Self-assessment of nursing informatics competencies for doctor of nursing practice students

Psychometric properties of instruments used to measure the informatics competence of nurses: A systematic review

AIM

This systematic review aimed to assess the psychometric properties of existing nursing informatics scales of competence and provide an evidence-based basis for selecting the most appropriate assessment instruments for specific populations.

BACKGROUND

Informatics competency is one of the fundamental competencies that nurses should have. Using an informatics competency assessment instrument is an effective way to identify competency gaps and develop a professional development plan to address them. However, no systematic reviews summarizing and assessing the psychometric properties of all nursing informatics competency assessment instruments exist.

DESIGN

This study systematically reviews measurement properties using the Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) methodology.

METHODS

Eight electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, PsychInfo, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and WanFang Data) were systematically searched from inception until January 10, 2024. Methodological quality was assessed using the COSMIN Risk of Bias Checklist. We used the COSMIN criteria to summarize and rate the psychometric properties.

RESULTS

Twenty-seven studies reported twenty-five various versions of the instruments. Eighteen instruments assessed only one to three psychometric properties. No studies report cross-cultural effectiveness/measurement invariance and measurement error. The quality of evidence for structural validity or internal consistency for the three instruments failed to satisfy the COSMIN criteria. The SANICS-C has moderate to high-quality evidence of adequate content validity and internal consistency. In the end, the SANICS-C was an A recommendation, three instruments were C recommendations and the rest were B recommendations.

CONCLUSION

The Nursing Informatics Competencies Scale for Nursing Students, SANICS-C and ICAT can be used to assess the informatics competencies of undergraduate, graduate and doctoral nursing students, respectively. The C-NICAS-FR is recommended for the assessment of nurses' informatics competence. The Self-Assessment Questionnaire for Nursing Informatics Competencies of Nursing Manager can be recommended for assessing nurse leaders' informatics competencies. Future research needs to validate these instruments' cross-cultural applicability further and comprehensively assess their psychometric properties. Along with emerging technologies, researchers should continually revisit and revise existing assessment instruments and develop instruments to assess the informatics competencies of nursing teachers.

Expanding the Informatics Competencies of Nurse Practitioners Through Online Learning

Nurse practitioners' informatics competencies are not well-understood. Limited evidence alludes to the potential need to improve the informatics competencies of nurse practitioners. The primary purpose of this study was to analyze the informatics competencies of nurse practitioners, including nurses training to become nurse practitioners, before and after completing an online learning module in nursing informatics. Six topics were covered in the investigator-developed learning module. A pretest-posttest, one-group, quasi-experimental design was used in the study. The link to the study was emailed to members of a local nurse practitioners' association in California and graduate nursing students at a public university in Missouri. The study was also shared on a professional networking Web site, LinkedIn. Data were collected from 15 nurse practitioners and two nurse practitioner students, using a demographic questionnaire and an 18-item self-assessment of informatics competency scale. A related-samples Sign test was conducted to compare the pretest and posttest scores. Statistically significant median increases ( P = .001 to <.001) were found in five areas. Findings suggest that the online learning module expanded the participants' competencies in specific areas of informatics. The results also provide an initial understanding of nurse practitioners' informatics competencies and inform future iterations of the study.

Approaches for defining and assessing nursing informatics competencies: a scoping review

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this scoping review was to examine and map the literature on defining and assessing nursing informatics competencies for nurses and nursing students.

INTRODUCTION

Over the past three decades, nursing informatics competency research has evolved markedly within countries and nursing roles. It is important to examine the available literature on defining and assessing nursing informatics competencies to inform education, clinical practice, policy, and future research.

INCLUSION CRITERIA

We considered literature that defined or assessed the concept of nursing informatics competency as a combination of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. This included nursing informatics competencies of nurses and nursing students in a variety of health care or academic settings.

METHODS

An extensive search was conducted in Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus with Full Text via EBSCO, Ovid Embase, Ovid PsycINFO, ProQuest ERIC, Health and Psychosocial Instruments, ProQuest Australian Education Index, ProQuest Education Databases, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, OCLC PapersFirst, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, Wiley Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports. The initial search was conducted in May 2017 and updated several times. Nursing informatics websites were searched for gray literature, including unpublished research and organizational documents. Additional papers were identified based on a search of reference lists of all the included papers. Neither language nor date restrictions were applied. Two reviewers assessed each of the included papers independently. Data extraction was undertaken using an extraction tool developed specifically for the scoping review objectives.

