Sabado, Mayo 7, 2011

Nursing informatics: Is it existent in the Philippines?


Is Informatics existent in the Philippines?
By: Group 3

I am happy to report that Nursing Informatics is growing and thriving in the Philippines.

Not too long ago, a group of Nursing Informatics professionals and enthusiasts organized themselves into an association. They now have a very active online group for their advocacy and discussions. Good for them!

In fact, there are some educators for  Nursing Informatics being offered to Level II  Nursing Students of Gordon College in Olongapo City Philippines, which are also trained by Kit Sumabat  last April 2010 to launch the pilot teaching of  Nursing Informatics in our region.

Nursing informatics is definitely growing but the challenges would lie in the application of knowledge. There are just few clinical applications available for nursing use even inside hospitals. As adoption of clinical application grow, so will the practice of nursing informatics.

Different hospital here in the Philippines that have implemented a full-blown hospital EMR where nursing care processes and documentation are integrated, and some clinical processes are automated or computerized.  Many of the big hospitals will have Laboratory Information Systems and/or Radiology Information Systems. A corollary to this project will have to be Results Management. Depending on the hospital, nurses are part of the results viewing and management process.

I know that some multi-specialty clinics have practice management software with EMRS. This can in corporate outpatient nursing care processes.

Lately, the University of the Philippines in Manila and the National Telehealth Center invited health and IT professionals to attend "Quality in Health Care through ICT: A Seminar on Health Informatics" on April 8, 2010 at the Philippine General Hospital.

The day-long seminar includes topics such as:
  • ICT for Health: Introduction to eHealth, Telemedicine, Health Informatics
  • Open Source in Health
  • Health Informatics in the Philippines: A Historical Perspective
  • Health Informatics in Education
  • Ethics in the Practice of Health Informatics, eHealth and Telemedicine
  • eHealth Initiatives of the National Telehealth Center
  • Future of eHealth, Telemedicine and Health Informatics
The objective of this seminar is to increase the knowledge and awareness of health professionals and IT personnel on the interplay of information technology and health. It introduces the innovations of Health Informatics in the Philippines and is intended for all health and IT professionals and students who are interested to work in this new field.

The University of the Philippines College of Nursing curriculum has been the foundation of most of the curriculum in the country. But such is inferior with the current global health care delivery system. With Telehealth as the current program launched as an alternative medium to address health-care needs in geographically isolated areas through the use of ICT, nurses provide care for populations through electronic communication media and act as triage nurses who advise/consult with patients.

Philippine Nursing Informatics Association (PNIA) founded in 2010, PNIA is an association of Registered Nurses with a common vision to promote the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to improve Nursing Practice, Education, Administration and Research in the Philippines. PNIA was established earlier this year with a vision of advancing nursing informatics in the Philippines through practice, education, research, and public awareness.

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