NURS 5051/6051: Transforming Nursing and Healthcare Through Information Technology | Week 2

The continued integration of information technology within the nursing profession is resulting in the development of nursing informatics as a distinct specialty. As with other specialty areas, nursing informatics has unique foundational documents, concepts, competencies, and functions. How might information technology competencies pertain to your professional practice?

This week focuses on the core competencies and scope and standards of practice in nursing informatics. If you are not specializing in nursing informatics, some functional areas will be more relevant to your professional role than others. Therefore, this week you will analyze the key functional areas of nursing informatics and consider competencies that would be useful in your professional role. In addition, you assess how information technology skills can improve nursing practice.

Learning Objectives – NURS 5051/6051: Week 2 Core Competencies and Scope of Practice in Nursing Informatics

Students will:

• Analyze the key functional areas of nursing informatics
• Formulate a personal plan to improve health information technology competencies appropriate for your professional role
• Assess how information technology skills can improve nursing practice

Required Readings

American Nurses Association. (2015). Nursing informatics: Scope & standards of practice (2nd ed.). Silver Springs, MD: Author.

• • “Functional Areas for Nursing Informatics”This chapter describes the key functional areas of nursing informatics. It also clarifies the roles of informatics nurse specialists and informatics nurses.

• “Informatics Competencies: Spanning Careers and Roles”This chapter details an informatics competencies matrix that has been developed by reviewing research. It outlines best practices for successful use of health information technology.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2018). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.

• Chapter 7, “Nursing Informatics as a Specialty”This chapter details the roles, competencies, and skills that ensure effective nursing informatics practice. The text also details the future of nursing informatics.

Discussion: Nursing Informatics Competencies

Today’s fast-paced health care environment demands nurses to be skilled not only in their clinical practice or specialty area but in the use of technology tools that improve practice and lead to better patient care. Basic and advanced technology competencies are required and expected as technology increasingly touches and changes the job of every nurse. Numerous organizations, including the American Nurses Association (ANA), the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), and Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), have developed nurse-specific technology competencies. The challenge for nurses is to identify both needs and training opportunities.

In this Discussion, you identify the role informatics plays in your professional responsibilities. You pinpoint personal gaps in skills and knowledge and then develop a plan for self-improvement.

To prepare:

• Review Nursing Informatics: Scope and Standards of Practice in this week’s Learning Resources, focusing on the different functional areas it describes. Consider which areas relate to your current nursing responsibilities or to a position you held in the past. For this Discussion, identify one or two of the most relevant functional areas.
• Review the list of competencies recommended by the TIGER Initiative. Identify at least one skill in each of the main areas (basic computer competencies, information literacy competencies, and information management competencies) that is pertinent to your functional area(s) and in which you need to strengthen your abilities. Consider how you could improve your skills in these areas and the resources within your organization that might provide training and support.

By Day 3

Post the key functional area(s) of nursing informatics relevant to your current position or to a position you recently held, and briefly describe why this area(s) is relevant. Identify the TIGER competencies you selected as essential to your functional area(s) in which you need improvement. Describe why these competencies are necessary and outline a plan for developing these competencies. Include any resources that are available to you within your organization and the ways you might access those resources. Assess how developing nursing informatics competencies would increase your effectiveness as a nurse.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using the following approach: Assume the role of a consultant. Respond to your colleagues as someone who can offer advice on improving their skills on the competencies they identified as needing improvement. NURS 5051/6051: Week 2 Core Competencies and Scope of Practice in Nursing Informatics

 

ADDITIONAL INFO 

Core Competencies and Scope of Practice in Nursing Informatics

Introduction

The scope of practice and core competencies in nursing informatics are important when developing a career path. These skills will help you to become an effective clinician and more able to provide high quality care for patients.

Core Competencies in Nursing Informatics

Core competencies are the skills that the nurse needs to perform the job. The core competencies in nursing informatics are related to patient care services, information management and technology management.

