338 ■ III: ROLE FUNCTIONS OF DOCTORAL ADVANCED NURSING PRACTICE
meet the challenges of this role include a broad understanding of basic information man-
agement, strong communication skills, and the ability to work collaboratively with interdis-
ciplinary teams that include health care professionals, administrators, and HIT specialists.
INTERFACING WITH INFORMATION SYSTEMS TEAMS
In a highly complex health care system, interprofessional collaboration is essential, and
it is expected that the doctoral APN will be prepared to interface effectively with the
information systems team in order to help shape organizations and to drive system
changes essential in supporting APN needs and the needs of evolving health care sys-
tems. This necessitates not only skills in communication and a keen understanding of
organizational behavior, but it also requires a working knowledge of hospital informa-
tion systems and systems life cycles in order to participate in the ongoing dialogue to
improve patient outcomes. The fourth and sixth DNP essentials identify this role for
the APN as critical in efforts to transform the health care system (AACN, 2006; Smith &
McCarthy, 2010). As HISs and patient care technologies are becoming more and more
central to health care delivery, the APN must be prepared to use these technologies, not
only in practice, but also to actively participate in efforts to use these technologies to
drive a transformation. Owing to the dynamic nature of health care systems, interpro-
fessional teams are fluid and adjust to accommodate system needs. The doctoral APN
must be prepared to be an active member of the team, playing “a central role in estab-
lishing interprofessional teams, participating in the work of the team, and assuming
leadership of the team when appropriate” (AACN, 2006, p. 14).
INTERFACING WITH LIBRARIES FOR RESEARCH- BASED SUPPORT
Interfacing with key librarians for research- based support can be extremely beneficial.
Libraries are variable, for example, in physical size, staff size, scope of subject coverage,
access to resources, and classification schemes. Obtaining specific information from an
institution’s library related to materials/ resources and available services allow begin-
ning researchers to focus on locating data versus having to discover appropriate re-
sources on their own. Connections to individual members of the library staff can be built
and, over time, can be critical in sustaining a research career.
There may be subject- specific reference librarians who can assist with navigating the
library catalog, electronic databases (e.g., MEDLINE, CINAHL), and bibliographic man-
agement tools (e.g., EndNote, RefWorks). As indicated earlier, reference librarians have
considerable expertise in this area and spend a large portion of their workday providing
assistance to patrons who require skills related to database searching and associated tech-
nology. Due to their focus on these types of skills, reference librarians can provide assis-
tance to beginning, intermediate, and advanced researchers either virtually or in person.
■ EVOLVING AND EMERGING TRENDS
TO ENHANCE DOCTORAL APNs
SIMULATION FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING
There are many opportunities for the doctoral level APN to use simulation including ed-
ucation, clinical practice, and research. Simulation activities can include the use of human