NURS-6051N Week 2: Assignment THE NURSE LEADER AS KNOWLEDGE WORKER

• Knowledge worker are highly-skilled and knowledgeable professions.
• Nurses as knowledge work agents.
• The nurse leader as knowledge worker.
• Recent years have witnessed a significant rise in nursing knowledge work.
• Nurse knowledge workers operate in complex healthcare systems.

Initially coined by Peter Drucker, the term ‘knowledge worker’ has been widely used in reference to highly-skilled individuals with specialized knowledge and skills to meet their distinct professional duties and roles (Drucker, 1959). Sherringham and Unhelkar (2020) insisted that nurse leaders must possess the right set of skills, experiences, competencies, and knowledge that differentiates them from other professionals, and that enables them to fulfill the role of knowledge worker. Considering the complexity witnessed in today’s healthcare systems, the role of nurses as knowledge workers is reinforced by the growing usage of information technologies, precision medicine, nursing informatics, and other advanced systems in the mainstream healthcare environments (Zareshahi et al., 2022). As a result, the eminent position of nurses as knowledge workers is cemented by their rise as frontline healthcare workers actively involved in nursing informatics, and other related medical fields.

Nursing Informatics

• Nursing Informatics is a speciality concerned the application of IT in the nursing roles including nursing practice, education and management.
• Nursing informatics is a high-level technical role.
• Nurse Informaticist assumes and integral role in producing, defining, evaluating and sharing information, data and knowledge in nursing practice.
• NURS-6051N Week 2: Assignment THE NURSE LEADER AS KNOWLEDGE WORKER

According to a definition provided by the American Nurses Association, nursing informatics “is the specialty that integrates nursing science with multiple information and analytical sciences to identify, define, manage and communicate data, knowledge, information, and wisdom in nursing practice” (Anderson et al., 2018). This definition recognizes the vital role played by nursing informatics in promoting the quality and safety of health care, and in improving patient care outcomes through the implementation of relevant technology and associated systems. Zareshahi et al. (2022) insisted that nursing informatics is a rapidly growing field, and hence nurses are required to possess a range of specific skills (for example, data gathering, data usage, knowledge creation and knowledge application) in order to position themselves as competent knowledge workers. Anderson et al. (2018) added that nursing informatics is a key source of knowledge for nurses, and hence professionals in the nursing field must identify and explore ways through which the adoption of health care technologies and systems may assist in the transition toward evidence-based decision-making.

The Nurse leader/Manager as a Knowledge Worker

• Nursing as a specialised field that required advanced knowledge and skills obtained through formal education.
• Nurses utilise information technologies and nursing informatics as a source of knowledge.
• Nurses collaborate with other healthcare practitioners in inter-professional teams.
• Nurses use their clinical knowledge to conduct patient diagnosis and treatment.
• Nurses use their specialised skills and competencies to identify and respond to patient care needs and health-related needs.

Nurse knowledge workers have continued to assume managerial and leadership positions in different healthcare settings. Kumari (2019) clarified that nurse informaticists operate in interdisciplinary team contexts, and hence the demanding and complex work environment requires them to assume key leadership positions. As knowledge workers, the ability of nurses to work as leaders is informed by the greater need to identify working solutions to the increasingly complex demands and needs experienced in the various environments where they practice. Duffey (2017) argued that nurse leaders must use clinical knowledge and expertise to deliver on their assigned roles and responsibilities by creating systems, practices, structures, policies and environments focused on influencing employees’ motivation, ability and opportunity for knowledge work within the healthcare job setting.

• The role of a Nurse leader as knowledge worker
• Nurses as Knowledge Workers

vNursing informaticist integrates their clinical knowledge with IT skills, data and technologies.

v Nurse informaticist utilizes data to enhance patient safety and care.

vEHR  Implementation

vInformation literacy

vData Collection and Analysis

vCare Coordination

vPopulation Health Initiatives

v

As knowledge workers, nurse leaders must exhibit a set of traits. Duffey (2017) indicated that nurse leaders must demonstrate and apply solid empirical and conceptual knowledge and competencies acquired through formal nursing education. Similarly, nurse leaders must also demonstrate sufficient information management capability to identify, gather, analyze, apply and disseminate data, information, and knowledge from a vast pool of sources (Lunden et al., 2017). Thirdly, nurse leaders must also demonstrate a leveraged ability to utilize clinical judgment and analytical reasoning to turn complex data and information into evidence-based practices (Ward & Kozakowski,  n.d.). Thirdly, the position of nurse leaders as knowledge workers is cemented by their role as communicators, problem-solvers, and decision-makers in today’s increasingly complex, uncertain healthcare environments (Sherman, 2022). These findings support the idea that the role of a nurse leader as a knowledge worker requires this group of healthcare workers to actively engage in EHR implementation, data collection and analysis, care cooperation, and population health initiatives, among others.

