BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING:
NURSING INFORMATICS
COURSE MODULE COURSE UNIT WEEK
3 13 15
Educational and Research Applications
Read course and unit objectives
Read study guide prior to class attendance
Read required learning resources; refer to unit
terminologies for jargons
Proactively participate in classroom discussions
Participate in weekly discussion board (Canvas)
Answer and submit course unit tasks
At the end of this unit, the students are expected to:
Cognitive:
1. Understand the importance of IT integration in the nursing curriculum.
2. Compare nursing education informatics models.
3. Inculcate importance of computers in research.
Affective:
1. Listen attentively during class discussions
2. Demonstrate tact and respect when challenging other people’s opinions and ideas
3. Accept comments and reactions of classmates on one’s opinions openly and graciously.
Psychomotor:
1. Participate actively during class discussions and group activities
2. Express opinion and thoughts in front of the class
Saba, V., and McCormick, K. (2006) Essentials of Nursing Informatics 4th Edition, Overview of
Computers and Nursing, Historical Perspectives of Nursing and Computer (pp 70-84). New York:
McGraw-Hill Companies
The Nursing Curriculum in the Information Age
Nursing is an information-intensive profession, and nursing education relies heavily on the
acquisition of information to educate students in their professional programs. Thus, the
acceleration of technological development and availability of information will have profound effects
on how students learn, how nursing is taught, and how care is delivered.
The management of information is and will continue to become one of the most daunting
challenges for faculty, student and nurses. Maintaining currency with the technology as well as
with the dramatic changes within the educational system as a result of digital technology will
occupy the energies of faculty and administrators.
Health Informatics will enable the medical and paramedical student, practitioner and faculty
member to access and critically evaluate biomedical information, and efficiently utilize increasingly
complex biomedical information for problem solving and decision making, thus empowering the
individual to act his role as life-long learner, clinician, educator/communicator, researcher and
manager.
The education industry must take into consideration the information management and educational
environment as key steps in transforming the education to meet the needs of the 21st century.
Faculty development must also be established as well as a thorough analysis in integrating
Nursing Informatics in the new curriculum.
Nursing Education Informatics Model
A number of models have been presented for educators to emulate in designing curriculum for the
inclusion of nursing informatics:
• Travis and Brennan (1998) propose a model that emphasizes the inclusion of information
science as essential in the undergraduate curriculum.
• Riley and Saba (1996) proposed the Nursing Informatics Education Model (NIEM). In NIEM,
the domains of computer science, information science and nursing science are integrated
throughout the curriculum in a progressive leveling to ensure the development of nursing
informatics competencies.
• Carty (2000) proposed an informatics model in graduate informatics that has an
interpretation of data, information, data and knowledge that is complex and non-linear.
• Turley (1996) suggested that nursing informatics has a specific nursing focus, but there are
acknowledged areas of interdisciplinary and collaborative foci that need to be explored and
studied.
Study-Aids for Nursing Students
• AMA Medical Ethics Web Pages - the American Medical Association (AMA) offers resources
and information about medical ethics. One especially helpful resource for nursing students is
their "Virtual Mentor, an interactive, Web-based forum for analysis and discussion of ethical
and professional issues." Access: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2416.html.
• Geriatric Assessment-Case Studies - the Virtual Health Care Team Web site is sponsored by
the School of Health Professions and the School of Medicine at University of Missouri. Among
other resources, it offers four "interdisciplinary geriatric assessment" case studies. The
approach, as explained authors, is an integrated team approach in which "team members
actively coordinate care and services across disciplines in a process resembling problem-
based learning." Access: http://www.vhct.org/index.shtml.
• Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body - the Bartleby.com edition of Gray’s Anatomy features
1,247 pictures from the classic 1918 publication, as well as a subject index with 13,000 entries.
Access: http://www.bartleby.com/107/.
• Human Anatomy Online - easy to navigate, the user begins by choosing among ten systems:
skeletal, digestive, muscular, lymphatic, endocrine, nervous, cardiovascular, male or female
reproductive, and urinary. Graphics are interactive and users can view animations of the
system, tutorials, and descriptions. Two caveats: users must have a java-enabled browser, and
there is no search capability within the site. Access: http://www.innerbody.com/htm/body.html.
