Developing nursing students' informatics competencies - A Canadian faculty perspective

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore nursing faculty experiences in integrating digital tools to support undergraduate students' learning and development of nursing informatics competencies. Methods: This focused ethnography study used a combination of semi-structured interviews, document reviews, and field visits. Convenience and snowball sampling were applied to recruit participants. Data were analyzed concurrently with data collection, using thematic analysis. Results: Twenty-one faculty members from nine undergraduate nursing programs in Western Canada participated. Themes discussed include: 1) meaning of the term nursing informatics, 2) faculty perceived nursing informatics competence, 3) developing students' nursing informatics competencies, 4) facilitators, and 5) challenges. Conclusions: Nursing faculty are relatively engaged in developing students' informatics competencies. However, challenges must be addressed and faculty need more support to improve their own informatics capacity. Implications for Practice and Research: This study has implications for faculty, nursing program administrators, and nursing organizations.