• Hypothetical Scenario

Nursing Informatics for the modern ICT:

• Informatics solutions can help control and prevent hospital-acquired infections (HAIs)
• HAIs are a serious healthcare problem that can be tackled using informatics solutions.
• Intensive care unit nurses must learn informatics skills and other related software and hardware applications.
• Involvement of nurses in documentation optimization
• Nurses must possess a range of skills and knowledge related to the use of nursing informatics systems, computer skills, web search methods, nursing databases, and other nursing informatics competencies (Zareshahi et al., 2022).

REFERENCES

• Anderson, D. C., Jackson, A. A., & Halpern, N. A. (2018). Informatics for the modern intensive care unit. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, 41(1), 60-67. https://doi.org/10.1097/cnq.0000000000000186
• Drucker, P. (1959). The landmarks of tomorrow. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
• Duffey, P. (2017). Implementing the clinical nurse leader role in a large hospital network. Nurse Leader, 15(4), 276-280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2017.03.014
• Kumari, R. (2019). The impact of informatics on nursing education and promoting quality of health care. International Journal of Advances in Nursing Management, 7(3), 285. https://doi.org/10.5958/2454-2652.2019.00067.2
• Lunden, A., Teräs, M., Kvist, T., & Häggman-Laitila, A. (2017). A systematic review of factors influencing knowledge management and the nurse leaders’ role. Journal of Nursing Management, 25(6), 407-420. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12478

References

• Sherman, R. O. (2022). Supporting our nurse managers. Nurse Leader. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2022.11.005
• Sherringham, K., & Unhelkar, B. (2020). Knowledge worker services transformation. Crafting and Shaping Knowledge Worker Services in the Information Economy, 447-472. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1224-7_12
• Ward, S. F., & Kozakowski, J. L. (n.d.). The nurse as the knowledge worker. AORN Journal, 46(5), 896-903. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0001-2092(07)67412-2
• Zareshahi, M., Mirzaei, S., & Nasiriani, K. (2022). Nursing informatics competencies in critical care unit. Health Informatics Journal, 28(1), 146045822210838. https://doi.org/10.1177/14604582221083843

Other sources

Image 1: Handzel, S. (2022).Supporting nurse informatics leadership development. https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/expert-insights/supporting-nurse-informatics-leadership-development

Image 3: Pronsawatchai, P. (2018).Promoting the New Role of Nursing Informatics Professional in Thailand. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Promoting-the-New-Role-of-Nursing-Informatics-in-Pronsawatchai-Auefuea/f2fc5b30004d04b6d6e44d249e44567a27b7645d

Image 2 and 4: Ivy, P. (2022).Nurse Leader as a Knowledge Worker Presentation. https://ivypanda.com/essays/nurse-leader-as-a-knowledge-worker/

THE NURSE LEADER AS KNOWLEDGE WORKER

The term “knowledge worker” was first coined by management consultant and author Peter Drucker in his book, The Landmarks of Tomorrow (1959). Drucker defined knowledge workers as high-level workers who apply theoretical and analytical knowledge, acquired through formal training, to develop products and services. Does this sound familiar?

Nurses are very much knowledge workers. What has changed since Drucker’s time are the ways that knowledge can be acquired. The volume of data that can now be generated and the tools used to access this data have evolved significantly in recent years and helped healthcare professionals (among many others) to assume the role of knowledge worker in new and powerful ways NURS-6051N Week 2: Assignment THE NURSE LEADER AS KNOWLEDGE WORKER.

In this Assignment, you will consider the evolving role of the nurse leader and how this evolution has led nurse leaders to assume the role of knowledge worker. You will prepare a PowerPoint presentation with an infographic (graphic that visually represents information, data, or knowledge. Infographics are intended to present information quickly and clearly.) to educate others on the role of nurse as knowledge worker.

Reference: Drucker, P. (1959). The landmarks of tomorrow. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

To Prepare:

• Review the concepts of informatics as presented in the Resources.
• Reflect on the role of a nurse leader as a knowledge worker.
• Consider how knowledge may be informed by data that is collected/accessed.

The Assignment:

• Explain the concept of a knowledge worker.
• Define and explain nursing informatics and highlight the role of a nurse leader as a knowledge worker.
• Include one slide that visually represents the role of a nurse leader as knowledge worker.
• Your PowerPoint should Include the hypothetical scenario you originally shared in the Discussion Forum. Include your examination of the data that you could use, how the data might be accessed/collected, and what knowledge might be derived from that data. Be sure to incorporate feedback received from your colleagues’ responses.

BY DAY 7 OF WEEK 2

Submit your completed Presentation.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION