How Do Future Nursing Educators Perceive Informatics? Advancing the Nursing Informatics Agenda through Dialogue

Informatics is a popular topic in literature, in media, and in education. However, nursing professionals and even nursing faculty may not have a clear understanding of informatics. The authors conducted a small simulation study to examine how nursing students enrolled in a doctor of philosophy program—future nursing educators—perceived informatics and its core elements. Using an online collaboration tool, the students were asked to create a plan for integrating informatics into a simulated undergraduate nursing program. The results of the study provide lessons for nursing professionals and educators. Students identified only a handful of competencies believed important by informatics initiatives led by the American Nurses Association and the Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform. Although most students believed an undergraduate curriculum should teach computer skills, only a few participants identified information literacy skills, such as privacy and security of health information, as important for beginning nurses. Although limited, findings articulate the need for a universally accepted definition of informatics and a shared understanding of an informatics core curriculum.