Nursing Informatics: A Challenge for Change

Abstract

Although information systems were introduced into the health care setting over thirty years ago, their full potential remains consistently under-realized by nurses (Bongartz, 1988) . Kurt Lewin's Change Theory provides the conceptual framework through which the stages of change — unfreezing, moving, and freezing — can be identified and analyzed. Cost savings, elimination of redundancies, and improved communication were identified as facilitators to change using Lewin’s Force Field Analysis. Resisters to change identified were computer anxiety, poorly conceived systems, and lack training. Through the identification of computer misconceptions held by nurses, selection and development of software specifically designed to meet the needs of nurses, and the careful planning and execution of nursing information systems, change can be successfully achieved. Although advances in hardware and software systems have been made, ideal systems for the clinical nurse do not yet exist. NursesAid, a nursing assessment and diagnosis program developed by the author, provides the foundation for improving available software systems for nurses.