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Boston is a long distance from Durham, North Carolina, home to Duke University. Having never done distance-learning prior to this endeavor, I was drawn to the prestige of Duke University and its' rigorous Nursing Informatics program. The NI program was originally a certification program for post Masters students but the success of the program allowed for the development of the first online MSN program in Nursing Informatics under the leadership of Dr. Linda Goodwin. The spring of 2006 will culminate with my completion of the Post Masters Certificate Program in Nursing Informatics at Duke University.
The purpose of the site is to inform others of the preparational work involved to specialize in Nursing Informatics as well as a resource for potential employment in the field. Recognized as an emerging, specialized field by the American Nurses' Association (ANA) in 1992, Nursing Informatics has most recently been defined by the ANA as a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, and knowledge in nursing practice. Nursing informatics 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 through the use of information structures, information processes, and information technology." (American Nurses Association, [2001]. Scope and Standards of Nursing Informatics Practice. Washington; DC: American Nurses Publishing; 17). A comprehensive list of Nursing Informatics definitions can be found in text as well as via the www.
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Nursing Informatics practice utilizes the development, support, and evaluation of clinical applications, tools, processes, and structures which assist with the management of patient data in daily clinical nursing practice. The role of the Nurse Informaticist can involve any and all aspects of information systems including theory formulation, design, development, marketing, selection, testing, system implementation, training, maintenance, evaluation, and enhancement. This role is unique since Nurse Informaticists are engaged in clinical practice, education, consultation, research, and administration. Please take a few moments to browse through this site. You will find that Duke, in effort to maintain high quality standards, challenges the learner to achieve the highest level of scholarly effort. Under the mentorship of Dr. Linda Goodwin coupled with the dynamic of individual and peer group work, my experience at Duke University has yielded a well prepared path for future endeavors and an achieved ambition.
© Copyright Donald Grimes 2006  Last updated 4/9/06 |
