Subscribe to RSS
![](/products/assets/desktop/img/oa-logo.png)
DOI: 10.15265/IY-2016-039
Nursing Informatics Certification Worldwide: History, Pathway, Roles, and Motivation
Correspondence to:
Publication History
10 November 2016
Publication Date:
06 March 2018 (online)
Summary
Introduction: Official recognition and certification for informatics professionals are essential aspects of workforce development. Objective: To describe the history, pathways, and nuances of certification in nursing informatics across the globe; compare and contrast those with board certification in clinical informatics for physicians.
Methods: (1) A review of the representative literature on informatics certification and related competencies for nurses and physicians, and relevant websites for nursing informatics associations and societies worldwide; (2) similarities and differences between certification processes for nurses and physicians, and (3) perspectives on roles for nursing informatics professionals in healthcare Results: The literature search for ‘nursing informatics certification’ yielded few results in PubMed; Google Scholar yielded a large number of citations that extended to magazines and other non-peer reviewed sources. Worldwide, there are several nursing informatics associations, societies, and workgroups dedicated to nursing informatics associated with medical/health informatics societies. A formal certification program for nursing informatics appears to be available only in the United States. This certification was established in 1992, in concert with the formation and definition of nursing informatics as a specialty practice of nursing by the American Nurses Association. Although informatics is inherently interprofessional, certification pathways for nurses and physicians have developed separately, following long-standing professional structures, training, and pathways aligned with clinical licensure and direct patient care. There is substantial similarity with regard to the skills and competencies required for nurses and physicians to obtain informatics certification in their respective fields. Nurses may apply for and complete a certification examination if they have experience in the field, regardless of formal training. Increasing numbers of informatics nurses are pursuing certification.
Conclusions: The pathway to certification is clear and well-established for U.S. based informatics nurses. The motivation for obtaining and maintaining nursing informatics certification appears to be stronger for nurses who do not have an advanced informatics degree. The primary difference between nursing and physician certification pathways relates to the requirement of formal training and level of informatics practice. Nurse informatics certification requires no formal education or training and verifies knowledge and skill at a more basic level. Physician informatics certification validates informatics knowledge and skill at a more advanced level; currently this requires documentation of practice and experience in clinical informatics and in the future will require successful completion of an accredited two-year fellowship in clinical informatics. For the profession of nursing, a graduate degree in nursing or biomedical informatics validates specialty knowledge at a level more comparable to the physician certification. As the field of informatics and its professional organization structures mature, a common certification pathway may be appropriate. Nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals with informatics training and certification are needed to contribute their expertise in clinical operations, teaching, research, and executive leadership.
#
Keywords
Clinical informatics - certification - nursing informatics - physicians - informatics workforce
#
-
References
- 1 Kim GR, Lehmann CU. In search of dialogue and discourse in applied clinical informatics. Appl Clin Inform 2009; 0 (01) 1-7.
- 2 Adler-Milstein J, DesRoches CM, Kralovec P, Foster G, Worzala C, Charles D. et al. Electronic Health Record Adoption In US Hospitals: Progress Continues, But Challenges Persist. Health Aff (Millwood) 2015; 34 (12) 2174-80.
- 3 Yoshida Y, Imai T, Ohe K. The trends in EMR and CPOE adoption in Japan under the national strategy. Int J Med Inform 2013; 82 (10) 1004-11.
- 4 Borycki EM, Newsham D, Bates DW. eHealth in North America. Yearb Med Inform 2013; 8: 103-6.
- 5 Ortega Egea JM, Gonzalez MV, Menendez MR. eHealth usage patterns of European general practitioners: a five-year (2002-2007) comparative study. Int J Med Inform 2010; 79 (08) 539-53.
- 6 Jha AK, Doolan D, Grandt D, Scott T, Bates DW. The use of health information technology in seven nations. Int J Med Inform 2008; 77 (12) 848-54.
- 7 Lei J, Sockolow P, Guan P, Meng Q, Zhang J. A comparison of electronic health records at two major Peking University Hospitals in China to United States meaningful use objectives. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 2013; 13: 96.