• McGill University Virtual Stethoscope - this is surely a unique Internet resource for medical
and nursing students. As its name suggests, it is a multimedia tutorial featuring a virtual
stethoscope (Real Player needed) to assess both respiratory and cardiovascular conditions.
Also included is a review of selected cardiac and pulmonary physiology and pathophysiology
topics. This tutorial is one of more than 50 created by McGill medical students under faculty
supervision; all are accessible by clicking on “MMI Student Project Main Page.” Each tutorial
has a cover page listing names of the students and their supervisors, intended audience, any
plugins required, a synopsis of the tutorial’s focus, and date completed. Some examples are
Biomedical Ethics and Law in Clinical Practice, Clinical Nutrition, Histology, EKG Tutorial,
Gastroenterology, Endoscopic Pathology, Immunology, and Virtual CPR. Access:
http://sprojects.mmi.mcgill.ca/mvs/mvsteth.htm.
• Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy - The Merck Manual’s 17th, Centennial Edition is
available free, searchable by keyword or the table of contents. Merck also offers two other
complete manuals through this site: The Merck Manual of Geriatrics and The Merck Manual of
Health and Aging. Access: http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/sections.jsp.
• Physical Exam Study Guides - created by the University of Florida Medical program, these
guides are thorough and clear. The exams offered are: Vital Signs, Back and Extremity, Chest
and Lung, Cardiology, Head and Neck, Eye, Abdominal, Breast, Pelvic, Neurologic, and Mental
Status. Access: http://medinfo.ufl.edu/year1/bcs/clist/index.html.
• RN Central - created by nurses for nurses and students, this site offers good resource links,
but the highlight is its “Careplan Corner,” with predefined nursing care plans under three
categories: “Altered/Alterations,” “Impaired/Impairment,” and “General.” Some examples of care
plans that nursing students can use as examples for their own plans are “Comfort: Chest Pain,”
“Sexuality Patterns,” “Physical Mobility,” “Skin Integrity,” and “Anxiety and Ineffective Airway
Clearance.” Users can copy, save, or print and modify any of the plans, and there is also a
blank plan template to print out and fill in. Access: http://w ww.rncentral.com/.
• RxList - information provided for each drug includes the description, clinical pharmacology,
indications and dosage, side effects and drug interactions, warnings and precautions, drug over
dosage, contraindications, and patient information. Words in the articles and descriptions that
may need to be defined for the layperson or student are hyperlinked to Taber’s online medical
dictionary. Access: http://www.rxlist.com.
Computers in Nursing Research
The use of computers and software applications are ubiquitous throughout the research.
Computers facilitate the research process in a number of ways. Computerized literature searches
are a particular advantage to the researchers because they save time and can increase the scope
of the search and the number of data base that can be searched. The computer can also help
researchers collect and analyze data, prepare research reports, and disseminate research findings
Use of computer in research in science is so extensive that it is difficult to conceive today a
scientific research project without computer. Many research studies cannot be carried out without
use of computer particularly those involving complex computations, data analysis and modeling.
Computer in scientific research is used at all stages of study-from proposal/budget stage to
submission/presentation of findings.
Curriculum - refers to the lessons and academic content taught in a school or in a specific course
or program
Gonzales, E.G. (2004), Technology Integration in Courses, Philippine eLearning Society, retrieved
December 1, 2019 at PeLS webpage, website:
http://www.elearning.ph/conference2/abstracts10.html
• Download research articles (5 for each category) from ScienceDirect on studies relating to the
application of technology in Nursing Research and Education
• Develop a summary table of Open-source resources for research (minimum of 10)
Belanger, J. (2006), Nursing Informatics on the Move, retrieved December 2, 2008 from
EeaKnowledge webpage, website: http://www.eaa-knowledge.com/ojni/ni/10_1/belanger.htm
Saba, V., and McCormick, K. (2006) Essentials of Nursing Informatics 4th Edition, Overview of
Computers and Nursing, Historical Perspectives of Nursing and Computer (pp 445-468, 481-514).
New York: McGraw-Hill Companies
Gonzales, E.G. (2004), Technology Integration in Courses, Philippine eLearning Society, retrieved
December 1, 2019 at PeLS webpage, website:
http://www.elearning.ph/conference2/abstracts10.html
