Advancement of the nursing practice
Thank you, Ugochi, for your insightful post. I completely agree with you, particularly concerning how big data has played a critical role in the advancement of the nursing practice. As noted in your post, big data has revolutionized healthcare by reducing medical errors, improving documentation, and significantly enhancing patient outcomes (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). Perhaps to add to your post, I could say; big data is playing a crucial role in reducing the costs of care while still improving patient outcomes. Scientists have been able to analyze big data to establish patterns and frequencies that are relied upon in making actionable healthcare decisions (Lee & Yoon, 2017). For instance, in the development of better interventions or inform healthcare policy development and intervention. Besides, macro healthcare institutions are applying big data to identify and share risk factors for chronic diseases. Therefore, it is imperative to say that big data is significantly contributing to the sustainability of the healthcare system by facilitating evidence-based decision making.
References
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Lee, C. H., & Yoon, H. J. (2017). Medical big data: promise and challenges. Kidney research and clinical practice, 36(1), 3.
I’m excited by your post, Michele. Specifically, I am interested in the risks associated with big data you identified in your post. I gladly agree with you that the use of big data cannot be done in isolation. As noted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2016), the reliability of big data in the management of health risks globally remains a significant concern. Instead, big data can only be useful and practical when integrated with traditional research methods. The conventional research methods include the physical collection of primary data and performing prudent investigations before making conclusive opinions. As a result, big data analysis should be treated as complementary to traditional research but not as a replacement (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). The results of thoughtfully combining the two information sources can be far-reaching and greatly enhance the advancement of healthcare. Healthcare practitioners must carefully scrutinize the results of big data using their experience and observations to ensure patients’ interventions are consistent with internal care benchmarks.
References
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2016). Big data and analytics for infectious disease research, operations, and policy: proceedings of a workshop. National Academies Press.
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge. Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.) (pp. 537-551). Jones & Bartlett Learning.