- 8 Yoon D, Chang BC, Kang SW, Bae H, Park RW. Adoption of electronic health records in Korean tertiary teaching and general hospitals. Int J Med Inform 2012; 81 (03) 196-203.
- 9 Fuad A, Hsu CY. High rate EHR adoption in Korea and health IT rise in Asia. Int J Med Inform 2012; 81 (09) 649-50.
- 10 Park YT, Speedie SM, Lee YK, LaVenture M. IT use, quality of care, and adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in South Korean hospitals. AMIA Annu Symp Proc 2008: 1080.
- 11 Sheikh A, Sood HS, Bates DW. Leveraging health information technology to achieve the “triple aim” of healthcare reform. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2015; 22 (04) 849-56.
- 12 Joseph S, Sow M, Furukawa MF, Posnack S, Chaffee MA. HITECH spurs EHR vendor competition and innovation, resulting in increased adoption. Am J Manag Care 2014; 20 (09) 734-40.
- 13 Blumenthal D. Launching, HITECH. N Engl J Med 2010; 362 (05) 382-5.
- 14 Harrington L, CPHIMS F. AONE Creates New Position Paper: Nursing Informatics Executive Leader. Nurse Leader 2012; 10 (03) 17-8.
- 15 Kannry J, Sengstack P, Thyvalikakath TP, Poikonen J, Middleton B, Payne T. et al. The Chief Clinical Informatics Officer (CCIO): AMIA Task Force Report on CCIO Knowledge, Education, and Skillset Requirements. Appl Clin Inform 2016; 7: 143-76.
- 16 Saba VK, Skiba DJ, Bickford C. Competencies and credentialing: nursing informatics. Stud Health Technol Inform 2004; 109: 75-89.
- 17 Ozbolt JG, Saba VK. A brief history of nursing informatics in the United States of America. Nurs Outlook. 2008; 56 (05) 199-205 e2.
- 18 American Nurses Association.. Nursing informatics : scope and standards of practice. 2nd ed. Silver Spring, Md.: American Nurses Association; 2015
- 19 American Medical Informatics Association.. Advanced Interprofessional Informatics Certification (AIIC) Program 2014. [Available from: www.amia.org/advanced-interprofessional-informatics-certification.
- 20 Gundlapalli AV, Gundlapalli AV, Greaves WW, Kesler D, Murray P, Safran C. et al. Clinical Informatics Board Specialty Certification for Physicians: A Global View. Stud Health Technol Inform 2015; 216: 501-5.
- 21 Detmer DE, Shortliffe EH. Clinical informatics: prospects for a new medical subspecialty. JAMA 2014; 311 (20) 2067-8.
- 22 Lehmann CU, Shorte V, Gundlapalli AV. Clinical informatics sub-specialty board certification. Pediatrics in review / American Academy of Pediatrics 2013; 34 (11) 525-30.
- 23 Detmer DE. Engineering information technology for actionable information and better health - balancing social values through desired outcomes, complementary standards and decision-support. Stud Health Technol Inform 2010; 153: 107-18.
- 24 Ozbolt JG, Saba VK. A brief history of nursing informatics in the United States of America. Nurs Outlook 2008; 56 (05) 199-205 e2.
- 25 American Journal of Nursing Company., Institute for Scientific Information., National Library of Medicine (U.S.), American Nurses Association., National League for Nursing.. International nursing index. New York: American Journal of Nursing Co.; 1966. p. volumes.
- 26 Saba VK. Nursing informatics: yesterday, today and tomorrow. Int Nurs Rev. 2001; 48 (03) 177-87.
- 27 Wolters Kluwer.. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. (Lippincott Williams Wilkins); 2016 [Available from: http://journals.lww.com/cinjournal/pages/aboutthejournal.aspx">http://journals.lww.com/cinjournal/pages/aboutthejournal.aspx.
