Nursing Informatics Specialist

Overview

The Nursing Informatics Specialist is a member of the Nursing and Epic Operations teams and is responsible to ensure clinical information system implementations are consistent with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) standards of nursing practice. This position reports into the Associate Director of Nursing Informatics. This position participates in the oversight of system implementations relative to functions for Nursing and Patient Care Services for Ambulatory Pediatrics. She/he supports a shared governance model that advances the professional practice model for Nursing and Patient Care Services.

The Nursing Informatics Specialist integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, and knowledge in nursing practice. S/he facilitates the integration of data, information, and knowledge to support patients, nurses, and other providers in their decision-making roles and clinical settings.

This role will support the stabilization and continuous improvement efforts related to the Epic electronic health record (EHR) implementation and other systems as needed. The Nursing Informatics Specialist will work collaboratively with the nursing, physician and pharmacy leads, DFCI and Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) Epic leadership, Application Business Analysts, Credentialed Trainers, and others involved in the EHR. This role will serve as a representative for nursing roles in providing clinical knowledge related to content, workflow, training, and communication. The nursing informatics specialist is responsible for identifying issues, developing options and mitigation plans, and making recommendations for improvement in partnership with other members of the DFCI and BCH Epic team. In addition, the role will serve as a liaison from the Epic program to nursing, aid in creating and presenting clinical content at various stakeholder meetings.

This role will also support strategic and quality goals of the nursing department and the institute, collaboratively working with key stakeholders supporting initiatives including effectiveness of interventions and opportunities for practice changes to positively impact patient outcomes.

Located in Boston and the surrounding communities, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a leader in life changing breakthroughs in cancer research and patient care. We are united in our mission of conquering cancer, HIV/AIDS and related diseases. We strive to create an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment where we provide compassionate and comprehensive care to patients of all backgrounds, and design programs to promote public health particularly among high-risk and underserved populations. We conduct groundbreaking research that advances treatment, we educate tomorrow's physician/researchers, and we work with amazing partners, including other Harvard Medical School-affiliated hospitals.

Responsibilities

• Provides expert content knowledge and end user feedback to DFCI and BCH Epic Leadership team on workflows, content, prioritization, and potential options for future development.
• Work closely with Epic program leadership, nursing end users and nursing leadership to identify, prioritize, and evaluate Epic workflows, content, and functionality.
• Advocate for and propose recommendations to specialized and/or cross-functional workgroups to remediate challenges and improve workflows, content, and functionality.
• Provide feedback on recommendations to proposed changes, such as impact of change, communication/education required, or additional options.
• Collaborate with DFCI and Boston Children’s Hospital Application Coordinators/Analysts and other to investigate identified issues and propose recommendations to mitigate or resolve.
• Provide expert knowledge to the DFCI and BCH Epic team regarding clinical, regulatory and/or operational needs as part of requirements of documentation.
• Analyze and test multiple approaches/solutions to resolve issues or problems.
• Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of identified/implemented solutions.
• Elicit feedback from clinicians on Epic topics or areas of concern from nurses and clinical leadership.
• Escalate challenges to leadership as appropriate.
• Provide feedback and or create documentation to support the end user understanding of functionality and workflows, including tip sheets, eLearning’s, training presentations, and general communications.
• Support and participate in the addition of Pediatrics in the DFCI Adult Nursing Informatics Committee
• Present Epic updates at various Nursing and Patient Care Services (NPCS) forums
• In collaboration with Application Business Analysts, work closely with end-users to define business needs, document workflow, perform workflow analysis to develop automated or technical solutions and provides appropriate feedback.
• Participate in DFCI workgroup meetings as it relates to Epic and other clinical information systems implementation and/or operationalization.
• Represent nursing interests in various institute level committees, task forces.
• Participate in various Epic feedback forums, such as customer site visits, and reference calls.
• Participate in nursing and organizational policy formulation and decision making, particularly as it relates to technology.
• Assesses and supports the use of system downtime tools, workflows, and policies.
• Collaborates with nursing and leadership stakeholders on quality metrics concepts related to clinical applications.
• Collaborates with nursing and leadership stakeholders in report development and evaluation of report data.
• Attends Epic user forums such as Epic User Group meeting, Epic Expert Group meeting and webinars to stay apprised of new functionality, other innovative practices utilized by other sites as well as establish a network with other nursing informatics professionals.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Registered nurse with 3 years of experience in healthcare required, oncology experience preferred.
• Prior experience with clinical system design, development, testing, implementation, and support required.
• Master’s degree highly preferred.
• Current nursing licensure in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
• EPIC experience required

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES REQUIRED:

• Maintain a detailed understanding of Epic functionality and working knowledge of related Information Systems.
• Proficiency with information technology to support nursing practice.
• Ability to support patient safety initiatives using information technology solutions.
• Ask questions and seek clarification to ensure full understanding of issues, priorities, and recommendations.
• Demonstrated organization, verbal, written and inter-personal skills.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.

At Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we work every day to create an innovative, caring, and inclusive environment where every patient, family, and staff member feels they belong. As relentless as we are in our mission to reduce the burden of cancer for all, we are equally committed to diversifying our faculty and staff. Cancer knows no boundaries and when it comes to hiring the most dedicated and diverse professionals, neither do we. If working in this kind of organization inspires you, we encourage you to apply.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is an equal opportunity employer and affirms the right of every qualified applicant to receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, national origin, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, age, ancestry, military service, protected veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law.