Nursing informatics education is undergoing dramatic change as nursing informatics skills and knowledge expand and roles in practice proliferate. In the United States, Federal government initiatives and the activities of national nursing organizations are moving nursing informatics forward in preparation for the new millennium. This paper presents a history of nursing informatics education in the US, as it has emerged from a focus on computer literacy to a new model of information processing, cognitive science and computer science. The paper suggests specific computing skills and informatics concepts which should be integrated into nursing informatics courses or undergraduate nursing programs. Initiatives and goals of the National Agenda for Informatics in Nursing Education and Practice are presented.
References
1.
Graves J R, Corcoran S.The study of nursing informatics. IMAGE: Journal of Nursing Scholarship1989; 21: 227-231.
2.
McGonigle D, Eggers N.Establishing a nursing informatics program. Computers in Nursing1991; 9: 184-189.
3.
Turley J R.Toward a model for nursing informatics. IMAGE: Journal of Nursing Scholarship1996; 28: 309-314.
4.
Hannah K J, Ball M J, Edwards M J A (eds.). Introduction to nursing informatics. 2nd edn.New York: Springer-Verlag, 1999.
5.
Henry S B.Nursing informatics: State of the science. Journal of Advanced Nursing1995; 22: 1182-1192.
6.
Arnold J.Nursing informatics educational needs. Computers in Nursing1996; 16: 333-339.
7.
American Nurses Association. Scope of practice for nursing informatics. Washington, DC: American Nurses Publishing, 1994.
8.
American Nurses Association. Position statement on a national nursing database to support clinical nursing practice. Washington, DC: American Nurses Association, 1994.
9.
American Nurses Credentialing Center. Informatics certification catalog. Washington, DC: American Nurses Credentialing Center, 1995.
10.
National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice. Report to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services: A national informatics agenda for nursing education and practice. Washington, DC: National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, December 1997.
11.
Vanderbeek J, Beery T A.A blueprint for an undergraduate healthcare informatics course. Nurse Educator1998; 23: 15-19.
12.
Parker C D, Gassert C.JCAHO’s management of information standards: the role of the informatics nurse specialist. Journal of Nursing Administration1996; 26: 13-15.
13.
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. The essentials of baccalaureate education for professional nursing practice. Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 1998.
14.
Ronald J S, Skiba D J.Guidelines for basic computer education in nursing. New York: National League for Nursing, 1987.
15.
Saranto K, Leino-Kilpi H.Computer literacy in nursing: Developing the information technology syllabus in nursing education. Journal of Advanced Nursing1997; 25: 377-385.
16.
Johnson J Y.Curricular trends in accredited generic baccalaureate nursing programs across the United States. Journal of Nursing Education!1995; 34: 53-60.
17.
Gassert C A.The challenge of meeting patients’ needs with a national nursing informatics agenda. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association1998; 5: 263-268.
18.
Nesler M S, Sopczyk D L, Cummings K M, Fortunato V J.Nursing informatics needs assessment. Nurse Educator1998; 23: 25-28.
19.
Travis L, Brennan P F.Information science for the future: An innovative nursing informatics curriculum. Journal of Nursing Education1998; 37: 162-168.
20.
Carty B, Rosenfeld P.From computer technology to information technology. Computers in Nursing1998; 16: 259-265.
