Nursing Informatics in Canada Chapter 37

As much as I have ever know that The Canadian Nursing Informatics Association (CNIA) exists to help nurses across Canada to learn, share, research, and create informatics-related projects and experiences that can help to boost the competencies, theory, and practice of informatics on a national level. The CNA  also wrote this policy statement to highlight the importance of developing the nursing data components that will be included in our emerging national health information system. The CNA has also spearheaded an initiative, the National Nursing Informatics Project, to begin to develop a national consensus on definition, competencies, and educational strategies and priorities.

Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) has taken the position that registered nurses and other stakeholders in healthcare delivery require information on nursing practice and its relationship to client outcomes. They believe that RNs should advocate and lead implementing the collection, storage and retrieval of nursing data at the national level. The focus of NI in Canada is on the role of nursing within healthcare organizations. Canadian nurses integrate information from many diverse sources throughout the organization to provide patient care and to coordinate the patient’s contact with healthcare services and facilities.

They develop New Models of Care:

                                    1. patient-focused care

                                    2. hospitals without walls

The core functions of CIHI (Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2002) are to:

·         Identify and promote national health indicators

·         Coordinate and promote the development and maintenance of national health information standards Develop and manage health databases and registries

·         Conduct analysis and special studies and participate in research

·         Coordinate and conduct education sessions and conferences

The Canadian Advisory Council (CAC) on Health Informatics advises the Canadian Stands Association arm of Standards Council of Canada (SCC) on matters related to Health Informatics Standards.

CAC has a dual role:

 >First, to provide technical input to SCC on Health Informatics standards development in Canada 

      >Second, to provide feedback about the utility in Canada of ISO health informatics standards