A “Hello, World!” program generally is a computer program that outputs or displays the message “Hello, World!”. Such a program is very simple in most programming languages and is often used to illustrate the basic syntax of a programming language. It is often the first program written by people learning to code. It can also be used as a sanity test to make sure that computer software intended to compile or run source code is correctly installed, and that the operator understands how to use it. ^[1]“Hello, World!” program – Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22Hello,_World!%22_program

Welcome to the Nursing Informatics Blog! Thanks for stopping by. In this post, I’ll cover the who, what, when, where, and why of the blog.

Who is behind The Nursing Informatics Blog?

My name is Robert Wingo, and I’m a board-certified informatics nurse with 24 years of nursing informatics experience. I started my nursing career in adult inpatient medical oncology, but I was a nerd long before becoming a nurse. I’ve been participating in online communities since the mid-1980s when I was running a computer bulletin board system (BBS)^[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system on a 1200 baud modem and Commodore computer.

Working with paper charts and forms, I observed many opportunities for data and technology to make significant improvements in nursing and healthcare delivery. After nearly 5 years at the bedside, I transitioned to a nursing informatics role as a system administrator for a clinical documentation system. When I was at the bedside, I could only make a difference for the handful of patients I could care for on a shift. As an informatics nurse, I could work to implement technology and improve information systems, business processes, data, and reports that could positively impact all patients and patient care staff. A couple of years and a new job later, I installed my first nurse staffing and scheduling system. I have spent the last 22 of my 24 years in nursing informatics, specializing in nurse staffing and scheduling, productivity reporting, and nursing FTE budgets.

What is the purpose of The Nursing Informatics Blog?

The Nursing Informatics Scope and Standards of Practice, 2nd Edition defines nursing informatics as:

Nursing informatics (NI) is the specialty that integrates nursing science with multiple information and analytical sciences* to identify, define, manage, and communicate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in nursing practice. NI supports nurses, consumers, patients, the interprofessional healthcare team, and other stakeholders in their decision-making in all roles and settings to achieve desired outcomes. This support is accomplished through the use of information structures, information processes, and information technology.

The nursing informatics specialty and its constituent members contribute to achieving the goal of improving the health of populations, communities, groups, families, and individuals. Supporting activities include, but are not limited to, the identification of issues and the design, development, and implementation of effective informatics solutions and technologies within the clinical, administrative, educational, and research domains of practice.^[3](2015). Nursing Informatics: Scope and Standards of Practice (2nd ed.). American Nurses Association. Retrieved from … Continue reading

Even though nursing informatics was recognized as a specialty nearly 30 years ago^[4]Bickford Carol J. (2017). The Professional Association’s Perspective on Nursing Informatics and Competencies in the US [JB]. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 232(Forecasting … Continue reading, there are still many new and exciting opportunities to improve nursing and healthcare delivery through the use of data and technology.

The purpose of the Nursing Informatics Blog is to post content that will be interesting and relevant to nursing informatics professionals and their practice.

When will content be added to The Nursing Informatics Blog?

My goal is to publish at least one substantial post every 1-2 weeks.

Guest posts on nursing informatics topics are welcome. Many people think that working with EHRs is the only avenue available to them. If you’re a nursing informatics professional working in research, software development, project management, management, or any

If you would like to publish a guest post, please submit your idea via our contact form.

Where can I find content from The Nursing Informatics Blog?

The primary place to find our content will be here at informaticsnurse.com.

You can also follow the blog’s postings in the following locations:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Why create a Nursing Informatics blog?

For several years, I’ve been looking for a website that covered the range of topics I was interested in as an informatics nurse. I decided to stop looking and to create a blog with content that I find interesting and relevant to my nursing informatics practice. I hope that you will find the information interesting and relevant as well. Where possible, I will include links to external material used in creating posts. These references will appear at the bottom of the page if you wish to read further the topics presented.

Topics that you can expect to see in the coming months include:

• Nursing and nursing informatics history and theory
• Florence Nightingale as a scientist and the first informatics nurse
• Data analysis, reporting and data visualization
• Nursing informatics certification exam topics
• Exploring nursing informatics roles and opportunities within the clinical, administrative, educational and research domains of practice
• Exploring nursing informatics roles and opportunities related to the nursing shortage
• Nursing innovations
• New technologies developed by or significantly influenced by nurses
• Hot topics in healthcare and information technology that impact nursing informatics professionals

If you have suggestions for topics that you would like to see covered on the blog, please submit them via our contact form.

Ground Rules for Comments

Comments are currently enabled, but there are a few ground rules that you should be aware of:

• All comments will be placed in a moderation queue and must be approved before being published.
• The purpose of this blog is to share knowledge. Recognize that not everyone has the same level of knowledge or expertise when responding to comments.
• Comments should be polite, professional, and on topic.
• Comments containing offensive or abusive language or disrespectful behavior is not allowed and will be deleted. Repeat offenders may have their IP address banned.
• Spam comments, including unsolicited posts advertising goods and services, will be deleted and the IP address banned.
• Comments that could potentially expose the blog and/or the poster to legal action will be deleted. Please do not post specific details regarding your job and/or employer that would violate confidentiality or other policies at your institution.

Disclosures

Links to external content may be affiliate and/or advertising links. Affiliate links and advertising help offset the expenses of operating the blog.

Once again, thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoy the blog.