ABSTRACT
Data on individuals’ health and healthcare delivery is being produced at an increasing pace. Technological developments have allowed improvements in the implementation and use of information and communication technologies to better support the delivery and management of healthcare services. Information management has become an essential function in health service delivery as effective use of data is one requirement for efficient organisational processes and high-quality healthcare services. Managing care delivery is a complex and demanding task due to numerous actors, changing situations and scattered information. Nursing leaders are responsible for the largest professional group in the healthcare setting and their decisions are associated with service user, staffing and organisational outcomes. Consequently, nursing leaders need a vast amount of real-time information to support their decision-making. However, information is typically scattered in numerous places, and leaders have reported difficulties obtaining important information when a decision needs to be made or predictions and planning are necessary. Further, contemporary information systems do not support leaders adequately as needs for improvement in managerial information processing are continuously reported. Lack of or inaccurate information decreases the quality of decisions made. Hence, it is important to acknowledge the importance of optimal information management that builds on user-centred solutions. After reading this chapter, readers will be able to (1) understand nursing leaders’ information needs and sources in the healthcare operations management, and (2) understand technologies available for nursing leaders in operations management and the potential and challenges with the use of these technologies.
