Nursing Informatics Education Growing Gradually More Robust

Hoping to fill a projected gap of some 50,000 healthcare IT professionals in the next several years, the Office of the National Coordinator’s Health IT Workforce Development Program is funding community college programs that can train IT professionals in healthcare and train healthcare professionals, like nurses, in IT.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is also projecting a 20 percent increase in demand for registered nurses during the next decade, and amid increased enrollment in nursing schools, nursing informatics is growing as part of the curriculum.

Outlining the clinical quality potential and increasing demand for nursing informatics specialization, HIMSS called nursing informatics an “emerging giant” in 2007. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s quality standards include applied informatics education as an essential requirement for baccalaureate and the Doctor of Nursing Practice programs.