Online Class Assignment

Capella 4040 Assessment 3 : Annotated Bibliography on Technology in Nursing

Student Name

Capella University

Capella 4040 Assessment 3

Prof. Name

Date

Technology in Healthcare

The role of technology in healthcare has shaped our views about patient care, healthcare management, innovation, and quality of care. The main goal of technological advancements is to maintain and enhance current practices, minimize the workload of healthcare providers, and improve the quality of care by decreasing human errors. Electronic Medication Administration (EMAR) with Bar-code medication administration (BCMA) is one of the healthcare technology which is beneficial for improving healthcare quality. I have chosen this technology because of its relation to my primary responsibility as a nurse – administering medications. EMAR with barcoding is useful in my organization as it will help me and my colleagues for effective management of medications, reduction of workload, and improvement in our meditation practices. 

Nurses are primarily responsible for medication administration on which they spent about 40% of their shift time (Wondmieneh et al., 2020). Thus, it is essential to have impactful technological advancements so that effective care is provided and nurses are relieved of their burden as well. Data from a study reveals that around 35% of incidences are near-miss for medication errors while 65% are actual errors reported in the year 2016. The introduction of EMAR with BCMA was identified to be the best intervention for medication safety (Naidu & Alicia, 2019). 

The databases I used to identify the sources for this annotated bibliography are Google Scholar, PubMed Central, BioMed Central, and CINAHL Library. The search terms which I utilized on these databases are; “What is EMAR?”, “What is BCMA?”, “Impact of technology of medication practices”, “safe medication administration technology”, “Impact of EMAR and BCMA on patients’ safety”, “Quality care through technology”, “Interdisciplinary team and medication technologies”, and “importance for healthcare professionals”. 

Annotated Bibliography

Naidu, M., & Alicia, Y. L. (2019). Impact of bar-code medication administration and electronic medication administration record system in clinical practice for an effective medication administration process. Health11(05), 511–526. https://doi.org/10.4236/health.2019.115044 

This annotated literature review by authors focused on finding outcomes of using BCMA and EMAR, clinical practices, and hospital policies that may impact nurses for administering medications. The authors concluded that to improve medication practices and reduce medication errors, the use of electronic medication administration and barcoding technology is recommended in various literature. This article describes the impacts of EMAR and BCMA on

Patients’ Safety and Quality Care

According to the article, EMARs are effective if used along with BCMA which helps in reducing medication errors (misunderstood orders, delayed administration, or wrong administration). The implementation of the BCMA system reduces these errors, consequently reducing costs associated with these errors which ultimately helps in improving patients’ safety. Improved efficiency of medication administration and better patient outcomes results in effective healthcare practices. This benefits an organization as a whole to grow in this advancing healthcare world because of the quality healthcare that they provide. 

Nursing Practices and Interdisciplinary Team  

This article is relevant for nursing practices as it helps nurses to enhance their knowledge, improve their practices and provide quality care to patients. Moreover, it is relevant for the interdisciplinary team because to bring an effective change in the organization team members need to work together and fulfill their assigned duties which will help the organization embrace the change and gain a reputation. Leaders should play an effective leadership role for this purpose. 

This resource is useful for healthcare practitioners as it provides a comprehensive review of literature that states the positives and challenges of these technologies as well as provides strategies to overcome the challenges. 

Macias, M., Bernabeu-Andreu, F., Arribas, I., Navarro, F., & Baldominos, G. (2018). Impact of a barcode medication administration system on patient safety. Oncology Nursing Forum45(1). https://doi.org/10.1188/18.onf.e1-e13 

This article conducted a pre/post-intervention study that focuses on the impact of barcode medication administration in the oncology unit. It is identified by research that most medication administration errors (MAEs) occur while administering chemotherapy agents (0.04%- 18.8%). This study recommends BCMA because it is useful for nurses to adequately follow the five rights of medication (right patient, drug, dose, route, and time). This study shows that BCMA was effective in reducing various medication errors in the hospital setting due to effective verification of patient and the drugs however, there is still a need to improve the technicalities of the system so that errors with greater risks can be detected as well. 

Patients’ Safety and Quality Care 

Since cancers are already harmful to patients, improving medication safety in these patients can help in enhancing patients’ safety. Moreover, the study identifies that implementation of BCMA does not increase their length of stay which ultimately improves patients’ safety from other hospital-acquired infections. The decrease in the incidences of MAEs in a hospital is evidence that quality care is provided. Thus, it is recommended in this article to introduce electronic barcode medication administration systems. 

Nursing Practices and Interdisciplinary Team 

The BCMA system is useful for nurses as it helps them to check the five rights of medication without manually assessing it. Moreover, barcoding systems improve chemotherapy administration which is an important part of nursing practices and helps nurses to give extra time to other tasks as well. The article also highlights the importance of interprofessional team which plays a significant role in the implementation and sustainability of this technology through statistical, financial, educational, and leadership support. 

Health practitioners should read this source as it gives an insightful review of various literature that indicates the importance of barcoding systems in medication administration specifically for cancer patients. The information provided in the article helps healthcare workers to overcome organizational factors like higher incidences of MAEs which will be reduced by the barcode system in a healthcare setting. 

