Faculty and Dept Chairs: Informatics Competencies Survey

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

please assist nln in this endeavor. karen

dear colleague,

in the last few years, several institute of medicine reports focusing on medical errors and the quality chasm have highlighted the potential of using information technologies to promote safe, quality patient care. more recently, two other events also highlighted the growing attention to the field of informatics. the first was the institute of medicine's 2003 report, health professions education: a bridge to quality. in this report, five core competencies were identified for all health care professionals. these core competencies were:

• providing patient centered care
• working in interdisciplinary teams
• employing evidence-based practice
• applying quality improvement methods
  
• utilizing informatics to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision making using information technology

another significant event was the announcement of the national coordinator for health information technology, david j. brailer, md, phd, who declared the "decade of health information technology" that would promote four major goals:

• inform clinical practice through the use of electronic health records
• interconnect clinicians through a national health information network
• personalize care through the use of consumer-centric tools
  
• improve population health through access to timely and relevant information

it is therefore imperative to determine how nurses are being prepared to practice in an ever increasing, informatics-rich, health care environment that requires the use of information technologies for clinical decision-making and the provision of safe, quality care. to this end, the task force on informatics competencies of the nln's educational technology and information management advisory council (etimac) is soliciting input from deans, directors, chairs, and faculty about how they are preparing the next generation of nurses. our goal is to identify how nursing programs are addressing this area, and to identify exemplars as well as gaps. the results will be shared with the academic community in a white paper that will include recommendations and exemplars.

thank you in advance for your assistance with this important work.

sincerely,

the task group on informatics competencies

roy l. simpson, rn, c, cmac, fnap, faan, chair

diane j. skiba, phd, faan, facmi, etimac, liaison

katherine b. dougherty, edd, rn

victoria l. elfrink, phd, rnbc

darlene mathis, msn, rn, aprn, bc, np-c, crnp

suzanne o. shore, mssm, msis, rn, bc

brent w. thompson, dnsc, rn

barbara vickers, ms, rn, ccrn

mary anne rizzolo, edd, rn, faan, staff liaison

the estimated time to complete this survey is 15 minutes.

faculty click here

deans/directors/chairs click here

[VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN]

Thank you so much, Karen, for alerting us to this important project :)