RESULTS

Fifty-two papers were included. Thirty-four papers identified nursing informatics competencies, grouped into four categories: i) nursing informatics competencies for students, entry-level nurses, or generalist nurses; ii) nursing informatics competencies for a specific nursing role; iii) recommendations for consensus on defining core nursing informatics competencies at the international level; and iv) forecasting future nursing informatics competencies as per evolving nursing roles. Eighteen papers reported on nursing informatics competency assessment tools. Results were discussed in a narrative format supported by tables.

CONCLUSIONS

This review provided insights to the state of the science on defining and assessing nursing informatics competencies for nurses and nursing students. Several nursing informatics competency lists are available, and despite some variations in domains of nursing informatics competency and indicator statements, they mostly share common themes. This literature demonstrates a heightened awareness of the importance of nursing informatics competency; however, the availability of many lists may be challenging for frontline nursing staff, nursing educators, administrators, researchers, and students to assimilate. Further research is needed to reach a consensus on core domains of nursing informatics competency and associated indicators, preferably per nursing roles, with international involvement and consensus. Additionally, while many nursing informatics competency assessment tools exist, further research is needed to examine psychometric properties of some of these tools.

Assessing the effect of virtual education on information literacy competency for evidence-based practice among the undergraduate nursing students

Background

Information literacy competency is one of the requirements to implement Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) in nursing. It is necessary to pay attention to curricular development and use new educational methods such as virtual education to strengthen information literacy competency in nursing students. Given the scarcity of the studies on the effectiveness of virtual education in nursing, particularly in Iran, and the positive university atmosphere regarding the use of virtual education, this study investigated the effect of virtual education on the undergraduate nursing students’ information literacy competency for EBP.

Methods

This interventional study was performed with two groups of intervention and control and a pretest and posttest design. Seventy-nine nursing students were selected and assigned to the intervention or control groups by random sampling. Virtual education of the information literacy was uploaded on a website in the form of six modules delivered in four weeks. Questionnaires of demographic information and information literacy for EBP were used to collect data before and one month after the virtual education.

Results

The results showed no significant difference between the control and intervention groups in all dimensions of information literacy competency in the pre-test stage. In the post-test, the virtual education improved dimensions of information seeking skills (t = 3.14, p = 0.002) and knowledge about search operators (t = 39.84, p = 0.001) in the intervention groups compared with the control group. The virtual education did not have any significant effect on the use of different information resources and development of search strategy with assessing the frequency of selecting the most appropriate search statement in the intervention group.

Conclusion

Virtual education had a significant effect on information seeking skills and knowledge about search operators in nursing students. Nurse educators can benefit from our experiences in designing this method for the use of virtual education programs in nursing schools. Given the lack of effectiveness of this program in using different information resources and development of search strategy, nurse educators are recommended to train information literacy for EBP by integrating several approaches such as virtual (online and offline) and face-to-face education.

Informatics Experience Can Help Predict Doctor of Nursing Practice Student Mastery of Informatics Competencies

With information technology increasingly guiding nursing practice, Doctor of Nursing Practice students must be prepared to use informatics to optimize patient outcomes despite their varied experience and education. Understanding how students' baseline experience affects their mastery of informatics competencies could help faculty design Doctor of Nursing Practice course content. Therefore, the aim of this retrospective descriptive study was to evaluate whether Doctor of Nursing Practice students' baseline informatics experience affected their mastery of four competencies: meaningful use, datasets, e-health, and clinical support systems. Participants were Doctor of Nursing Practice students (n = 55) enrolled in an online informatics course. Participant experience was compared to competency mastery using χ tests. Logistic regression was performed to assess the effect of experience and highest degree obtained on competency mastery. Analysis revealed that participants with meaningful use experience were significantly more likely to master the meaningful use competency than were those without it. Relevant experience did not predict mastery of dataset competencies. Participants with e-health experience were significantly more likely to master the e-health competency (applying e-health resources to vulnerable patients' learning needs). While not significant, a greater percentage of students with clinical support systems experience mastered the clinical support systems competency. Informatics courses might need to be designed to address students' needs based on their experience.

A Review of Clinical Informatics Competencies in Nursing to Inform Best Practices in Education and Nurse Faculty Development

AIM

The aim of this literature review was to determine the state of the science related to clinical informatics competencies of registered nurses and to determine best practices in educational strategies for both nursing students and faculty.

BACKGROUND

Continued emphasis on the provision of evidence-based patient care has implications for requisite informatics-focused competencies to be threaded throughout all levels of nursing educational programs.

METHOD

Whittemore and Knalf's five-step integrative review process guided this research. An extensive search yielded 69 publications for critical appraisal.

