INTRODUCTION:

Nursing informatics is an evolving science a wide lens perspective of nursing informatics professional development in nursing informatics. In all types of health care organizations, nursing is the hub of the information flow. Developing the science and technology of nursing informatics will enhance the information available to nurses for clinical practice, management, education, and research and will facilitate the role of nurses as communicators¹. At present, nursing informatics is an emerging field of study. Programs that are offer basic and further education in nursing informatics is beginning to spring up around the globe, but many more are needed to provide easy access for motivated nurses. The goal of nursing informatics is to improve the health of populations, communities, families, and individuals by optimizing information management and communication¹⁵. This includes the use of information and technology in the direct provision of care, in establishing effective administrative systems, in managing and delivering educational experiences, in supporting lifelong learning, and in supporting nursing research³.

Definition:

Nursing Informatics is the "science and practice integrates nursing, its information and knowledge, with management of information and communication technologies to promote the health of people, families, and communities worldwide¹."

-American Medical Informatics Association- 2009.

“Nursing informatics (NI) is a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice²”.

-American nursing informatics association -2008

“Nursing Informatics is the "science and practice (that) integrates nursing, its information and Knowledge, with management of information and communication technologies to promote the health of people, families, and communities worldwide⁶”

- Canadian Nurses Informatics Association -2003.

“A combination of computer science, information science, and nursing science designed to assist in the management and processing of nursing data, information, and knowledge to support the practice of nursing and the delivery of nursing care⁵” (figure:1)

-GravesandCorcoran, 1989.

Figure: 1 Nursing Informatics

Milestones:

Nursing Informatics has been in existence for over a century. From the initial seeding by Florence Nightingale to the ongoing contributions throughout the years, the field has grown by leaps and bounds. Although there are many pioneers in the field of informatics, the documentation is not as rich as the experience. It is important to explore and preserve the history of nursing informatics².

Ø 1961-health care information and management system society (HIMSS) is formed

Ø 1965-Developemt of one of the first hospital information system at EI Camino Hospital Mountain view CA^16.

Ø 1977-First under graduate academic course on computer in nursing sponsored by state of university of New York.

Ø 1981-Nursing informatics systems journal first published.

Ø 1984-First nursing minimum data set (NMDS) meeting held.

Ø 1985-Council on nursing informatics formed in New York

Ø 1989-Graduate program in nursing informatics introduced at university of Maryland, Baltimore.

Ø 1989- Graduate program in clinical nursing informatics introduced at university of Utah

Ø 1990- American Medical Informatics Association was formulated. New era for nursing informatics.

Ø 1991-First doctoral specialty in nursing informatics sponsored by the University Maryland School of nursing.

Ø 1992-American nursing informatics association organized and recognized nursing informatics as a specialty.

Ø 1995-First international nursing informatics teleconference held in Melbourne, Australia.

Ø 1996-online journal of nursing informatics published.

Ø 2001-canadian nursing informatics association organized.

Ø 2002- online MSN in nursing informatics offered by Duke University

Ø 2012-International conference on nursing informatics NI 2012: Advancing Global Health through Informatics.

Transformation of Data to Knowledge:

The transformation of data to knowledge is a key concept of the nursing informatics role and has the potential to significantly impact nursing practice. It involves three components⁴ (figure: 2).

1. Data are discrete entities that are described objectively without interpretation

2. Information is data that are interpreted, organized, or structured

3. Knowledge is information that is synthesized so that relationships are identified and formalized.

Figure: 2: Transformation of Data to Knowledge

Toffler (1990) described the 1990's as a new era for informatics, the process of gaining power through the data-information-knowledge triad. This era continues as we enter the new millennium. The need for nurses to feel comfortable working with computerized data and information is escalating¹⁴. (Figure: 3).

Figure 3: Data-Information-Knowledge Triad

Purpose of Nursing Informatics:-

v Nursing Education

Through nursing informatics, nursing students can retrieve literature. Computers have significantly present huge amounts of data and catalogues which can search systematically. The tedious job of organizing literature was greatly reduced with computer systems. Users can access statistics from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, get census and even the current mortality and morbidity of a certain type of disease or group of population in just one click⁹.

v Computer- Assisted Learning

Nursing students can enjoy learning the basic nursing care through software programs. Programs may cover topics from drug dosage administration to ethical decision making. Programs have been intended to certify the aptitude of nursing students about electrocardiogram and other important nursing activities that is important in the real work set-up.

v Distance Learning

Through nursing informatics, online degrees in nursing and continued professional education have been a trend. Teachers can now reach a wider group of students. Homework or assignments can be sent via the internet without even facing the educators or meeting them in personal. The physical distance between the educator and the student is now shortened.

v Documentation of Client Status and medical records Nursing informatics can make the impossible organization of huge records possible. Research about past medical illness and management are easier since a computer keep the records and the researcher will just get proper access to that information⁹.

v Care to patients

Nursing informatics has a numerous positive outcomes in delivering care to patients. However the issue of ethics and confidentiality is still an issue to be pondered. More and more ways are developed daily to protect the information being entered in these systems³.