- 28 Cummins MR, Sward K, Guo JW. Leaders in Nursing Informatics Education and Research: The University of Utah Celebrates 25 Years. Comput Inform Nurs 2015; 33 (09) 379-81.
- 29 American Nurses Association, editor.. Nursing Informatics: Scope and Standards of Practice, 2nd Edition. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association; 2014
- 30 Staggers N, Gassert CA, Curran C. A Delphi study to determine informatics competencies for nurses at four levels of practice. Nurs Res 2002; 51 (06) 383-90.
- 31 Chang J, Poynton MR, Gassert CA, Staggers N. Nursing informatics competencies required of nurses in Taiwan. Int J Med Inform 2011; 80 (05) 332-40.
- 32 DuLong D, Gassert C. Technology informatics guiding education reform: TIGER Phase 2: Achieving the vision. Comput Inform Nurs 2008; 26 (01) 59-61.
- 33 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).. TIGER Expands Integration of Technology and Informatics with International Competency Synthesis Project 2016. [Available from: http://www.himss.org/News/NewsDetail.aspx?ItemNumber=46273.
- 34 Bickford CJ. Nursing informatics certification update. Comput Inform Nurs. 2009; 27 (03) 194-5.
- 35 American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).. Informatics Nursing Board Certification Test Content Outline - effective date: May 7, 2012 2012. [Available from: http://www.nursecredentialing.org/Documents/Certification/TestContentOutlines/Informatics-TCO2012.aspx">www.nursecredentialing.org/Documents/Certification/TestContentOutlines/Informatics-TCO2012.aspx.
- 36 (ANCC) ANCC.. Informatics Nursing Board Certification Test Content Outline - effective date: May 7, 2012 2012. [Available from: www.nursecredentialing.org/Documents/Certification/TestContentOutlines/Informatics-TCO2012.aspx.
- 37 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).. 2014 Nursing Informatics Workforce Survey 2014. [Available from: www.himss.org/ResourceLibrary/genResourceDetailPDF.aspx?ItemNumber=28238.
- 38 Detmer DE, Lumpkin JR, Williamson JJ. Defining the medical subspecialty of clinical informatics. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2009; 16 (02) 167-8.
- 39 Gardner RM, Overhage JM, Steen EB, Munger BS, Holmes JH, Williamson JJ. et al. Core content for the subspecialty of clinical informatics. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2009; 16 (02) 153-7.
- 40 Safran C, Shabot MM, Munger BS, Holmes JH, Steen EB, Lumpkin JR. et al. Program requirements for fellowship education in the subspecialty of clinical informatics. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2009; 16 (02) 158-66.
- 41 Bloomrosen M, Starren J, Lorenzi NM, Ash JS, Patel VL, Shortliffe EH. Anticipating and addressing the unintended consequences of health IT and policy: a report from the AMIA 2009 Health Policy Meeting. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2011; 18 (01) 82-90.
- 42 Detmer DE, Munger BS, Lehmann CU. Clinical informatics board certification: history, current status, and predicted impact on the clinical informatics workforce. Appl Clin Inform 2010; 1 (01) 11-8.
- 43 Staggers N, Gassert CA, Curran C. Informatics competencies for nurses at four levels of practice. J Nurs Educ 2001; 40 (07) 303-16.
- 44 Poe SS. The Chief Nursing Information Officers Impact on Electronic Health Record Implementation. iHealth Connections 2011; 1 (01) 61-3.
Correspondence to:
-
References
- 1 Kim GR, Lehmann CU. In search of dialogue and discourse in applied clinical informatics. Appl Clin Inform 2009; 0 (01) 1-7.
- 2 Adler-Milstein J, DesRoches CM, Kralovec P, Foster G, Worzala C, Charles D. et al. Electronic Health Record Adoption In US Hospitals: Progress Continues, But Challenges Persist. Health Aff (Millwood) 2015; 34 (12) 2174-80.
- 3 Yoshida Y, Imai T, Ohe K. The trends in EMR and CPOE adoption in Japan under the national strategy. Int J Med Inform 2013; 82 (10) 1004-11.
