Hi. I am Donna Howard. I am in the Adult NP program, and also plan to complete extra clinicals in order to sit for the geriatric certification as well. I plan to graduate in spring of 2012. I currently work in an assisted living facility; I have been there just over 9 years. I am new at blogging.

When thinking about why I as a graduate level nurse need to know about information management, my first thought was because there is just so much information! Unless it is organized, it will be difficult to use. There is currently an emphasis on evidence based practice, this will require accurate information management. Clinicians will also need to be prepared to use electronic health records as they are implemented.

Only very basic information technology is used in my current clinical setting. I have programs available to tract certain physical parameters such as weights and blood pressures. There is also availability to track assessment dates. An attempt was made a few years ago to upgrade to a system which would allow much more access to and use of IT in the assisted living facilities but problems arose in several areas. The state inspectors could not access some of the nursing documentation, so we had to go back to paper for those items, and the system was not compatible with the medication documentation we were using. I think eventually a system will be found which will increase the use of IT in that setting.