NCM 110 – NURSING INFORMATICS
INTRODUCTION TO NURSING INFORMATICS
NURSING INFORMATICS
– Informatics is the science and art of turning data into
information (Bemmel and Musen, 1997)
INFORMATICS
– Healthcare Information and Management Systems
Society (HIMMS),2019)
– Study of the structure, behavior, and interactions of
natural and engineered computational systems.
– Studies the representation, processing, and
communication of information in natural and
engineered systems.
– Has computational, cognitive, and social aspects.
HEALTH INFORMATICS
– US National Library of Medicine, 2014
– Interdisciplinary study of the design, development,
adoption, and application of IT-based innovations in
health care services delivery, management, and
planning
NURSING INFORMATICS (American Nurses Association,
2001)
– American Nurses Association, 2001
– A specialty that integrates nursing science, computer
science, and information science, to manage and
communicate data, information, and knowledge in
nursing practice.
– Facilitates the integration of data, information, and
knowledge to support patients, nurses, and other
providers in their decision-making in all roles and
settings. This support is accomplished using
information structures, information processes, and
information technology.
– Computer science, information science, and nursing
science combined to assist in the management and
processing of nursing data, information, and
knowledge to support the practice of nursing and the
delivery of nursing care.
NURSING INFORMATICS (Canadian Nurses Association,
2018)
– Canadian Nurses Association, 2018
– Practice and science of integrating nursing
information and knowledge with technology to
manage and integrate health information.
– Goal: improve health of people and communities
while reducing costs.
NURSING INFORMATICS (ANA 2019 ; HIMSS, 2019)
– “Specialty that integrates nursing science with
multiple information and analytical sciences to
identify, define, manage and communicate data,
information, knowledge and wisdom in nursing
practice.”
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES IN NURSING
INFORMATICS
– Nursing informatics emerged as a response to the
innovations and development in technologies in the
health care industry and in nursing practice.
SIX (6) IMPORTANT TIME PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF
NURSING INFORMATICS
1. Before the 1960s
2. The 1960s
3. The 1970s
4. The 1980s
5. The 1990s
6. After 2000s
BEFORE THE 1960S
• Computers were initially used in the health care
facilities for basic business office functions.
• Early computers used punch cards to store data and
card readers to read computer programs, sort and
prepare data for processing.
Computers used around the 50s to 60s
THE 1960S
• Studies were conducted to determine the effective
utilization of the computer technology in health care
industry and to identify the areas of nursing that needs
to be automated.
• Hospital Information Systems (HIS) were developed
primarily to process financial transactions and serve as
billing and accounting systems.
THE 1970S
• Nurses recognized the computer’s potential for
improving documentation of nursing practice, the
quality of patient care and the repetitive aspects of
managing patient care.
• Nurses assisted in designing several mainframes for
the Health Information Systems (HIS)
• Computers used in financial and management functions
were perceived as cost-saving technologies.
• Many of the early Health Information Systems (HIS)
were developed and funded by contractors and grants
from federal agencies in the United States.
THE 1980S
• Nursing informatics became an accepted specialty and
many nursing experts entered the field.
• Discharge planning systems were developed and used
as referrals to community health care facilities in the
continuum of care.
• Microcomputers/PCs emerged in this period.
THE 1990S
• In 1992, Nursing Informatics was approved by the
American Nurses Association (ANA) as a new nursing
specialty. (McCormick, et al., 1994)
• This was the period that brought laptops and notebooks
to the bedside and all the point-of-care settings.
• Local Area Networks (LANs) were developed for
hospital nursing units. Wide Area Networks (WANs)
were developed for linking care across health care
facilities. Internet was also started to be used.
