Florence
Nightingale
Foundation

Abstract

With the introduction of electronic health record systems in healthcare organisations, there is a significant opportunity within nursing, and as part of the multidisciplinary team, to access a wealth of data and use this to drive improvements in patient care and outcomes. Quality improvement has often involved the collection of data via manual audit, a time-consuming process with data fed back from small sample sizes over a short time period. In contrast, a data analytics approach enables data collection from larger sample sizes to be automated and for data to be presented in a way that is easy for staff to access and interpret.

This article discusses the benefits and challenges of a data analytics approach as well as the resources required, the importance of stakeholder involvement, the setting and review of key performance indicators and how to optimise data presentation to achieve the greatest effect.

Impact of the FNF Scholarship

When I applied for an FNF Scholarship in 2019, I was in a newly implemented role as a Divisional Nurse Information Officer once a week whilst acting as a Clinical Practice Educator for the remaining 4 days. FNF’s reputation and my desire to become a digital leader led me to apply for the Scholarship.

The original focus for my FNF Scholarship QI project and publication was the proposed rollout of 270 procured Care Plans within the Trust. This focus changed over my year on the FNF Scholarship for many reasons including redeployment during the Covid-19 pandemic and the constantly evolving digital advancements and pathways. My focus instead changed to the use of data analytics to drive change and the impact this can have on the use of available education resources more efficiently. This included the education element of the care plan rollout but expanded to the use of data to drive education and digital engagement in the nursing workforce as a whole.

The FNF Scholarship provided me with mentorship not only for the Scholarship itself, but also enabled me to develop leadership skills for use during the Covid-19 pandemic. I had the pleasure of being mentored by Professor John Newton who at the time was the Director of Health Improvement at Public Health England. He was pivotal in enabling me to develop skills in the use of data analytics to show current status and drive change. The peer support during this time also helped me to develop as a leader and I maintain these connections today.

Impact So Far and Next Steps

I now lead a newly developed team of Digital Clinical Practice Educators at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust who use the data analytics approach to provide training. In addition, I presented the data analytics approach to education at the International Cerner Conference in 2021. I have also been contacted by CNIOs from other Trusts to gain insight on the data analytics approach to digital education.

Using my experience of the publication process, I have been able to support my team to publish their own article ‘Improving nurses’ digital literacy and engagement with digital workflows through a data-driven education model’. This is now available on the Nursing Management Journal website with RCNi (DOI.10.7748/nm.2023.e2113). I continue to develop the data-driven approach to digital education and aim to share this model with other Trusts and clinical professions.

Additional Information

Donna has been Deputy Chief Nurse Information Officer at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust since 2021. Ever since becoming a newly qualified nurse she wanted to strive for excellence in nursing care and was fortunate to have positive role models to shape her practice.

As Donna’s career progressed she enjoyed teaching her colleagues on a daily basis, and then moved into a Clinical Practice Educator role at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, a role she loved and stayed in for over 8 years.

Within her educator role Donna witnessed the roll out of the Trust EPR system and witnessed
first-hand the pressures and frustrations of frontline staff. This is how she moved into the digital sphere, frustration with a system that did not always offer the best solutions.

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