25 Resources on Nursing Informatics
Nursing informatics is the integration of computer science and information systems into the practice of nursing. It aims to boost the efficiency of data management and communication in the healthcare field, and in so doing, is revolutionizing the field of nursing. The following resources are links to nursing organizations, catalogs of nursing schools, and articles detailing the development of this dynamic new field of nursing informatics.
News and Info - Schools and Programs - Forums and Journals
News and Info
1. Preparing the Next Generation of Nurses is an article by The National League for Nursing that outlines the state of the industry in nursing informatics. It proposes a list of recommendations for bringing nursing into the 21 st century through education and collaboration.
2. The Nursing Shortage: Can Information Technology help? explores the causes and effects of the much-discussed nursing shortage, and concludes that within 20 years there will not be enough nurses to care for the exponentially growing elderly population. The author outlines several ways that information technology can address this growing problem.
3. Technology in Nursing is a brief survey of how information technology has changed the face of nursing. As pagers are replaced by smart phones and wireless internet brings gigabytes of data to your fingertips in the blink of an eye, nurses have the means to provide more efficient and knowledgeable service to a wider array of patients.
4. RNs Warming Up to Information Technology describes the often welcoming but occasionally confused response that informatics has received among veteran nurses. The author emphasizes the importance of collaboration between medical and IT experts to facilitate the shift to informatics-driven medicine.
5. Five Emerging Majors The New York Times education blog included nursing informatics in its list of five “emerging areas of study” in higher educational settings, along with service science, computational science, sustainability, and public health. Nursing informatics is gaining speed especially in terms of undergraduate degree programs, with hundreds in development across the nation.
6. Nurseweek Overview of Nursing Informatics predicts that nursing informatics will be “one of the top 10 fastest-growing professions in the next decade.” This overview provides an introduction to the field as well as what to expect from a career in nursing informatics.
7. Biohealthmatics' 10 Easy Tips on How to Get Started in Nursing Informatics has a few handy directions for getting one's start in this cutting-edge career. Biohealthmatics also has a job search engine, career center, and networking center at your disposal.
8. NLN's Informatics Agenda The NLN (National League for Nursing) released this position statement in May 2008 to establish an agenda for efficiently and effectively incorporating information technology in the health care arena. Using the TIGER initiative as a model, the NLN seeks to introduce educational programs in nursing informatics at all levels of higher education and collaborate with industry leaders to support the adoption of informatics technology.
9. Nursingschools.net's Nursing Informatics outlines the need for information systems in hospitals and other health settings, and describes how nurses trained in IT can meet those needs. It also explains the educational requirements and other prerequisites for entering the field of nursing informatics.
10. Nursing-informatics.com offers articles, tutorials, consulting services and a continuing education program in informatics. The context page provides a schematic breakdown of the factors involved in the development of informatics, as shaped by competing medical philosophies.
11. Alliance for Nursing Informatics started the TIGER initiative (Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform) to help prepare practicing nurses and nursing students in using new technology to improve patient care. Their website has links to the many member organizations of the alliance and news items in nursing informatics.
12. A Look at Nursing Informatics An interview with Suzanne Bakken Henry, associate professor for the UCSF School of Nursing, delves into the advantages and disadvantages of the move to electronic health records, as well as the pros and cons of a career in nursing informatics as compared with other fields.
Schools and Programs
13. American Nurses Credentialing Center 's home page provides all the information you need to get board certification for nursing informatics.
14. Allied Health World 's Nursing Informatics section provides information about schools and programs for receiving certification in nursing informatics. Once that's taken care of, they'll help you with job-seeking and career advice as well.
15. Weekend Immersion in Nursing Informatics is a monthly nursing informatics continuing education program designed to be a crash course in information technology with a focus on the professional practice. The program's main objective is to prepare students for the comprehensive ANCC Nursing Information Certification Exam.
16. 31 Nursing Informatics Graduate Programs lists the top schools in the country with nursing informatics programs, along with summaries of the programs they offer (Certificate, Doctorate, and/or Masters) and whether they have online courses. You can search by program type or geographic region to find the college that suits your needs.
17. CAHIIM Accredited Programs is a catalogue of undergraduate and masters HIM (Health Information Management) programs. You can apply online or schedule a site visit for any of their hundreds of accredited universities.
Forums and Journals
18. Nursing Informatics Online is a massive message board forum with updates on conferences, educational events, and journal articles. Their online bookstore has several introductory texts explaining the science and its applications.
19. Mapping the Literature of Nursing Informatics was a 2005 study undertaken by the Medical Library Association to characterize the growth of medical informatics over the past quarter century. Nursing informatics articles were underrepresented compared with general informatics, suggesting that nurses may be using sources other than journals to disseminate information.
20. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics was founded so that nurses could share “findings, experience, perceptions, knowledge” regarding all facets of nursing informatics. Full-text articles are freely available without subscription, as well as links to other nursing informatics sources.
21. Medical and Nursing Training Blog is a guide to medical and nursing training and vocational schools. Weekly blog posts focus on an individual school, giving an in-depth look at their curriculum and environment.
22. ANIA - CARING is one of the largest nursing informatics sites, with a quarterly newsletter, job bank, and many other resources. Their Getting Started page has nurse testimonials on how to start a career in nursing informatics.
23. Allnurse.com Nursing Informatics Forum is a blog/forum for the latest news and trends in nursing informatics. Its 5,000 readers share anecdotes and advice about this rapidly developing profession.
24. History of the ANI Founded in 2004 to establish a “unified voice” for nursing informatics, the ANI currently represents over 5,000 nursing informaticists. This CIN (Computers, Information, Nursing) journal article recounts the story of their founding and lists their current member organizations, with links to their web sites.
25. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing is one of the leading medical journals in nursing. Its “Nursing Technology” page has an introduction to and several articles on nursing informatics.