Discussion concepts and frameworks

Credentialing in Nurse Informatics

As health information technology (HIT) continues to develop in the modern healthcare environment, nursing informatics is a career on the rise. In essence, nursing informatics has emerged as an important career/profession in the healthcare field because of increased adoption of technology and the development of health information technology. Similar to other fields in nursing, credentialing is an important aspect for specializing in nurse informatics. Credentialing is defined as procedures that are utilized to determine that an individual, program or organization has met the necessary standards for qualification as established by governmental and/or non-governmental agencies. For an individual to specialize in nurse informatics, he/she needs to meet the established standards for qualifications for practice. This is vital because nurse informatics is increasing developing as a career choice that can put individuals ahead with regards to achieving significant growth in nursing (Richins, 2013).

Since nursing informatics continues to evolve with technological advancements, there are several issues or trends that are important with regards to credentialing. One of these issues/trends relating to credentialing in nurse informatics is complex areas of competence. The complexity in areas of competence emerge from the ongoing development of health information technologies. According to Richins (2013), health information technology is one of the rapidly developing specializations in the field of healthcare. These rapid developments in HIT affect the areas of competence in nurse informatics, which depends on technology. Secondly, credentialing in nurse informatics is characterized by evolving regulations that are geared towards enhancing the effectiveness of this career in improving healthcare practices. The demand for specific health information technology skills continues to increase, which causes regulatory changes that in turn affect credentialing in nurse informatics. The regulatory changes are geared towards establishing a strong information infrastructure while enhancing care coordination among different healthcare practitioners. The third issue/trend in credentialing in nurse informatics is the scope of practice, which determines the standards required for practice. As HIT continues to evolve and regulatory changes are established, the scope of practice in nursing informatics evolves to reflect these changes. The changes in the scope of practice in turn influences the credentialing standards and processes.

These current trends or issues in credentialing in nursing informatics will strengthen advanced nursing practice through various strategies. One of the strategies through which these issues will foster advanced nursing practice is care coordination. The increased development of health information technology through nurse informatics provide an opportunity for enhanced care coordination. The enhanced care coordination will be brought by changes in areas of competence, regulations, and scope of practice. Through these changes nurse informaticians will enhance care coordination through using technology to streamline nursing workflows and procedures. The second strategy through which these issues will strengthen advanced nursing practice is through enhancing clinical decision-making. As these changes continue to take place, the application of technology by nurse informaticians will help in identification of potential problems earlier and developing suitable strategies to prevent them (Lee, 2014).