RESULTS

Results suggest nursing educational programs do not adhere to standardized criteria for teaching nursing informatics competencies. Another identified literature gap was the scarcity of research related to informatics training requirements for nurse educators.

CONCLUSION

Findings support the need for continued research to provide clear direction about the expected clinical informatics competencies of graduate nurses and what training faculty need to facilitate student learning.

Evaluation of Doctor of Nursing Practice Students' Competencies in an Online Informatics Course

BACKGROUND

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs have experienced rapid growth across the United States. With the expansion of electronic health records, DNP students are expected to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to manage data and apply informatics concepts. However, little information exists to help faculty evaluate student competency in these areas.

METHOD

This retrospective analysis evaluated the competencies of a convenience sample of DNP students enrolled in an online informatics course. Two areas were assessed in this study: acquisition of informatics skills, and analysis or application of informatics concepts.

RESULTS

Regarding informatics skills, postbaccalaureate students performed better than post-master's students. In analysis and application of informatics concepts, post-master's students performed better than postbaccalaureate students.

CONCLUSION

Different educational strategies may need to be created to meet the varying needs of postbaccalaureate and post-master's students in DNP programs. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(6):364-367.].

[Technological competencies in cardiovascular nursing education]

OBJECTIVE

To identify the perception of the coordinators of the Specialization Courses in Cardiovascular Nursing about inserting content from Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and analyze them in relation to the technological competencies and regarding its applicability, relevance and importance in assisting, teaching and management.

METHOD

Descriptive study with 10 coordinators of the Specialization course in Cardiologic Nursing, who replied to the questionnaire for the development of technological competency adapted from the Technology Initiative Guidelines Education Reforms (TIGER), and analyzed using the Delphi technique for obtaining consensus and scored according to the relevance, pertinence and applicability using Likert scale according to degree of agreement.

RESULTS

Six courses developed ICT content. The contents of the TIGER were considered relevant, pertinent and applicable.

CONCLUSION

The coordinators recognize the need for technological competencies of the Cardiovascular Nurse for healthcare applicability.

Access to, interest in and attitude toward e-learning for continuous education among Malaysian nurses

BACKGROUND

Continuous nursing education (CNE) courses delivered through e-learning is believed to be an effective mode of learning for nurses. Implementation of e-learning modules requires pre-assessment of infrastructure and learners' characteristics. Understanding the learners' needs and their perspectives would facilitate effective e-learning delivery by addressing the underlying issues and providing necessary support to learners.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to examine access to computer and Internet facilities, interest in and preferences regarding e-learning, and attitudes toward e-learning among nurses in Peninsular Malaysia.

DESIGN

The study utilized a cross-sectional descriptive survey.

SETTING

Government hospitals and community clinics in four main regions of Peninsular Malaysia.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 300 registered nurses.

METHOD

Data were collected using questionnaires, which consisted of demographic and background items and questions on access to computer and Internet facilities, interest and preferences in e-learning, and attitudes toward e-learning. Descriptive analysis and a chi-squared test were used to identify associations between variables.

RESULTS

Most Malaysian nurses had access to a personal or home computer (85.3%, n=256) and computer access at work (85.3%, n=256). The majority had Internet access at home (84%, n=252) and at work (71.8%, n=215); however, average hours of weekly computer use were low. Most nurses (83%, n=249) did not have an e-learning experience but were interested in e-learning activities. Most nurses displayed positive attitudes toward e-learning. Average weekly computer use and interest in e-learning were positively associated with attitudes toward e-learning.

CONCLUSION

Study findings suggest that organizational support is needed to promote accessibility of information and communications technology (ICT) facilities for Malaysian nurses to motivate their involvement in e-learning.

Short message service use in clinical care through a simulation activity

BACKGROUND

Research has shown that the integration of informatics competencies into nursing education especially for Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students, has been inadequate. This article reports on a Short Message Service (SMS) simulation activity for incorporating informatics knowledge and skills into the DNP curriculum.

METHOD

DNP students participated in a 3-week simulated ecological momentary assessment using SMS technology. Students rated their experience through a survey and wrote a 1 page narrative describing their experience. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and open-ended coding.

RESULTS

This simulation activity provided information for the future delivery of care using SMS. The cost-saving potential of follow-up messaging reimbursement for providers who use SMS may be a worthwhile investment of health care payers.

CONCLUSIONS

This activity demonstrated the usefulness of SMS technology for helping patients manage their chronic health conditions. Use of SMS would be a reinforcing factor for providers in clinical care if it becomes reimbursable.