Nursing 4241: Nursing Practice 8: Transitions
Nursing Informatics Specialization
Overview
 "Adults require a learning climate in which they can work confidently
on topics that are relevant to their personal needs and that draw on their
own experiences. If they are encouraged to participate in the decision
making related to their learning, they will be more likely to take some
responsibility for the consequences of those decisions, as well as for
their own learning, and to offer suggestions for increasing the effectiveness
of their learning."
- (Continuing Education, Canada 1987).
Nursing Informatics is currently a vital topic for nursing, which will gain in importance as the 21st century progresses. Experts predict that it will not only be an important core component of all nursing education and practice, but that it will also become a crucial nursing specialty. A nursing informatics specialty integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science in identifying, collecting, processing, and managing data and information to support nursing practice, administration, education, research, and the expansion of nursing knowledge.
The rapidly changing health care delivery system is creating a pressing need for nurses with advanced knowledge and skills to provide leadership for reshaping nursing and health care in communities and health care organizations. The informatics nurse specialist serves as a translator between nurse clinicians and computer services personnel (program analysts, programmers, data base managers, hardware/software vendor and others).
Graduates of a certificate program in Nursing Informatics have the knowledge and skills to lead informatics projects in a wide range of clinical, educational, and business settings. Graduates of degree specializations in Nursing Informatics will be the leaders of tomorrow in this quickly growing specialty area of Nursing.
Over the past thirty or so years, the field of nursing informatics has evolved, slowly but surely. Within this evolution, roles and responsibilities for nursing experts have subsequently evolved as well. These roles can be confusing at times, since several names and titles are used to identify similar positions within the informatics field. Some examples include: Nursing informatics Specialist, Chief of Nursing informatics, Director of Nursing Informatics, Clinical Information System Coordinator, Director of Clinical Systems, CIO or Chief Information Officer, and so on. Just as confusing is the diverse way that Nursing Informaticians become educated as experts. From self directed learning through to graduate school study, the means to become educated in these roles is still evolving. As well, nursing informatics roles can exist within all fields of nursing whether practice, administration, research or education. Several initiatives are underway to standardize nursing informatics education and to promote the acceptance of nursing informatics specialists in healthcare, research, and education.
Ends in View
This learning activity is intended to give the learner the opportunity to:
1. Recognize the emerging status of nursing informatics specialty roles.
2. Analyze the explicit and implicit responsibilities of nurse informaticians.
3. Discuss the opportunities and critical need for nursing informaticians to work collaboratively with other health informaticians.
4. Identify strategies that nurses can adopt to prepare themselves educationally for nursing informatician roles.
In Preparation
1. READ: Meadows, G. (2002) Nursing Informatics: An evolving specialty. Nursing Economic$, 20(6), 300-302.
2. READ: Staggers, N., Gassert, C. & Curran, C. (2002). A Delphi study to determine informatics competencies for nurses at four levels of practice. Nursing Research, 51(6), 383-390.
3. READ: Staggers, N. & Lasome, C. (2005). RN. CIO: An executive informatics career. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 23(4), 201-206.
4. READ: Hassett, M. (2006). Case Study: Factors in defining the Nurse Informatics Specialist role. Journal of Healthcare Information Management, 20(2), 30 – 35.
5. VIEW TABLE: American Medical Informatics Association. (n.d.) Roles in Nursing Informatics.
6. READ: National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice. (1997) . A National Informatics Agenda for Nursing Education and Practice – Report to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Rockville, MD: Health Resources and Services Administration.
In Practice
1. The readings illustrate the diverse ways that various organizations are attempting to standardize nursing informatics education and practice, especially related to specialties in the area. However, there is a lack of uniformity across states, countries, and internationally. In your view, what is the best way to support both standardization AND individual choice in the development of nursing informatics specialty competencies?
2. Write a personal plan to help you decide how you prefer to further your education in
the growing specialty of Nursing Informatics.
3. Find resources that can help you to keep abreast of this dynamic growing specialty.
In Reflection
1. Reflect on how you can cultivate nursing informatics expertise
References
- American Medical Informatics Association. (n.d.) Roles in Nursing Informatics.
- Hassett, M. (2006). Case Study: Factors in defining the Nurse Informatics Specialist role. Journal of Healthcare Information Management, 20(2), 30 – 35.
- Meadows, G. (2002) Nursing Informatics: An evolving specialty. Nursing Economic$, 20(6), 300-302.
- National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice. (1997) . A National Informatics Agenda for Nursing Education and Practice – Report to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Rockville, MD: Health Resources and Services Administration.
- Staggers, N., Gassert, C. & Curran, C. (2002). A Delphi study to determine informatics competencies for nurses at four levels of practice. Nursing Research, 51(6), 383-390.
- Staggers, N. & Lasome, C. (2005). RN. CIO: An executive informatics career. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 23(4), 201-206.
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