Information technology has become an important component of the nursing environment and thus nurses need to develop appropriate skills that can enable them operate effectively while using technology. Nurse leaders and nurses need to develop and continuously improve their nursing informatics knowledge and also constantly. Knowing where one stand in regard to nursing informatics also require additional skills such as ability for self-assessment that can enable nurse leaders understand where the stand. This notion is well covered by Phillips, Yen, Kennedy, & Collins, (2017) in their article, Opportunity and Approach for Implementation of a Self-Assessment Tool: Nursing Informatics Competencies for Nurse Leaders (NICA-NL).
The Nursing Informatics Competencies for Nurse Leaders (NICA-NL) provides nurse leaders with a validated scale that they can use to conduct self-assessments to establish their competence. The NICA-NL provides 26 items categorized into six factors. The factors are, “Strategic Implementation Management, Advanced Information Management, and Education, Executive Planning, Ethical and Legal Concepts, Information Systems Concepts, Requirements, and System Selection” (Phillips et al. 2017).
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The NICA-NL tool applies to a healthcare setting in various ways. It can be influential in reshaping the institution's vision or ensuring the development of nursing informatics is in line with the institutions' missions. Technology is meant to facilitate better delivery, evaluation, and improvement of healthcare. NICA-NL provides opportunities for improving nursing practice especially through the use of “Reach, Efficacy, Adoption, Implantation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework” (Phillips et al. 2017). The framework creates an incremental path and relevant guidance that an organization can use to achieve the required informatics levels of competence for the nurse leaders.
The NICA-NL tool also effectively facilitates the measurement or evaluation of organizational capacity for nursing informatics. The exploration and determining the ability of origination to meet the requirements of the six areas of NICA-NL enable organizations to determine their capacity for nursing informatics. In areas that the nurses lack competency, they can receive one-on-one sessions and guidance various pertinent concepts. Existing gaps can be identified, and new nursing informatics knowledge used to develop solutions for the gap. The tool facilitates the collection and analysis of data on the existing dynamics in a healthcare environment. It provides metrics for assessing processes and aligning target areas to various competences necessary for implantation of nursing informatics. For instance, one of the sections under NICA-NL is strategic impanation management. Identification of gaps in this area can facilitate improvement and upgrade of Electronic Health Records. The tool makes it possible to determine the final impact of adoption or upgrading in any area of nursing informatics. It thus influences the determination of the level of resources needed for the improvement of nursing informatics within an organization. Last, through the use of the tool, it is possible to identify the individuals who are motivated enough to lead the adoption or upgrade of nursing informatics.
NICA-NL can help realized value for an organization. The value mainly arises because of the tool in relatively a low-intensity tool. It is also scalable and sustainable. For instance, it can be incorporated into training programs for nurse leaders and thus make it sustainable over time. Small costs within an institution also facilitate sustainability. Culture change within the organization in recognition for the added value may also be necessary is it is easy to achieve under NICA-NL using the RE-AIM framework.
NICA-NL tool is also likely to have worldwide impacts. Globally, valid assessment tools that can facilitate identification of gaps in knowledge and subsequently facilitate the development of resources to address the gaps are on needed. NICA-NL is such a tool since it can facilitate nurse leaders to assess themselves and their teams and determine and existing gaps and way of dealing with them. The nurse leaders can also identify a gap that exists within their organization's frameworks and addresses them. As a result, NICA-NL can result in effective development and application of nursing informatics “at the local, regional, national and international level” (Phillips et al., 2017).
In conclusion, NICA-NL is an important tool for implementation, assessment, and development of nursing informatics within organizations. It is even more important for the development, assessment, and improvement of nursing informatics competency among nurse leaders.
References
Phillips, A., Yen, P. Y., Kennedy, M., & Collins, S. (2017). Opportunity and Approach for Implementation of a Self-Assessment Tool: Nursing Informatics Competencies for Nurse Leaders (NICA-NL). J. Murphy et al. (Eds.) Forecasting Informatics Competencies for Nurses in the Future of Connected Health. IMIA and IOS Press
