Posted: October 23rd, 2023

Data-to-Wisdom Continuum Analysis

The Data-to-Wisdom Continuum depicts the concepts and mega-structures that inspire the practice of nursing informatics. The model was initially included in the 2008 American Nurses Association (ANA) Scope and Standards of Practice for Nursing Informatics (Ronquillo, Currie, & Rodney, 2016), and plays a vital role in addressing significant issues in nursing through information technology. The model is used to assign meaning to complex nursing work and the flow of organizational knowledge (Linnen, 2016). The continuum indicates how data transforms into wisdom through effective research from relevant sources. Nurses are responsible for providing evidence-based practice and addressing complicated issues in various settings. They should collect data and transform it into information, and use knowledge with wisdom to deal with different needs of patients under their care. The Data-to-Wisdom Continuum can be useful in addressing the prevalence of hospital-acquired infections in the acute care setting by understanding contributing factors.

Question: What factors contribute to hospital-acquired infections in the acute care setting?

Data

Data to answer the research question is obtained from various databases, such as EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, and ProQuest among other platforms. Hence, to search for information from the databases, a nurse should identify some keywords that will be derived from the research question. The search will be based on the words, such as factors, hospital-acquired infections, and acute care setting. By keying those terms in the database’s search field, the nurse can access various articles containing information on the issue of hospital-acquired infections. However, it is impossible to use all the articles to research the topic and answer a study question. It is necessary to read through the title and abstract to determine the relevance of the source to the issue. The gleaning process will filter the sources and retain a few that will be useful. The articles will be a source of evidence for information and knowledge.

Information

Nurses infer information from data. The nurse researcher evaluates data from the databases to obtain relevant information to answer the question and address the related issue. The databases have a collection of data that can be analyzed to get information (Linnen, 2016). The data is considered information after the facts are gathered in a way that makes sense to the researcher. For example, two articles were obtained from the databases, “Environmental contamination and hospital‐acquired infection: factors that are easily overlooked” (Beggs, Knibbs, Johnson, & Morawska, 2015) and “Risk factors for hospital-acquired antimicrobial-resistant infection caused by Acinetobacter baumannii” (Ellis, Cohen, Liu, & Larson, 2015). The articles will provide vital information to determine some of the factors that cause hospital-acquired infections. Therefore, the nurse will read the articles and gather relevant information to address the issue affecting acute care patients.

Knowledge

Nurses transform information into knowledge by combining it to identify and formalize connections. Comparison of information from different sources is one of the approaches that evidence is used in creating awareness (Ronquillo, Currie, & Rodney, 2016). For example, it can be about how facts from one article relate or compareto data from other sources. The articles from the databases are written by different researchers. Therefore, they might present different factors that cause hospital-acquired infections in acute care settings. They might also differ or relate to the presentation of the information. The nurse should identify all relevant factors from the various articles and combine information to acquire knowledge on how to answer the question and address the issue. The knowledge must be relevant to the concern and play a critical role in finding a solution to improve the services given to patients in acute care settings.

Wisdom

Relevant information is obtained from various sources that support the conclusion that nurses should understand the factors that cause hospital-acquired infections to implement effective interventions. Practitioners can gain wisdom from the knowledge that reduces hospital-acquired infections to improve patient care (Staggers & Nelson, 2015). Acquisition of wisdom through the use of knowledge to solve and manage human issues is necessary for health. Wisdom entails recognition of the essential elements of knowledge and distinguishing alternatives. It includes the use of experience, intelligence, knowledge, and creativity to achieve a health care goal. In this case, the goal is to reduce hospital-acquired infections to achieve optimal health outcomes. Therefore, it is reasonable to suggest that knowledge derived from information should support research and decision-making to enhance evidence-based practice.

Conclusion

Nurses are informed workers who use wisdom to support their profession and practice. They encounter significant issues that affect their work as well as patients under their care. Consequently, they should define the most effective way to answer questions that arise and address issues to improve patient outcomes. Data-to-Wisdom Continuum forms an important part that encourages the use of informatics to support the practice. They use information technology to obtain data that they process into information and further create knowledge and wisdom from it. They use wisdom in making important conclusions and decisions. The model is useful in various complicated issues in various settings such as understanding factors that cause hospital acquired infections in acute care settings. Therefore, nurses begin by collecting data from various sources and use the information to gain knowledge and wisdom to implement effective interventions.