Moore, E. C., Tolley, C. L., Bates, D. W., & Slight, S. P. (2020). A systematic review of the impact of Health Information Technology on Nurses’ Time. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association27(5), 798–807. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocz231 

Capella 4040 Assessment 3

This article is a systematic review where authors followed PRISMA guidelines and researched using 6 big databases. the purpose of the review was to find how different healthcare technologies can impact nurses’ time. The focus of this bibliography will be on electronic medication administration and barcoding systems. For most health services, nursing time is of the highest costs and in healthcare organizations worldwide nursing shortages are very common. As the demand is increasing, it is important to increase nurses’ efficiency so that quality patient care is delivered. The review of various studies resulted in that implementation of technologies can reduce the time nurses spend on documentation (for example EMARs, which help in eliminating manual medication entry thus giving extra time to nurses for other delayed or omitted care activities). Additionally, the implementation of BCMA showed a remarkable difference in time usage (-33%) which was investigated by more than one study.  

Patients’ Safety and Quality Care

This study highlights that improving nurses’ efficiency by reducing their time engaged in specific tasks can lead to patients’ safety. Nurses spending more time on direct care are more likely to identify safety issues and address them effectively. Moreover, the care quality which is impaired due to staff shortages can be improved as well by enhancing the efficiencies of current nurses. 

Nursing Practices and Interdisciplinary Team 

This article is relevant to nurses as the time saved by healthcare technologies can be used for various other activities that nurses may delay or omit during their practices. For example hygiene care of patients. Interprofessional teams can benefit from time reduction by developing effective communication practices which will help them in providing quality care to their patients. 

Williams, R., Aldakhil, R., Blandford, A., & Jani, Y. (2021). Interdisciplinary systematic review: Does alignment between system and design shape adoption and use of Barcode Medication administration technology? BMJ Open11(7). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044419 

Capella 4040 Assessment 3

For this article, a computerized systematic review was done from four databases. This article revolves around the examination of human factors which influences the use of medication administration safety technologies like BCMA  and also highlights the concerns of design and application which can be improved. This article highlights the prevalence of medication errors and instigates the implementation of BCMA in combination with electronic medication administration records to prevent these errors. Human factors which are helpful in successful implementation are constant research, acceptance of new technologies, and human mediators between users and developers. While the factors which hinder the use are organizational limitations (poor finances, poor training, and poor management and monitoring) and non-compliance with the technology. 

Patients’ Safety and Quality Care

Although this article doesn’t directly covers patients’ safety, nurses’ compliance and acceptance of the new technologies will help in reducing errors that are harmful to patients ultimately impairing patients’ safety. Improving patients’ safety by advancing technologies helps in providing quality care to the patients. 

Nursing Practices and Interdisciplinary Team 

The implication of this article for nurses and other interdisciplinary team members is to identify the perceptions of users before the implementation of technologies so that technologies can be designed accordingly. The team of mediators should be there to cover the gap between users and designers. Implementation requires organizational commitment and is not a task of an individual. Moreover, constant monitoring should be done as well to identify loopholes. 

This article is helpful for all healthcare practitioners and allied team members as it is based on the identification of human factors which are present in all organizations and must be addressed effectively using the strategies that articles suggest so that patient safety is ensured and quality healthcare is provided.  

Summary of Recommendation

The key learning from the articles above are 

  • Technological advancements are important in healthcare settings. 
  • In terms of medication safety, electronic medication administration through barcoding is advisable for healthcare organizations but it is essential to overcome the limitations of design and training before the execution. 
  • BCMA and EMAR are beneficial for nurses to administer medication with standard practices so that patients’ safety is maintained and quality care is provided. 
  • For successful implementation, an interdisciplinary team is required to work together effectively considering their roles and responsibilities.

Various organizational factors influence the selection and implementation of technologies in healthcare settings. The most important factors are that technologies must be culturally appropriate in the context of the society in which the organization works. For example, the outcomes of any technology shouldn’t hurt any individual’s cultural perspectives. Secondly, it should improve patient satisfaction by providing quality health outcomes and employees should feel empowered by using the technologies rather than demotivated or discouraged. Moreover, organizations need to develop training programs for the successful implementation of the technology. 

The implementation of EMAR and BCMA can be justified by certain points from the resources. Naidu and Alicia identified in their article that medication administration is a complex process that justifies the need for technology to overcome the challenges. They further revealed the results of a pilot project which should that with the support of the project team, nurses were able to confidently use the system, and medication errors were reduced as well (Naidu & Alicia, 2019). Another article that emphasized nurses’ efficiency in following medication rights through BCMA justifies the productivity of nurses and hence improves patient safety and satisfaction (Macias et al., 2018). In conclusion, technologies play an essential role in a healthcare setting if implemented successfully and accepted by healthcare professionals which ultimately results in patients’ safety and improved quality care. 

References

Macias, M., Bernabeu-Andreu, F., Arribas, I., Navarro, F., & Baldominos, G. (2018). Impact of a barcode medication administration system on patient safety. Oncology Nursing Forum45(1). https://doi.org/10.1188/18.onf.e1-e13 

Moore, E. C., Tolley, C. L., Bates, D. W., & Slight, S. P. (2020). A systematic review of the impact of health information technology on nurses’ time. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association27(5), 798–807. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocz231

Naidu, M., & Alicia, Y. L. (2019). Impact of bar-code medication administration and electronic medication administration record system in clinical practice for an effective medication administration process. Health11(05), 511–526. https://doi.org/10.4236/health.2019.115044 

Williams, R., Aldakhil, R., Blandford, A., & Jani, Y. (2021). Interdisciplinary systematic review: Does alignment between system and design shape adoption and use of barcode medication administration technology? BMJ Open11(7). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044419 

Wondmieneh, A., Alemu, W., Tadele, N., & Demis, A. (2020). Medication administration errors and contributing factors among nurses: A cross-sectional study in tertiary hospitals, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. BMC Nursing, 19(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-020-0397-0 

Capella 4040 Assessment 3