24: ESSENTIALS OF DOCTORAL EDUCATION ■ 541The second outcome on TIGER implementation is in mobilizing more nurses to be
part of the national health care informatics infrastructure. However, the report states:
Nurses are often at the center of care coordination for the patient and are
well versed on the workflow and information flow critical to minimizing
shortfalls with communication handoffs in the delivery of healthcare. Some
practice specialty areas in nursing have been historically underrepresented
in the development of use cases, technical infrastructure, and development
of standards. This leaves a gap in creating interoperable electronic health
records that cover the continuum of healthcare delivery through different
practice environments. (tigerinitiative.org, 2009, p. 4)Finally, there has been a goal to accelerate smart, standards- based, interoperable
technology that will make advanced health care delivery by improving safety, quality,
and outcomes, and making “health care” indeed more patient centered. The Planetree
Model of Care is one organizational and institutional way to accomplish this, particu-
larly its emphasis on advancing patient- centered care (Planetree.org, 2014).
The central question here is whether DNP education itself is moving health care
and nursing IT forward? Some DNP programs have a specific course in the curriculum
that focuses on many of the TIGER initiatives, while others take a “skill- based approach.”
This author favors the latter approach, with informatics education embedded (but prom-
inently) throughout the curriculum. Developing these competencies, particularly at the
beginning of the curriculum, is critical when students need to learn specifically how
to navigate knowledge management. Simply, having one’s smart phone programmed
to trigger Medscape articles (germane to the student’s specialty and clinical interests)
weekly to the DNP student’s email is a start. Using DNP orientations and residencies
for quality time specifically devoted to an informatics update (an annual workshop
perhaps) forces students to confront their own technology proficiency. Placing all this
content in a stand- alone course often seems to backfire, with some students already off
the curve (and ahead of the professor!) with their very honed technology skills and oth-
ers left to languish sometimes just reorienting to a very technology- driven health care
world.
The summary point for this essential is that the DNP clinician must be proficient
in the kinds of technology support that others members of the interprofessional health
care team use, and be adept at evaluating and then embracing new technologies. The
clinical executive must be adept at knowing how to data mine for critical data points
TABLE 24.6 Collaborative Teams
- Standards and interoperability
- National Health Information Technology (IT ) agenda
- Informatics competencies
- Education and faculty development
- Staff development
- Usability and clinical application design
- Virtual demonstration center
- Leadership development
- Consumer empowerment and personal health record
Source : Thetigerinitiative.org (2009).