The Need for a Definition ofNursing Informatics
“Medical informatics” is used as an overarching term
both to describe any informatics efforts related to
health care and also to describe a distinct specialty in
the discipline of medicine. Consensus has not been
reached about whether medical informatics, especial-
ly as the term is used in medicine, is the same disci-
pline as what might more broadly be called health
informatics.7,8 Similarly, a lively debate in the litera-
ture underscores the disagreement about whether
nursing informatics and medical informatics are sep-
arate disciplines.7
Regardless of the outcome of this debate external to
nursing, nursing informatics is considered a distinct
specialty within nursing. If for no other reason than
that, a definition for nursing informatics is important
for other nurses and for informatics nurse specialists,
the label adopted by the ANA,9 because informatics
nurse specialists need to be able to succinctly define
their practice.
A definition is a fundamental element for shaping a
specialty. A definition for nursing informatics guides
role delineation for nurses interested in informatics