Module 1

My name is Josie Decker. I graduated from Indiana University with a BSN and have been a nurse for 9 years.  I have mostly worked in labor and delivery but have some experience with international healthcare relief and education, teaching LPNs in clinicals and classroom, managing a skills lab and computer simulations, and camp nursing.  I currently work PRN in an urgent care in West Valley and am learning tons.  I am also in my 1st year of the DNP program in family nurse practitioner.  My husband is also a nurse.  We met in Austin, TX, then moved to North Carolina where he got his nursing degree from UNC.  Then we moved here to Salt Lake for the DNP program, got married in October, and seemingly dedicated our lives to the U.  He works on the intermediate care unit at the U, I go to school at the U, I work for the U at the Redwood Clinic, our church meets at the Post Chapel at the U, and I just got a cavity filled today at the U's dental clinic.

Information management is essential to nursing practice at a graduate level.  Healthcare is developing and with it information management must be progressively developing.  As a leader in the field, I will need to be able to synthesize health information in order to compile statistics about the population that I'm serving and adjust my practice to meet their needs.  I will need to be able to search scholarly articles and databases to  implement current research.  I will need to be able to share information securely for interdisciplinary coordination of care.  I will need to apply information technology to ensure quality and efficiency in my practice.  I will need to know about information management in order to communicate effectively and teach health care to consumers and staff. 

IT is used routinely at the Redwood Center urgent care.  We use computer prompts to ask questions of patients related to their chief complaint.  We use computer links to the lab, pharmacy, and xray for orders.  Nurses use Vocera for communication during emergencies.  We use computer codes for billing.  We use Epic for documentation.  We use a computer system for referrals and for internal staff emails.  I do not have one, but I know that patients can access their personal health information through their handheld data devices or iphones.  We all use passwords to secure computer access.  IT is necessary to making the clinic efficiently functional in serving our patients.