Introducing Informatics Early in Nursing Education
This paper examines the importance of introducing nursing informatics early in nursing education, arguing that early exposure to informatics concepts—such as electronic health records, wearable technologies, and data analytics—better prepares future nurses for a technology-driven healthcare environment. Drawing on recent literature, the paper identifies key challenges including the lack of standardized informatics competencies among nurse educators, limited curriculum integration, and resource constraints. It weighs the pros and cons of early informatics instruction and concludes with three actionable recommendations: introducing informatics concepts at the high school level, fostering collaboration between nurse educators and industry professionals, and developing a standardized informatics curriculum that runs parallel to core nursing content.
- Introduction: Rationale for early informatics exposure in nursing
- The Issue: Gaps in Nursing Informatics Education: Lack of standardized competencies and educator readiness
- The Impact of Early Informatics Exposure: Benefits for nurses, patients, and healthcare organizations
- Pros of Introducing Informatics Early: Patient safety, asset value, and career readiness gains
- Cons of Introducing Informatics Early: Cost, curriculum tradeoffs, and resistance challenges
- How Informatics Skills Were Applied in This Paper: Search strategy, source analysis, and data organization
- Conclusion and Recommendations: Three actionable steps for curriculum and policy reform
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What makes this paper effective
- Integrates multiple peer-reviewed sources to build a layered argument rather than relying on a single citation, lending credibility to each claim.
- Presents a balanced analysis by explicitly addressing both the pros and cons of early informatics integration, which strengthens its persuasive stance.
- Concludes with three concrete, numbered recommendations that directly respond to the problems identified, making the paper practically useful beyond the academic context.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective synthesis of literature: rather than summarizing each source separately, the author weaves multiple citations together within single arguments to show how different scholars collectively support or complicate a central claim. For example, Kinnunen et al. (2017), Eardley et al. (2018), and Shackelford (2019) are combined to establish both the problem and the path forward within a single analytical thread.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a problem–impact–solution structure. The introduction establishes the rationale; the Issue section diagnoses gaps in current education; the Impact section articulates downstream benefits; the Pros/Cons sections present balanced analysis; a brief methodological note explains how sources were gathered; and the conclusion converts the analysis into forward-looking recommendations. This structure mirrors a standard policy brief, appropriate for an applied nursing context.
Introduction
As Shackelford (2019) notes in "Industry Voices—Healthcare is Changing," there is a serious need to reach future workforce members at an earlier age, before they enter college and a nursing program. Students need to start developing real-world skills that will translate well to professional development in the healthcare industry—and that means they need to develop communication skills, technological understanding, and access to introductory-level healthcare courses when they enter high school. Getting students interested in a future healthcare career at the age of 14 or 15 is a great way to prepare the future workforce and provide them with "career-ready" skills, as Shackelford (2019) puts it.
The rationale for this topic—exposing younger students to skills applicable in nursing informatics—is that in today's digital age, technology is so much a part of everyone's life. This presents opportunities to use technology to get younger students interested in and ready to be part of the healthcare industry. By preparing younger students now, a great deal of future difficulty can be avoided when older students struggle to determine their academic and professional direction, having received little guidance otherwise (Shackelford, 2019). This paper discusses why introducing informatics early in nursing education can have a positive effect on professional development and the healthcare industry overall. It also includes a discussion of how informatics skills and knowledge were used in preparing this paper, along with recommendations for the future in the conclusion.
References
Eardley, D. L., Krumwiede, K. A., Secginli, S., Garner, L., DeBlieck, C., Cosansu, G., & Nahcivan, N. O. (2018). The Omaha System as a structured instrument for bridging nursing informatics with public health nursing education: A feasibility study. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 36(6), 275–283.
Kinnunen, U. M., Rajalahti, E., Cummings, E., & Borycki, E. M. (2017). Curricula challenges and informatics competencies for nurse educators. Forecasting Informatics Competencies for Nurses in the Future of Connected Health, 232, 41–48.
Piscotty Jr., R. J., Kalisch, B., & Gracey-Thomas, A. (2015). Impact of healthcare information technology on nursing practice. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 47(4), 287–293.
Risling, T. (2017). Educating the nurses of 2025: Technology trends of the next decade. Nurse Education in Practice, 22, 89–92.
Shackelford, S. (2019). Industry voices—Healthcare is changing. We need to reach the future workforce earlier. Retrieved from https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/hospitals-health-systems/industry-voices-healthcare-changing-and-our-educational-approach-should-be
Shin, E. H., Cummings, E., & Ford, K. (2018). A qualitative study of new graduates' readiness to use nursing informatics in acute care settings: Clinical nurse educators' perspectives. Contemporary Nurse, 54(1), 64–76.
Tubaishat, A. (2019). The effect of electronic health records on patient safety: A qualitative exploratory study. Informatics for Health and Social Care, 44(1), 79–91.
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