- 4 Borycki EM, Newsham D, Bates DW. eHealth in North America. Yearb Med Inform 2013; 8: 103-6.
- 5 Ortega Egea JM, Gonzalez MV, Menendez MR. eHealth usage patterns of European general practitioners: a five-year (2002-2007) comparative study. Int J Med Inform 2010; 79 (08) 539-53.
- 6 Jha AK, Doolan D, Grandt D, Scott T, Bates DW. The use of health information technology in seven nations. Int J Med Inform 2008; 77 (12) 848-54.
- 7 Lei J, Sockolow P, Guan P, Meng Q, Zhang J. A comparison of electronic health records at two major Peking University Hospitals in China to United States meaningful use objectives. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 2013; 13: 96.
- 8 Yoon D, Chang BC, Kang SW, Bae H, Park RW. Adoption of electronic health records in Korean tertiary teaching and general hospitals. Int J Med Inform 2012; 81 (03) 196-203.
- 9 Fuad A, Hsu CY. High rate EHR adoption in Korea and health IT rise in Asia. Int J Med Inform 2012; 81 (09) 649-50.
- 10 Park YT, Speedie SM, Lee YK, LaVenture M. IT use, quality of care, and adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in South Korean hospitals. AMIA Annu Symp Proc 2008: 1080.
- 11 Sheikh A, Sood HS, Bates DW. Leveraging health information technology to achieve the “triple aim” of healthcare reform. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2015; 22 (04) 849-56.
- 12 Joseph S, Sow M, Furukawa MF, Posnack S, Chaffee MA. HITECH spurs EHR vendor competition and innovation, resulting in increased adoption. Am J Manag Care 2014; 20 (09) 734-40.
- 13 Blumenthal D. Launching, HITECH. N Engl J Med 2010; 362 (05) 382-5.
- 14 Harrington L, CPHIMS F. AONE Creates New Position Paper: Nursing Informatics Executive Leader. Nurse Leader 2012; 10 (03) 17-8.
- 15 Kannry J, Sengstack P, Thyvalikakath TP, Poikonen J, Middleton B, Payne T. et al. The Chief Clinical Informatics Officer (CCIO): AMIA Task Force Report on CCIO Knowledge, Education, and Skillset Requirements. Appl Clin Inform 2016; 7: 143-76.
- 16 Saba VK, Skiba DJ, Bickford C. Competencies and credentialing: nursing informatics. Stud Health Technol Inform 2004; 109: 75-89.
- 17 Ozbolt JG, Saba VK. A brief history of nursing informatics in the United States of America. Nurs Outlook. 2008; 56 (05) 199-205 e2.
- 18 American Nurses Association.. Nursing informatics : scope and standards of practice. 2nd ed. Silver Spring, Md.: American Nurses Association; 2015
- 19 American Medical Informatics Association.. Advanced Interprofessional Informatics Certification (AIIC) Program 2014. [Available from: www.amia.org/advanced-interprofessional-informatics-certification.
- 20 Gundlapalli AV, Gundlapalli AV, Greaves WW, Kesler D, Murray P, Safran C. et al. Clinical Informatics Board Specialty Certification for Physicians: A Global View. Stud Health Technol Inform 2015; 216: 501-5.
- 21 Detmer DE, Shortliffe EH. Clinical informatics: prospects for a new medical subspecialty. JAMA 2014; 311 (20) 2067-8.
- 22 Lehmann CU, Shorte V, Gundlapalli AV. Clinical informatics sub-specialty board certification. Pediatrics in review / American Academy of Pediatrics 2013; 34 (11) 525-30.
- 23 Detmer DE. Engineering information technology for actionable information and better health - balancing social values through desired outcomes, complementary standards and decision-support. Stud Health Technol Inform 2010; 153: 107-18.
- 24 Ozbolt JG, Saba VK. A brief history of nursing informatics in the United States of America. Nurs Outlook 2008; 56 (05) 199-205 e2.
