Nursing Informatics: Decades of Contribution to Health Informatics

Abstract

ObjectivesIn this paper we present a contemporary understanding of "nursing informatics" and relate it to applications in three specific contexts, hospitals, community health, and home dwelling, to illustrate achievements that contribute to the overall schema of health informatics.MethodsWe identified literature through database searches in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library. Database searching was complemented by one author search and hand searches in six relevant journals. The literature review helped in conceptual clarification and elaborate on use that are supported by applications in different settings.ResultsConceptual clarification of nursing data, information and knowledge has been expanded to include wisdom. Information systems and support for nursing practice benefits from conceptual clarification of nursing data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. We introduce three examples of information systems and point out core issues for information integration and practice development.ConclusionsExploring interplays of data, information, knowledge, and wisdom, nursing informatics takes a practice turn, accommodating to processes of application design and deployment for purposeful use by nurses in different settings. Collaborative efforts will be key to further achievements that support task shifting, mobility, and ubiquitous health care.

The current state of Nursing Informatics – An international cross-sectional survey

“…Prior research has indicated a need for more middle range theories in NI [40], however there are theories that may be transferred and used according to different NI perspectives and application. Furthermore, a research agenda for NI has identified the need for more transdisciplinary research [40] and collaboration [10,29]. More focused efforts could be directed to emphasize NI needs and strengthen global initiatives once NI is more clearly defined.…”

“…Today, a common understanding of NI is as a specialty within the discipline of nursing science or as a part of a multidisciplinary field integrating "nursing science with multiple information management and analytical sciences to identify, define, manage and communicate data, information, knowledge and wisdom in nursing practice" [7][8][9][10] often belonging under the broad umbrella of medical and health informatics [2,10]. Those nurses who work and study in this field are often referred to as nurse informaticians.…”

Aligning information technologies with evidence-based health-care activities: A design and evaluation framework

“…Secondly, HITs can be categorized according to the operational or disciplinary context in which they are used. For example, they may be understood from the perspective of clinical informatics, public health informatics, nursing informatics, imaging informatics, or consumer health informatics (Barrett, Liaw, & de Lusignan, 2014;Demiris, 2016;Hersh, 2009;Moen & Knudsen, 2013;Shortliffe & Cimino, 2006). Although these sorts of classifications serve to highlight the unique disciplinary differences in the application of technology, they fail to highlight the aspects of HITs that transcend disciplinary boundaries and the role they play in supporting the actual information flow that underlies EBHC activities.…”

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“…Likewise, there is frequently a tendency for researchers of a discipline to hold on to well-known research methodologies or technologies rather than adopting new methodological or technical approaches that may contribute more effectively to research outcomes and advance collective and interdisciplinary understanding (see e.g. [13,14,15]). These observations prompt a number of questions: 1.…”

“…Anne Moen: We should ask more questions to scrutinise our assumptions, and therefore ask questions 'if -when -how' standardized and formalized representations play out in fine-tuned, socio-cultural webs of personal, professional, organizational, technical and culturally oriented health and wellness activities [56]. Furthermore, I would like to see more co-creating re-…”