Preface

This seventh edition of Essentials of Nursing Informatics was initiated in response to requests by educators to provide a digital as well as an online version for faculty to use in the development of their course work and by nurses and other users of the sixth edition. We expanded the content to stay current, since the publisher does not plan to generate a Study Guide for this version. To do so, we have added Questions and Answers in each chapter as well as added a Summary in each of the nine parts and one Appendix of the text. Further with the updated ANA Certification Examination, we returned the basic, detailed Fundamental Chapters to update so that the chapters completely address their focus and scope.

Each of the nine parts of this edition has had a Section Editor to assist the authors with their content: Part 1: Nursing Informatics Technologies—Carol J. Bickford and Marisa L. Wilson; Part 2: System Standards—Virginia K. Saba and Joyce Sensmeier; Part 3: System Life Cycle—Denise D. Tyler; Part 4: Informatics Theory Standards—Virginia K. Saba; Part 5: Policies and Quality Measures in Healthcare—Kathleen Smith; Part 6: Nursing Practice Applications—Heather Carter-Templeton; Part 7: Advanced Applications for the Fourth Nursing IT Revolution—Kathleen A. McCormick; Part 8: Educational Applications—Diane J. Skiba; and Part 9: Research Applications—Veronica D. Feeg. For this edition, faculty recommended that we write a part summary introducing important concepts in each part.

This book was written by experts in nursing and informatics, but when we were editing this book, the most unusual circumstances occurred. The COVID-19 pandemic swept across continents. Nurses in practice were stretched by large volumes of critical care to a large cohort of patients. Unique digital concepts were developed on site, implemented to large groups of healthcare professionals in the ICU, the hospital, nearby local pop-up hospitals, primary care offices, networks of specialty healthcare workers, and skilled nursing facilities and nursing homes. The mandate for interconnected healthcare, telehealth, and digital education quickly became an adopted norm.

Several new chapters were added in Part 7: Advanced Applications for the Fourth Nursing IT Revolution (Kathleen McCormick—Section Editor). This part has the following chapters: New Models of Healthcare Delivery (Chap. 36), Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (Chap. 37), Telehealth: Healthcare Evolution in the Technology Age (Chap. 38), Nursing’s Role in Genomics and Information Technology for Precision Health (Chap. 39), Big Data Analysis of Electronic Health Record (EHR) Data (Chap. 40), Nursing Data Science and Quality Clinical Outcomes (Chap. 41), Nursing Informatics Innovations to Improve Quality Patient Care on Many Continents (Chap. 42), and Global eHealth and Informatics (Chap. 43). We requested authors to include updates on the digital health requirements, policies, and regulations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The updates in chapters include new references, policies, and skills required by nurses in the field. A complete update and an overview of the Federal Health Care Sector Nursing Informatics are described by experts representing all the federal sectors. The Veteran’s Administration Nursing Plan of Care Framework is described. Instead of an International Section, the nurse authors from Australia, South Korea, Finland, South America, Canada, the United Kingdom, and North America have described their expertise in Six Sigma, Measuring and Evaluating Quality, describing Consumer Patient Engagement and Connectivity in Patients with Chronic Diseases in the Community and in their Home, and Global eHealth initiatives in Nursing Informatics. Their chapters represent the expertise that they bring to Essentials of Nursing Informatics, seventh edition.

Our new Media Editor, Diane J. Skiba, is considering including a website for slides, abstracts, and any other materials of interest that the authors determined would support the faculty and/or enhance the educational process. We feel that this new edition will provide the new theories, federal policies, and new content that have impacted the field of Nursing Informatics that are continually changing.

Virginia and Kathleen have felt that they have, during the past 20+ years, and their six editions, with their specialist authors in the field, provided the most current and reliable information as this new Nursing Specialty advanced, grew, and changed with the technological advancements that impacted on the changing healthcare processes. We feel honored that this text has been used by the key administrative leaders, educators, and researchers in the field. We feel that this text has helped keep Nursing Informatics in the forefront of our discipline. We hope you will be as pleased with this seventh edition as you have been with the past editions. We hope it will help faculty teach the content, assist nurses with the certification requirements, and help us advance Nursing Informatics in the 21st century.