Nursing Informatics and Undergraduate Nursing Curricula: A Scoping Review.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Informatics
• Health Informatics Education
• Digital Health Literacy

Background:

• The largest healthcare workforce, nurses, lack adequate preparation in nursing informatics.
• Contributing factors include poor digital literacy, limited professional development, and insufficient undergraduate informatics education.
• This gap hinders the effective use of technology to improve patient care and outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review of contemporary literature on nursing informatics in undergraduate nursing education.
• To identify the benefits, barriers, and enablers for embedding nursing informatics within Australian healthcare contexts.
• To inform strategies for enhancing nursing informatics competency in future healthcare professionals.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive scoping review was performed adhering to PRISMA-ScR guidelines and JBI Manual for evidence synthesis.
• Extensive database searches were conducted across multiple reputable sources (JBI, Cochrane, CINAHL, Ovid, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus).
• Two independent reviewers screened articles using Covidence, with a third reviewer resolving discrepancies.

Main Results:

• A total of 62 sources were included after rigorous screening and duplicate removal from two search rounds.
• The first search identified 46 relevant articles, while the second identified 16 additional articles.
• The literature synthesized provides a broad overview of the current landscape of nursing informatics education.

Conclusions:

• Despite early adoption, significant barriers to nursing informatics proficiency remain in Australia.
• Key barriers include a lack of understanding, insufficient resources, and inadequate digital literacy among students and faculty.
• Foundational elements for student competency include clear definitions, faculty development, access to technology, standards, and leadership.