Homework Question On Nursing Informatics Competencies
- Review Nursing Informatics: Scope and Standards of Practice focusing on the different functional areas it describes. Consider which areas relate to your current nursing responsibilities (RN staff in ED) . 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 one could improve their skills in these areas and the resources within organization that might provide training and support.
Readings:
- American Nurses Association. (2015). Nursing informatics: Scope & standards of practice (2nd ed.). Silver Springs, MD: Author. ◦”Functional Areas for Nursing Informatics Informatics Competencies: Spanning Careers and Roles“
- Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.(2012c). The TIGER initiative. Retrieved from http://www.thetigerinitiative.org/
- The TIGER Initiative. (2009). Informatics competencies for every practicing nurse: Recommendations from the TIGER collaborative. Retrieved from http://www.thetigerinitiative.org/docs/TigerReport_InformaticsCompetencies.
- McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2015). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning. ◦Chapter 7, “Informatics Roles and the Knowledge Work of Nursing” ◦Chapter 8, “Information and Knowledge Needs of Nurses in the 21st Century
Homework Answer on Nursing Informatics Competencies
Nurses play key roles in promoting the well-being and providing the overall health care among patients. They mainly focus on caring for patients through provision recovery plans and diseases prevention initiatives. Therefore, nurses professionally assess health needs, develop and implement patient care plans, and maintain medical records or information. Improvement of patient outcomes and patient record maintenance constitute some of the relevant nursing functional areas related to the TIGER initiatives.
TIGER plays significant roles in nursing skill development by integrating informatics and technology to improve patient care (Himss, n.d). TIGER fosters clinical skills through provision of learning platforms for health care that are technologically driven and based on three core competencies. Firstly, basic computer competencies are mainly important since they help nurses to use computers appropriately to perform a variety of duties, such as correct information entry for patients (American Nurses Association, 2015).
ECDL is an example of resources that provide professional and international computer certification. Through these ECDL programs, nurses are able to acquire the necessary computer knowledge and skills needed for accurate and timely information access. Secondly, information literacy competencies enable nurses to recognize when information is needed and effectively use such information to improve health care (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015).