.

Information to Input in the System

The information needed to input in the EMRs contains the patient’s identification details such as his or her name, age, national ID number, and weight among others. These details assist the health care provider to have access to the patients’ medical information including their medical history, medications or other pharmacy records, as well as billing information.

Information that Can be Retrieved

The information that can be pulled out from the EMRs encompasses administrative and clinical information. In other words, the EMRs system is a storage keeping information about a patient and a tool to make these data accessible whenever needed. One can retrieve a patient’s medical history, medications and pharmacy records, and billing information.

How I Use the Information

The information retrieved from the EMRs guides me on how to handle a patient including which medications to give and which not to give and whether the patient will be admitted or not .

Recommendation

To improve the system, I would recommend that the system should provide effective mechanisms to protect the privacy of a patient. Some third parties, such as insurers, should be limited in their access to certain personal issues.

Discussion 2: My Computer

My Computer Hardware System and its Capabilities

My computer hardware system has the following properties: it has an installed RAM memory of 2GB; a 64-bit duo core processor with a clock speed of @3.2 GHz; it has been manufactured by Dell; it has a hard drive with a capacity of 500GB; it can support different types of operating systems; finally, it contains all the necessary devices of a computer such as human interface devices, Bluetooth radios, display adapters, imaging devices, pointing devices, PnP monitor, and network adapters among others.

Software Used Regularly for Personal and Professional Needs

I use Microsoft Office software on a regular basis, especially Microsoft Word. Microsoft Word is a word processor program that allows one to compose any piece of writing using the computer. I utilize this program whenever I am writing a document including a letter to a friend. Even if I want to send an email, I first type everything I want to include in the email using Microsoft Word and then transfer the content to the email. Though there are other word processors, I like this program because of its features such as HTML exporting, web integration, automatic text correction, a built-in thesaurus, grammar checking, spell checking, fancy font applications, and so forth. Microsoft Word also supports my nursing research by facilitating writing and editing. Other Microsoft Office programs I employ include MS PowerPoint, and MS Excel. Another program that I regularly use for personal needs or professional research is the web browser. I use different types of web browsers such as Chrome, which is my favorite software, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera to search for anything I intend to research on. In my professional practice, I regularly use Patient Tracking software so that I can make sound decisions regarding my patients.

Key Improvements to My System

Since I want to improve the performance of my system, one of the things I need to do is to add more RAM. My computer has 2GB RAM and I want to add another 2GB to make it 4GB total. Increasing the size of RAM will improve the performance of my computer. I will also delete all unnecessary old files as well as increase the hard drive capacity. Finally, I will install the most recent OS Windows 10.