Summary
Introduction: Official recognition and certification for informatics professionals
are essential aspects of workforce development. Objective: To describe the history,
pathways, and nuances of certification in nursing informatics across the globe; compare
and contrast those with board certification in clinical informatics for physicians.
Methods: (1) A review of the representative literature on informatics certification
and related competencies for nurses and physicians, and relevant websites for nursing
informatics associations and societies worldwide; (2) similarities and differences
between certification processes for nurses and physicians, and (3) perspectives on
roles for nursing informatics professionals in healthcare Results: The literature
search for ‘nursing informatics certification’ yielded few results in PubMed; Google
Scholar yielded a large number of citations that extended to magazines and other non-peer
reviewed sources. Worldwide, there are several nursing informatics associations, societies,
and workgroups dedicated to nursing informatics associated with medical/health informatics
societies. A formal certification program for nursing informatics appears to be available
only in the United States. This certification was established in 1992, in concert
with the formation and definition of nursing informatics as a specialty practice of
nursing by the American Nurses Association. Although informatics is inherently interprofessional,
certification pathways for nurses and physicians have developed separately, following
long-standing professional structures, training, and pathways aligned with clinical
licensure and direct patient care. There is substantial similarity with regard to
the skills and competencies required for nurses and physicians to obtain informatics
certification in their respective fields. Nurses may apply for and complete a certification
examination if they have experience in the field, regardless of formal training. Increasing
numbers of informatics nurses are pursuing certification.
Conclusions: The pathway to certification is clear and well-established for U.S. based
informatics nurses. The motivation for obtaining and maintaining nursing informatics
certification appears to be stronger for nurses who do not have an advanced informatics
degree. The primary difference between nursing and physician certification pathways
relates to the requirement of formal training and level of informatics practice. Nurse
informatics certification requires no formal education or training and verifies knowledge
and skill at a more basic level. Physician informatics certification validates informatics
knowledge and skill at a more advanced level; currently this requires documentation
of practice and experience in clinical informatics and in the future will require
successful completion of an accredited two-year fellowship in clinical informatics.
For the profession of nursing, a graduate degree in nursing or biomedical informatics
validates specialty knowledge at a level more comparable to the physician certification.
As the field of informatics and its professional organization structures mature, a
common certification pathway may be appropriate. Nurses, physicians, and other healthcare
professionals with informatics training and certification are needed to contribute
their expertise in clinical operations, teaching, research, and executive leadership.
Keywords
Clinical informatics - certification - nursing informatics - physicians - informatics
workforce
