Application of Nursing Informatics: Competencies, Skills, and Decision-Making

Designed to provide a foundation for nursing informatics knowledge and skills required in today's data-driven healthcare environment, this text examines the impact and implementation of technology in nursing practice. Patient healthcare needs have only become more complex in a rapidly aging and diversifying population. Nurse Informaticists, as experts in improving healthcare delivery through data and technology, play a key role in ensuring quality and safety to patients. This text relies on nurses' practical experience to foster higher-level critical thinking and decision-making for professional development in informatics and life-long learning.

Application of Informatics and Technology in Nursing Practice addresses the foundations of Nursing Informatics competencies, streamlined for the unique experience of practicing nurses. Organized around the framework of AACN Essentials of Baccalaureate Education, ANA Scope and Standards of Practice for Nursing Informatics, Institute of Medicine (IOM) Competencies, and Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs), this text features numerous case scenarios of real-life applications to engage the reader and reinforce content. Chapters cover informatics competencies, knowledge, and skills in a concise manner that recognizes the value of prior nursing experience and builds upon the reader's existing knowledge-base.

Key Features

• Provides information needed for all nurses in order to advance professionally in the new discipline and specialty of Nursing Informatics.
• Each chapter contains relevant critical thinking exercises, vignettes, and case studies
• Provides information and skills needed by nurses specific to a variety of healthcare settings
• Each chapter contains end-of-Chapter Learning Assessments: What Do You Know Now?
• Instructor Ancillary Package is included

Carolyn Sipes, PhD, RN-BC, CNS, APN, PMP, is an associate professor at Chamberlain College of Nursing, and the subject matter expert (SME) for MSN Nursing Informatics Specialty Track. Dr. Sipes has more than 30 years' experience in management, as a director and in other nurse executive leadership positions, while also teaching part time. At the executive level, she worked as a consultant for implementations of electronic medical records (EMRs) at companies such as IBM, where she was involved in work on the iSOFT pilot project in England with the National Health System (NHS). It was here she achieved her project management professional (PMP) certification through the Project Management Institute (PMI). She also is board certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center in Nursing Informatics (RN-BC) and holds a PhD, as well as clinical nurse specialist (CNS) and advanced practice nursing (APN) licenses. She also holds eight Epic certifications for clinical EHR implementations.

Dr. Sipes has worked as a senior/principal consultant on 23 EMR implementations over 12 years for such companies as HealthLink, Healthcare Informatics Associates, Inc. (HIA), Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, to name a few. Dr. Sipes is the president, CEO, and founder of the Center for EHR Program Management, LLC, a consulting company for the implementations of EHRs.

Dr. Sipes started her nursing career as a BSN, working in neurology/neurosurgery, then completed her MSN and CNS while working in home care in Chicago, then as a pediatric AIDS CNS and as a NIH study coordinator for pediatric AIDS. She received an NIH fellowship to complete her doctoral studies in HIV/AIDS at Rush University, Chicago. During this time she also worked as a director of outcomes research and designed the Medical Outcomes System Assessment tool (MOS) used to evaluate physical functional assessments for subacute care organizations. Her dissertation on male caregivers who provided care for their partners with HIV/AIDS has been published and updated numerous times. During this time she also served as the vice president of an HIV/AIDs clinic in Chicago. After completing her doctorate, she worked as a research scientist for a major pharmaceutical company where she designed the Tolerability of Medication Assessment tool (TOMA). The research conducted using this tool was presented at the World AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain.

Dr. Sipes began designing and teaching informatics courses while consulting as a full-time senior project manager/director. These experiences led her to teaching informatics full time at the master's and doctoral levels. She has also published and presented, nationally and internationally, more than 19 nursing informatics and project management topics including webinars for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, over the past 3 years.