The concept of “knowledge worker” was proposed by an author and educator Peter Drucker in 1959 in his book called Landmarks of Tomorrow (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). Knowledge work might be described as nonrepetitive, nonroutine, and involving a significant share of cognitive activity. According to Drucker (1994), a knowledge worker is a person who received an advanced formal education, uses theoretical and analytical knowledge, and is also a “continuous learner and a specialist in a field” (as cited in McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017, p. 117). The tasks performed by knowledge workers might be described as “collaborative, specialized, dynamic, ad-hoc, or even unstructured, and often highly dependent on the domain knowledge and expertise of the worker” (Finn et al., 2016, p. 92).
McCormick (2009) expects a knowledge worker to spend about half of his or her time on search and evaluation of information (as cited in McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). Androwich (2010) suggests that healthcare information should be accessible and ready for future use (as cited in McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). Nurses need evidence-based information and patient data available in medical facilities to be able to inform present patients. Additionally, patient data should be entered in a way that it could be easily accessed in the future. Therefore, knowledge workers, as the source of organizational success and growth, should have specialized advanced education, a high degree of autonomy in their workplace, and the ability to work in a multidisciplinary environment.
Nursing informatics
Healthcare informatics may be defined as “the integration of healthcare sciences, computer science, information science, and cognitive science to assist in the management of healthcare information” (Sweeney, 2017, “Introduction,” para. 1). According to the American Nurses Association (ANA, 2001), nursing information is “a specialty that integrates nursing, information, and knowledge in nursing practice” (as cited in Sweeney, 2017, “Introduction,” para. 1). Because of multiple technological advances, healthcare and nursing informatics have been continuously growing within the medical field. The positive results of such progress are improved quality of care, better health outcomes, and enhanced patient education. On the other hand, while the implementation of technology ensures quick access to medical information, it also increases the amount of data to be collected, managed, and analyzed by healthcare providers.
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