Butterflies, Bonsai, and Buonarroti: Images for the Nurse Analyst

Abstract

The title describing the roles and responsibilities of the nurse analyst in the early 1980s was “nursing liaison” (Zielstorff, 1980). The nursing liaison specifically focused on the nursing components of a hospital information system (HIS). Whereas once systems were described as nursing information systems, the term “clinical information systems” describes more fully the systems used by nurses and clinicians in today’s healthcare environment. Information required for delivery of patient care is collected from many sources. These may include laboratory, radiology, dietary, medical records, and financial systems internal to an organization. The external sources of community healthcare providers, federal agencies, and research and education databases may also be involved in the development and implementation of a patient’s treatment plan. The recognition that healthcare information needs are multidimensional has expanded the role of the nurse liaison to include active involvement in nontraditional nursing systems design, development, implementation, and research (radiology, laboratory, quality assurance, etc.) in addition to increasing the nurse liaison’s involvement in all aspects of the more traditional nursing applications (plan of care, acuity, assessments).