The following are some core competencies for nurses:

• Effective communication skills: This refers to how you can effectively communicate with patients or staff members about their needs, concerns, and desires. It also involves writing down notes on your patients’ condition so it will be easier for them if they have any questions later on down the road when they see another doctor or nurse practitioner involved with their case file at an emergency room/urgent care center (ER/UC).

• Knowledgeable about medical terminology: As part of being able to provide good care in an ER setting where there may be limited privacy settings available due either because there aren’t enough beds available yet or because someone else has already taken over one of those beds while yours sits empty waiting on something urgent happening right now instead! So make sure before leaving work today that everything goes smoothly tomorrow morning when going into work after having been away from home overnight due illness reasons such as flu symptoms etcetera.”

Core competency 1 – Information management and application of patient care technology.

To be a good nurse informaticist, you must have knowledge about how to use technology in nursing and manage information. You need to know how to apply technology in order to provide your patients with the best possible care.

Core competency 2 – Patient care services.

• Provide patient care services in a variety of settings.

• Provide patient care services to patients of different ages and gender.

• Provide patient care services to patients of different ethnicities and cultures, including the following: African American; Asian/Pacific Islander; Native American; Hispanic or Latino/Hispanic American; Caucasian (white); Middle Eastern descent (Arabic) . . . .

• Provide patient care services to patients with different socioeconomic status, including the following: low income families or individuals without insurance coverage for health care costs!

Core competency 3 – Leadership.

Leadership is a core competency, because it is an essential function of the organization and its employees. Leadership involves both the individual and the environment. The individual must possess leadership skills in order to be effective as a nurse informatics specialist or data analyst, but also needs to understand how his or her role fits into larger organizational structures like nursing practice improvement initiatives or health information exchanges (HIE).

Leadership can be defined as “the ability of an individual or group of people with responsibility for guiding others toward achieving common goals” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). In other words, leadership involves setting direction for an organization so that it achieves its goals efficiently and effectively over time—and does so without compromising quality care for patients through suboptimal practices such as errors due to lack of training on new technologies used within healthcare systems today!

Core competency 4 – Education.

Nursing informatics education is a key component of nursing informatics. It’s important to understand that there are many different ways to achieve a nursing informatics education, including:

• Attending a formal course or program in nursing informatics (e.g., an associate degree)

• Attending an informal educational event such as the annual conference or institute sponsored by the field’s professional organization

In addition, it’s essential for nurses entering into this profession to continue their education through mentorship programs and other opportunities provided by their employers—as well as independent study if necessary.

Core competency 5 – Evidence-based practice, research and quality improvement.

You will use evidence-based practice, research and quality improvement to improve patient outcomes.

You will use evidence-based practice to improve patient outcomes. This includes providing high-quality care that is safe, effective, efficient and ethical. It also includes using research findings to identify best practices for your patients’ care needs in order to reduce health disparities or manage chronic conditions such as diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2), hypertension or heart failure

Scope of Practice in Nursing Informatics

The scope of practice is defined by the state and hospital, but it’s also defined by the employer, nurse and nurse informatics specialist.

Understanding the scope of practice and core competencies in nursing informatics is important in developing a successful career path.

Understanding the scope of practice and core competencies in nursing informatics is important in developing a successful career path. Core competencies are essential to an individual’s ability to perform specific tasks, while a scope of practice refers to what an individual can legally do as part of their job. The two terms are often confused because they’re both used for similar reasons, but it’s important for nurses to understand them so they can better prepare themselves for their future jobs in this field.

The term “core competency” was first coined by American health care professionals in the late 1990s when it was used as an umbrella term for all types of clinical skills learned by nurses during training programs; however, some believe that its definition has changed since then due to advancements made through technology integration into healthcare delivery systems such as electronic medical record systems (EMR). In fact, many experts agree that there should be no confusion between ‘core’ vs ‘scope’ at all—it should be understood clearly before moving forward with any decisions concerning what kind(s) would best suit one’s needs based off personal preference factors such as age/experience level etcetera…

Conclusion

The scope of practice and core competencies in nursing informatics are important to understand. If you are interested in learning more about these topics, we have an upcoming webinar where we will discuss them in detail. You can register for the webinar here: