Informatics competencies for nurses at four levels of practice.

Valid and comprehensive nursing informatics (NI) competencies currently are lacking. Meanwhile, nursing leaders are emphasizing the need to include NI in nursing curricula, as well as within the roles of practicing nurses in all settings. This article presents the initial work of a team of NI experts toward development of a valid and reliable set of NI competencies. Previous work primarily has focused on computer-related skills, rather than examining a broad definition of informatics competencies. For this current work, NI competencies encompass all skills, not only computer-related skills, as well as knowledge and attitudes needed by nurses. The first two authors created a database of NI competencies from the existing literature. A larger panel of NI experts then affirmed, modified, added, or deleted competencies from this database. Competencies were placed into four distinct skill levels. Definitions of each skill level and an initial master list of competencies are provided.

Health professionals' views of informatics education: findings from the AMIA 1999 spring conference.

Health care leaders emphasize the need to include information technology and informatics concepts in formal education programs, yet integration of informatics into health educational programs has progressed slowly. The AMIA 1999 Spring Congress was held to address informatics educational issues across health professions, including the educational needs in the various health professions, goals for health informatics education, and implementation strategies to achieve these goals. This paper presents the results from AMIA work groups focused on informatics education for non-informatics health professionals. In the categories of informatics needs, goals, and strategies, conference attendees suggested elements in these areas: educational responsibilities for faculty and students, organizational responsibilities, core computer skills and informatics knowledge, how to learn informatics skills, and resources required to implement educational strategies.

The challenge of meeting patients' needs with a national nursing informatics agenda.

Information has become a capital good and is focused on outcomes. Clinical guidelines are being developed to standardize care for populations, but patient preferences also need to be known when planning individualized care. Information technologies can be used to retrieve both types of information. The concern is that nurses are not adequately prepared to manage information using technology. This paper presents five strategic directions recommended by the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice (Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Nursing) to enhance nurses' preparation to use and develop information technology. The recommendations are 1) to include core informatics content in nursing curricula, 2) to prepare nurses with specialized skills in informatics, 3) to enhance nursing practice and education through informatics projects, 4) to prepare nursing faculty in informatics, and 5) to increase collaborative efforts in nursing informatics. The potential impact of these strategic directions on patients is discussed.

Setting a national informatics agenda for nursing education and practice to prepare nurses to develop and use information technology.

Efforts to build a telecommunications infrastructure that will link people nationally and internationally includes a focus on health care. A telecommunications infrastructure will add value to providers and consumers of health care only if they are able to use it to access and share information. Nurses often have information technology available to them, but are inadequately prepared to use it. Under the direction of the National Advisory Council for Nursing Education and Practice (NACNEP), the Division of Nursing convened a panel of experts in nursing informatics to recommend an informatics agenda. Using a nominal group technique the informatics experts identified informatics needs and recommended initiatives that would better prepare nurses to use and develop information technology. Their recommendations were reviewed by NACNEP resulting in a national informatics agenda for nursing education and practice.

Using a revised model to identify information requirements for cardiac surgery patients operating mobile computing technology.

Information system selection and implementation continues to occupy the majority of informatics nurses' time in clinical settings. Despite the availability of more sophisticated guidance for system selection and implementation, some agencies continue to fail when attempting to automate their information processing. Such failures cost the agencies time and resources, two valuable commodities. In some cases information systems were selected and specifications developed without first identifying information needs within the agencies. The Model for Identifying Information System Requirements (MDISR) could be used to help agencies to identify information needing to be considered during the selection and implementation processes.

Defining information requirements using holistic models: introduction to a case study.

If older patients are to use the information superhighway, their ability and interest in using computers for clinical information exchange must be determined. Earlier discharge may alter the type of information that patients and families need to cope with recovery. The Gassert Model for Defining Information System Requirements for Nursing has been adapted to identify needed discharge information. Information requirements will be used to develop mobile computing technology for patients to use during recovery from cardiac surgery.

A research proposal to study the impact of an automated charting and assessment system.

A research study was developed to evaluate the impact of implementing an automated charting and assessment system. The methodology combines quantitative and qualitative techniques to address the components of safety, effectiveness, cost, and social impact using the technology assessment framework.

Evaluating graduate and undergraduate nursing students' computer skills to determine the need to continue teaching computer literacy.

1. INTRODUCTION. This descriptive study examined undergraduate and graduate nursing students' perceptions of their computer literacy skills to determine whether faculty should continue teaching basic computing skills in nursing programs. As in Bryson's study [1] the computer literate nurse is one who understands the concepts of hardware, software, and operating systems; who is able ot use the computer to learn; and who is able ot use such applications as word-processing, spreadsheets, and databases. Zeimer [2] predicted that by 1994 students entering nursing schools would be prepared to use computers and that further teaching of computer skills would not be needed. Some faculty, however, have felt that students are not entering nursing programs prepared to use computers. 2. TOOLS. A Level of Computer Experience (LCE) tool was developed to measure the computer literacy skills of students entering the first of three Masters' level nursing informatics courses over a six-year period. The instrument's 25 items determined experience with: operating systems, hardware, learning tools, applications, and information systems (IS) life cycle (design, selection, implementation, evaluation and project management). The instrument was modified for undergraduate students; this eliminated the items relating to the IS life cycle since these items reflect advanced skills. The resulting instrument was composed of the first 16 items of the original Level of Computer Experience tool. For each item, a four pint Likert scale allowed respondents to choose from the words "none," "some," "moderate," and "extensive" to describe their level of experience. For scoring purposes each word was assigned a numerical value as follows: none = 1, some = 2, moderate = 3, and extensive =4. 3. DATA. The LCE was administered to 65 sophomore nursing students and 74 graduate nursing informatics students. Undergraduate scored 4 items (use of microcomputer, use of IBM type computer, keyboard skills and use of WordPerfect). This score was above the 2 or 'some' experience level. Mean scores for all other items ranged between 1 and 2. Graduate informatics students also had higher mean scores for the 4 items. No mean scores reached the 'moderate' level for either group. One-way analysis of variances showed significant differences between the undergraduate and graduate students on the item concerning use of statistical packages. 4. CONCLUSIONS. In this population, both graduate and undergraduate nursing students continue to possess low levels of computer literacy skills. Since many students come into nursing programs without the capability of using information technology in practice, schools need to continue providing a way for students to obtain computer literacy skills.

Doctoral specialization in nursing informatics.

A prototype program of doctoral study has been developed at the University of Maryland School of Nursing to prepare students with nursing expertise in the conceptualization and research of computer based information systems in hospitals, industry and other health care organizations. The graduate will be prepared to design effective nursing information systems; create innovative information technology; conduct research regarding integration of technology with nursing practice, administration, and education; and develop theoretical, practice, and evaluation models for nursing informatics.

Structured analysis: methodology for developing a model for defining nursing information system requirements.

Including nurses in decisions to purchase or design information systems is an increasingly common phenomenon. Without previous informatics experience, nurses may need help defining specific requirements for information systems that will assist in managing and administering nursing care. The Model for Defining Nursing Information System Requirements was developed to serve as a guiding framework for deriving nursing information system (NIS) requirements. Structured analysis techniques were used to develop the model. The model was tested by surveying 75 registered nurses who had made decisions about NISs. Subjects supported the model's completeness and usefulness for defining NIS requirements.