Informatics Competencies

I came across the following article in my readings the other day that made me sit up and think.

Curren, C. Informatics competencies for nurse practitioners. AACN Clin Issues. 2003 Aug;14(3):320-30.

It discusses the informatics competencies that are essential for advanced level nurse education and practice. It is a landmark document, authored by a faculty member at Columbia University School of Nursing. She, along with two nurse informaticists and six nurse practitioners developed the proposed competencies. Prior to its publication, competencies in this area had not been defined and validated. They had been defined for general levels of nursing practice, but not for the level of students that we see here at YSN.

This is the earlier article defining competencies for general levels of nursing practice:
Staggers N. etal. A Delphi study to determine informatics competencies for nurses at four levels of practice. Nurs Res. 2002 Nov-Dec;51(6):383-90.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Curren article is that the panel had omited some of the earlier competenices because they are assumed as clinicians progress in their career. Those competencies added relate to Evidence Based Practice. Going forward these competencies need to be addressed at the level of education of the clinicians who are taking on advanced level nursing roles. This is because currently nurse managers in hospitals are playing catch-up, eager to understand the principals that were not part of their education, anxious because of the implications if they don't.

It is great food for thought.
It is easy to read.
The tables enable a quick glance at the competencies.