Staggers, Gasserts, And Curran, 2001

Informatics Competencies for Nurses at Four Level of Practice

Dr. Staggers is Associate Chief information Officer, Information Technology Services, Salt Lake City, Utah, Dr. Gassert is Informatics Nurse Consultant, Division of Nursing, Bureau of Health Professions. Health Resources and Services Administration, Rockville, Maryland; and Dr. Curran is Assistant Professor and Director. Intormatics Program, School of Nursing, Columbia University, New York, New York.

H ealth care leaders emphasize the need to include information technology and informatics concepts flin nursing education (American Association of CoUege of Nurses [AACNI, 1997, 1998; Gassert, 1998; Pew, 1998). The Pew Health Professions Commission (1998) stated that the effective and appropriate use of communication and information technologies was one of 21 essential competencies needed by al health care professionals. A panel of national nursing informatics (NI) experts outlined strategic directions for nursing in 1996. One of the primary recommendations was to educate and prepare nursing students and practicing nurses in core NI competencies (Gassert, 1998). The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (1997) affirmed that within the next decade all higher education in nursing must address priorities to include the management of data and technology, Recently, the 1999 American Medical Informatics Association's (AMLA) spring congress focused on education in health informatics and empha- sized the need for consensus on health informatics competencies. However, the integration of NI into nursing education in the United States has progressed slowly. Johnson (1995) found that computer literacy was the only emphasis area not addressed by the majority of accredited baccalaureate nursing programs. Two current studies indicate that NI integration into curricula has not improved. Cartv and Rosenfeld (1998) conducted an empirical study and discovered that less than one third of nursing programs in the United States even addressed NI in their curricula. Austin (1999) reported that only three of 60 nursing computer literacy sklls were being integrated into teaching practice by nursing faculty at a moderate or extensive level.

Definitions of Four Levels of Practicing Nurses 

Beginning Nurse 

* Has fundamental information management and computer technology skills. 

* Uses existing information systems and available information to manage practice.  

Experienced Nurse 

* Has proficiency in a domain of interest (e.g., public health, education, administration).

 • Highly skilled in using information management and computer technology skills to support their major area of practice. 

* Sees relationships among data elements and makes judgments based on trends and patterns within these data. 

X Uses current information systems but collaborates with the informatics nurse specialist to suggest improvement to systems. 

Informatics Nurse Specialist 

 * An RN with advanced preparation possessing additional knowledge and skills specific to information management and computer technology. 

* Focuses on information needs for the practice of nursing, which includes education, administration, research, and clinical practice. 

* Practice is built on the integration and application of information science, computer science, and nursing science. 

* Uses the tools of critical thinking, process skills, data management skills (including identifying, acquiring, preserving, retrieving, aggregating, analyzing, and transmitting data), systems development life cycle, and computer skills. 

Informatics Innovator 

* Educationally prepared to conduct informatics research and generate informatics theory. 

* Has a vision of what is possible and a keen sense of timing to make things happen.

 * Leads the advancement of informatics practice and research. 

* Functions with an ongoing, healthy skepticism of existing data management practices and is creative in developing solutions. 

* Possesses a sophisticated level of understanding and skills in information management and computer technology. 

* Understands the interdependence of systems, disciplines, and outcomes, and can finesse situations to maximize outcomes

Nursing Informatics Competency Definition 

Among the studies reviewed, different terms were used to express informatics requirements (e.g., computer skills, computer literacy, computer competence, informatics, information literacy, information technology needs). Concentrating only on technology or computer literacy was deemed too narrow a focus for determining informatics requirements. Therefore, for this study, the definition of competencies was the integration of knowledge, skills, and attitudes in the performance of various nursing informatics activities within prescribed levels of nursing practice (Staggers & Gassert, 2000).

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