Nurses as Knowledge workers

Name
Institution
Nurses as knowledge workers

• Nurses have the responsibility of keeping patients safe from

medical errors because their work is mostly in areas where care
towards patient has chances of resulting in errors.
• Nursing care requires high level of cognitive knowledge to be able
to anticipate potential problems and respond to them effectively
(Cleland, 2018).
• The concept of knowledge workers states that workers think in
order to earn their living. They have the ability to solve complex
problems or to develop new products or services in their fields of
expertise.
Challenges causing the need

• More than 60% of all adverse patient failures are attributed

to communication and knowledge gaps (In North, In Maier &
In Haas, 2018).
• When nurses are not well equipped with the right knowledge
to tackle the needs of patients, the are offered is not often
effective.
• There is a need for nurses to be trained as knowledge
workers in order to effectively meet the needs of patients
and satisfy their professional roles and mandate.
Components of system knowledge

•Structural
•Operational
•Rational (Dranove,
Garthwaite, Li & Ody, 2018)
Structural components

• Structural components of system knowledge for

nurses include knowing the manner in which the
system is calibrated to serve the interests of the
patients.
• The nurses have to know and adhere to the laid
down procedures and institutional culture to
effectively deliver on the needs of the clients
they serve.
Operational components

• The manner in which patients are handled from

the points of injury, to triage and eventual care
are supposed to be replicated in action.
• Nurses have to put into action the various
theoretical and evidence based practices that will
be beneficial to the patient
• Effective care ensures that nurses understand and
are able to replicate the knowledge they posses
into action.
Rational components

• Nurses have o develop a problem solving approach that

enables them identify the problems of patients and
potential at-risk needs
• The dynamics of being able to apply rational knowledge
to solve the needs of the patients from the knowledge
possessed are also crucial.
Recommendations

• It is important that nurses are trained as knowledge

workers so that they can be able to disseminate the
information they acquire in the appropriate manner.
• All nurses should be acquainted with the necessary legal,
health and moral components within their area of
specialization.
• It should be made mandatory in all regulatory agencies
nurses meet certain thresholds that are set in qualifying
to work as knowledge workers.
Conclusion

• Nurses’ longevity is an important factor in nursing

systems information exchange (Nelson & Gordon 2017).
• Those nurses that have been in the practice for quite a
while should take the leading role in ensuring that the
information gap is bridged between them and the new
recruits.
• Effective care can only be achieved if there is a
paradigm shift between how nurses get information and
how they enforce it in practice.
References

• Cleland, S. T. (2018). Transnational management and globalised

workers: Nurses beyond human resources.
• Dranove, D., Garthwaite, C., Li, B., & Ody, C. (2018). Investment
subsidies and the adoption of electronic medical records in
hospitals.Journal of Health Economics, 44, 309-319.
doi:http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:2146/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2015.10.00
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• In North, K., In Maier, R., & In Haas, O. (2018). Knowledge Management
in Digital Change: New Findings and Practical Cases.
• Nelson, S., & Gordon, S. (2017). The complexities of care. New York:
Cornell University Press.