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