Nursing informatics models:

Figure: 4 Adapted from Nelson and Roos (1992),
Computer Applications in Nursing Education and Practice.

Turley’s suggested model for nursing informatics:

Turley’s model also suggests that it is the intersection of the cognitive, information, and a computer science that constitutes nursing information in that improvement of in key relationship with providers and care recipient should be in one bullet (Turley, 1996). Nursing science is the raison d’être of nursing informatics, and without the needs and context of nursing science nursing informatics would have no purpose. Turley’s model has the further advantage of ﬂexibility: the model can be translated to other health-care science disciplines by changing the foundational domains¹². (figure:5)

Figure: 5 Turley’s suggested model for nursing informatics

The Value of Nurse Informaticists:

· Nurse Informaticists are Bi-Lingual.

· Support nursing work processes using technology.

· Re-Engineer clinical workflow and facilitate change management acute care – all specialties. Home health Ambulatory care Software development Redesign work flow Long-term care Outpatient settings Tele-health¹¹.

· Analyze clinical and financial data

· Promote and facilitate access to resources and references

· Provide nursing content to standardized languages

· Enhance continuity of care

· Improve relationships between providers and recipients of health care

· Enable cost savings and productivity goals

The Benefits of Nurse Informaticists:

o Nurse Informaticists promote and facilitate access to resources and references¹⁰

o Support for their mission to deliver high quality, evidence-based care

o Support for better service by facilitating true interdisciplinary care

o Improvement in key relationships with

o Providers and care recipient

o Enable cost savings and productivity goals

o Facilitate change management

o Enhance continuity of care

CONCLUSION:

Nursing informatics is a field within the field of health informatics, where people who have a nursing degree are involved in the implementation of a computer application in a hospital, nursing home, doctor’s office, public health clinics, or other healthcare setting. Nursing informatics has a long and rich history of applying information technology to the enhancement of nursing practice⁷. The American Nurses Association has been committed to the specialty of nursing informatics for almost 2 decades. Given key role on the health care team, nurses with experiences and interests in nursing informatics have progressively been moving into leadership positions for their organizations on projects related to IT as well as patient safety, quality of care, and change management.

REFERENCES:

1. American Nurses Association. (1994). the scope of practice for nursing informatics. Washington, DC: American Nurses Publishing, NP-90 7.5M 5/94

2. Ball, M. (2005). Nursing Informatics of tomorrow. Healthcare Informatics Online, 2 (5), Feb. http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/issues/2005/02/ball.htm

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5. Buckeridge, D. (1999). Health informatics in Canada: Definitions, education, and the path ahead. Heal Net. http://healnet.mcmaster.ca/nce/about/workshop/HIiC.PDF

6. Canadian Nurses Association. (2001). What is nursing informatics and why is it important? Nursing Now: Issues and trends in Canadian nursing, Number 11. Ottawa: Author.

7. Canadian Nurses Association and Office of Health and the Information Highway. (2000). Vision 2020 Workshop on information and communications technologies in health care from the perspective of the nursing profession. Ottawa: Authors.

8. Capurro, R. (1992). Informatics and Hermeneutics. Software development and reality construction Conference, Berlin, Germany. http://www.capurro.de/floyd.htm

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13. Jiang, W., Chen, W. and Chen, Y. (2004). Important computer competencies for the nursing profession. Journal of Nursing Research, 12(3), 213-225.

14. Kaplan, B. (2001). Evaluating informatics applications – some alternative approaches: Theory, social interactionism, and call for methodological pluralism. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 64, 39-56.

15. Kaplan, B. and Flatley Brennan, P. (2001). Consumer informatics supporting patients as co-producers of quality. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 8(4), 309-316.

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17. Kling, R. (2000a). Social informatics: A new perspective on social research about information and communication technologies. Prometheus, 18(3), 245-264.

Received on 05.09.2013 Modified on 10.11.2013

Asian J. Nur. Edu. & Research 4(1): Jan.-March 2014; Page 123-126