Patient care is more complex than ever, and nurses must consider many factors when helping patients. However, nursing informatics professionals can use project management principles to make care decisions and other organizational initiatives more efficient. Nurses who understand the synergistic impact of these theories can optimize patient care and initiate worthwhile improvements.
Millersville University’s online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) – Nursing Informatics program teaches nurses to leverage project management principles in their information management processes. The online program also prepares students to sit for exams, including the ANCC Informatics Nursing Certification (NI-BC) exam and the Certified Associate in Healthcare Information Management Systems (CAHIMS) exam.
Students explore how project management and design thinking affect information management and operational structures through courses like Healthcare Project Management and Healthcare Data Science and Data Analytics. Technical knowledge in these areas, combined with clinical expertise, allows graduates to work collaboratively with organizations’ system developers and clinicians to improve processes and care delivery.
What Is Project Management?
Project management is the “application of specific knowledge, skills, methodologies, and techniques aimed at achieving specific and measurable project goals,” notes Project-Management.com. In healthcare, this encompasses planning, executing, monitoring and closing projects, ensuring that healthcare initiatives are completed on time, within budget and to the desired quality standards.
Effective project management in healthcare is essential for navigating the needs of stakeholders, such as the public, patients and employees. It is a necessary and valuable strategy for implementing many projects, whether electronic health records (EHRs) or a public health campaign.
What Is Nursing Informatics?
According to the American Nurses Association (ANA), nursing informatics is “the integration of nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice.” This approach to patient care relies on technology and data to improve decision-making and workflows, enhancing the experiences of both healthcare workers and patients.
Understanding the importance of nursing informatics in patient care empowers nurses to leverage its potential in their practice. Nursing informatics can do the following:
- Improve patient care and safety
- Increase access to timely information
- Optimize decision-making and outcomes
- Streamline workflows and processes
What Is the Role of Project Management in Information Management?
The project management process can support information management in nursing in several ways. For example, project management provides the structure for planning and executing complex informatics projects. This process allows healthcare organizations to ensure that information management systems function efficiently, meet user needs and comply with regulatory standards. The structured approach assists in managing the scope, resources and timelines of information management projects.
Still, too few informatics professionals have this skill set. “Project management is one of the largest but least understood essentials” needed for success in nursing informatics, notes an article in the journal Nursing Informatics.
It continues: “Today, to be a [nursing informaticist] no longer requires just the skills to manage data and databases. … It requires much more and has evolved to nearly 200 advanced skills,” including project management. Millersville’s online MSN – Nursing Informatics program graduates can demonstrate the skills to optimize informatics in their practice using project management insights.
Project Management and Healthcare
Good project management skills do more than help professionals stay organized. Incorporating project management methodologies into nursing informatics allows nurses to define project scope, optimize resource allocation, facilitate change management and monitor progress quality.
- Define project scope: Project management principles guide nurses in clearly defining an informatics project. According to Nursing Management, nurses can outline the project’s scope, timeline, cost and anticipated impact during the initial planning phase.
- Optimize resource allocation: Nursing informatics projects often require collaboration across multidisciplinary teams and allocating resources such as personnel, technology and budgets. Project management strategies enable nurses to optimize resource utilization and mitigate risks throughout the project lifecycle.
- Facilitate change management: Introducing new technologies or workflows can be challenging and may be resisted by stakeholders and frontline staff. Nurses with project management skills can leverage change management techniques to foster buy-in and promote a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
- Monitor progress quality: Effective project management involves ongoing monitoring of key performance indicators and quality metrics. Nurses use data analytics and performance feedback to track project progress, identify deviations and keep the project moving toward completion.
Nursing informatics professionals need well-rounded project management skills to oversee the development and implementation of healthcare technology and data solutions. These skills enable them to navigate complex projects, collaborate across departments and improve workflows and patient care. Also, with no GMAT or GRE required, Millersville offers an affordable online Graduate Certificate in Nursing Informatics program. With an MSN, active RN license and one year of clinical nursing experience, nurses can pursue this graduate certificate and become an “in-demand specialist with expertise in leveraging data and information systems to improve patient outcomes.”
Learn more about Millersville University’s online Master of Science in Nursing – Nursing Informatics program.