- 25 American Journal of Nursing Company., Institute for Scientific Information., National Library of Medicine (U.S.), American Nurses Association., National League for Nursing.. International nursing index. New York: American Journal of Nursing Co.; 1966. p. volumes.
- 26 Saba VK. Nursing informatics: yesterday, today and tomorrow. Int Nurs Rev. 2001; 48 (03) 177-87.
- 27 Wolters Kluwer.. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. (Lippincott Williams Wilkins); 2016 [Available from: http://journals.lww.com/cinjournal/pages/aboutthejournal.aspx">http://journals.lww.com/cinjournal/pages/aboutthejournal.aspx.
- 28 Cummins MR, Sward K, Guo JW. Leaders in Nursing Informatics Education and Research: The University of Utah Celebrates 25 Years. Comput Inform Nurs 2015; 33 (09) 379-81.
- 29 American Nurses Association, editor.. Nursing Informatics: Scope and Standards of Practice, 2nd Edition. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association; 2014
- 30 Staggers N, Gassert CA, Curran C. A Delphi study to determine informatics competencies for nurses at four levels of practice. Nurs Res 2002; 51 (06) 383-90.
- 31 Chang J, Poynton MR, Gassert CA, Staggers N. Nursing informatics competencies required of nurses in Taiwan. Int J Med Inform 2011; 80 (05) 332-40.
- 32 DuLong D, Gassert C. Technology informatics guiding education reform: TIGER Phase 2: Achieving the vision. Comput Inform Nurs 2008; 26 (01) 59-61.
- 33 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).. TIGER Expands Integration of Technology and Informatics with International Competency Synthesis Project 2016. [Available from: http://www.himss.org/News/NewsDetail.aspx?ItemNumber=46273.
- 34 Bickford CJ. Nursing informatics certification update. Comput Inform Nurs. 2009; 27 (03) 194-5.
- 35 American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).. Informatics Nursing Board Certification Test Content Outline - effective date: May 7, 2012 2012. [Available from: http://www.nursecredentialing.org/Documents/Certification/TestContentOutlines/Informatics-TCO2012.aspx">www.nursecredentialing.org/Documents/Certification/TestContentOutlines/Informatics-TCO2012.aspx.
- 36 (ANCC) ANCC.. Informatics Nursing Board Certification Test Content Outline - effective date: May 7, 2012 2012. [Available from: www.nursecredentialing.org/Documents/Certification/TestContentOutlines/Informatics-TCO2012.aspx.
- 37 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).. 2014 Nursing Informatics Workforce Survey 2014. [Available from: www.himss.org/ResourceLibrary/genResourceDetailPDF.aspx?ItemNumber=28238.
- 38 Detmer DE, Lumpkin JR, Williamson JJ. Defining the medical subspecialty of clinical informatics. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2009; 16 (02) 167-8.
- 39 Gardner RM, Overhage JM, Steen EB, Munger BS, Holmes JH, Williamson JJ. et al. Core content for the subspecialty of clinical informatics. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2009; 16 (02) 153-7.
- 40 Safran C, Shabot MM, Munger BS, Holmes JH, Steen EB, Lumpkin JR. et al. Program requirements for fellowship education in the subspecialty of clinical informatics. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2009; 16 (02) 158-66.
- 41 Bloomrosen M, Starren J, Lorenzi NM, Ash JS, Patel VL, Shortliffe EH. Anticipating and addressing the unintended consequences of health IT and policy: a report from the AMIA 2009 Health Policy Meeting. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2011; 18 (01) 82-90.
- 42 Detmer DE, Munger BS, Lehmann CU. Clinical informatics board certification: history, current status, and predicted impact on the clinical informatics workforce. Appl Clin Inform 2010; 1 (01) 11-8.
- 43 Staggers N, Gassert CA, Curran C. Informatics competencies for nurses at four levels of practice. J Nurs Educ 2001; 40 (07) 303-16.
- 44 Poe SS. The Chief Nursing Information Officers Impact on Electronic Health Record Implementation. iHealth Connections 2011; 1 (01) 61-3.