top of page

Nursing Innovation & Informatics

Stanford’s Nursing Informatics & Innovation Team (Nii) provides structure & process development for health information systems aimed at improving the experience of our clinical teams, patients, and families.  The team plays a pivotal role in operationalizing innovations in manners that are optimized for our work environments.  Given the landscape of technology and healthcare innovations, our team works closely with end users to best understand their everyday workflows and help translate innovative possibilities to improve their experiences.

Vision: Transforming patient care and nursing practice with quality, compassion, and coordination through innovation and informatics.

The NEW Ambulatory Nursing Informatics

Paving the Way in mid-2022, Nursing Informatics created a team to support the Ambulatory Clinics and additional ancillary services across the growing Stanford Health Care network. The ambulatory nursing informatics team not only supports nurses in the ambulatory space, but is inclusive of members of the care team including Patient Care Coordinators and other allied health professionals.

The ambulatory nursing informatics team are now embedded into the Ambulatory Shared Leadership and TDS Epic Ambulatory structure. This enable the transparency and streamlined approach to staff on timelines and decision-making process.

Meet the Team
Prioritization Categories
AmbInfo.PrioritiesPicture9.png

The Ambulatory Nursing Informatics team looks forward to engaging multi-level nurse leadership in exciting projects, peer to peer visit types for prior authorization; Nurse-led visit optimization; Patient family messaging for inpatient procedures; Rx refill: integrating nurse coordinators in primary care to expedite process; Pre-procedure text messaging; Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) optimization; Social Determinants of Health (SDOH); Ambulatory fall risk assessment; and Pharmacy benefits for prior authorization.

Ambulatory Nursing Informatics Highlights

MAR for Gynecology Clinic

Implemented and integrated to streamline medication ordering, administration, and documentation for the Gynecology clinic. Staff involvement including staff nurses,  providers, as well as a strong partnership with TDS Epic Ambulatory team, Epic Education with a paramount support form clinic leadership.

Infusion Treatment Area ITA Vital Signs Parameters Optimization

Shared Leadership Council (SLC) action request form (ARF) for this parameters to be adjusted to provide awareness to clinical staff/nurses of abnormal values. This provide value to the clinic workflow and timely clinical intervention for patients.

Ortho Weight Bearing Status

Another ARF from ambulatory SLC opened a way for Ortho clinic staff and other ambulatory clinics to see patients current weight bearing restrictions to better care for patients during a clinic visit such as appropriate equipment necessary and the right interventions to use to ensure safety and a seamless patient experience.

Highlights from the Nursing Innovation & Informatics Team

Tools for Equitable Assignment Making (TEAM)
Nursing Workload Acuity Score

Epic nursing workload scoring system assist nursing units make more informed and efficiency staffing decisions based on data already available in the system. The NWAS indicate how much effort is associated with a patient during a shift, based on work done in previous shift, or predict a workload score based on already available data or upcoming discharges.

Accuracy of NWAS is key to ensure staff trust and use the tool in their shift-by-shift assignment making. The validation team involves bedside nurses' participation across areas with a balanced representation. Guiding principles, NWAS validation charter, and standards of practice are followed for consistency in the development of the tool.  Annual validation is conducted to enable capture of nursing workload to the most up-to-date changes in practice and care delivery.

Epic nursing workload scoring system assist nursing units make more informed and efficiency staffing decisions based on data already available in the system. The NWAS indicate how much effort is associated with a patient during a shift, based on work done in previous shift, or predict a workload score based on already available data or upcoming discharges.

Accuracy of NWAS is key to ensure staff trust and use the tool in their shift-by-shift assignment making. The validation team involves bedside nurses' participation across areas with a balanced representation. Guiding principles, NWAS validation charter, and standards of practice are followed for consistency in the development of the tool.  Annual validation is conducted to enable capture of nursing workload to the most up-to-date changes in practice and care delivery.

Submitted by:  

Moses Albaniel BSN, RN Manager, Nursing Analytics & Reporting

Darvin Antonio, MSN, RN-BC, CPHQ Manager- Nursing Informatics

bottom of page