In order to be a qualified specialist, a nurse is required to possess certain knowledge base, experience, and specific skills. When all of the above combines, the outcome is a competent expert in nursing, able to provide quality service to the patients. In order to be a knowledgeable specialist, the individual has to possess numerous competencies. Competency is the ability to implement in practice a set of connected knowledge, skills, and capabilities that are mandatory to complete imperative work functions or responsibilities effectively in the demarcated work setting. The paper compares and contrasts the competencies of the nurse practitioner and the nurse informaticist. It also analyzes the similarities and differences in the implementation of the competencies within the selected roles.
The nurse practitioner (NP) core competencies are the guiding principles for didactic programs preparing them to implement their knowledge in practice. These competencies are the indispensable activities of all nurse practitioners. Nurse practitioner competencies are verified upon promotion irrespective of the populace’s emphasis on the program (Competencies for Nurse Practitioners, n.d.).
The competences are essential for the nurse practitioners to encounter the intricate tasks of rendering the quickly escalating level of information into training and work in the constantly moving health care setting. Nurse practitioner alumni should have skills, capabilities, and a knowledge base that are crucial to autonomous medical practice. The core competencies of the nurse practitioners are developed through tutored patient care involvement with the accent on the self-regulating practice; investigative skills for assessing and giving patient-focused care in every possible situation; and an unconventional acquaintance with the health care conveyance organization.
One of the essential nurse practitioner’s competencies is the ability to estimate how administrative structure, care procedures, funding, marketing, and policy choices influence the eminence of health care. They should also be able to use their skills in technology and information literateness and participate in practice analysis aimed to improve health consequences, strategy, and healthcare conveyance just as it is presented in the Technology and Information Literacy Competencies list. The nurse practitioners should be capable of demonstrating leadership that practices critical and insightful thinking and uses the best available evidence to improve the quality of clinical practice continuously (Hallas, Biesecker, Brennan, Newland, & Haber, 2012).
When we speak about the nurse informaticists competencies, we should remember that with the beginning of computer technology use in nursing, the necessity for data to be scrutinized and processed to become the operational evidence in practice intensifies with every other year. With the purpose of working with the facts, examining information and growing knowledge nurses must be capable of applying synthesis to their practice.
Consequently, computer technology competencies need to be extensively advanced in all three existing stages of proficiency through basic and ongoing nursing teaching programs. Respectively, each of the competency stages comprises the knowledge base and abilities obligatory to use data & communication technologies to introduce, save and operate data, turn the data into factual evidence to impact the nursing training; and combine the materials to subsidize to the knowledge expansion in nursing.
Informatics competencies are connected to the genuine use of computers and other hi-tech gear. Definite nursing informatics competencies embrace the skill to use particular applications in a relaxed and familiar way (Nursing Informatics, n.d.). Utility competencies refer to the necessary knowledge base and skills when it comes to the use of computers and other technologies throughout the nursing practice, learning process, investigation, and management.
To be specific, this level of competencies comprises the presence of evidence-based practice, insightful thinking, and responsibility during the process of using the carefully chosen applications in a contented and educated way. Leadership competencies are correlated with the moral and organizational issues connected to the use of computers and other technological gear during the processes of data examination, nursing practice, management, and learning (Hwang, & Park, 2011).
First and foremost, it is worth noting that if one carefully analyzes the similarities and differences in implementation of the competencies within the nurse practitioner and nurse informaticist roles, it will be obvious that these two have several common characteristics. Primarily, the similarity consists in the way the NPs and the nurse informaticists implement the technological literacy aspects in their practice, as the knowledge base expansion concerning computers and the interaction between the nurse and various technologies in the age of the unstoppable technological progress is of the essence.
Another similarity is the nurses’ approach to leadership. Both nurse practitioners and nurse informaticists implement an insightful approach, and the competency requires the nurse to be skillful in management, smart in decision making, and agile in emergency cases. Thirdly, the implementation of the ethical competencies is also critical to the NPs and informaticists, as they have to act professionally and provide their services in a timely manner.
Nevertheless, the dissimilarity between the two is that the informaticists should possess much more profound knowledge relating to technology and computers even though the proper implementation of this particular competence is vital to both of them. It is also significant that the NPs competencies list is represented by a larger number of items. Nurse practitioners also implement scientific foundation and practice inquiry competencies which are either poorly developed or completely missing from the nurse informaticists competencies list.
References
Competencies for Nurse Practitioners. (n.d.). Web.
Hallas, D., Biesecker, B., Brennan, M., Newland, J. A., & Haber, J. (2012). Evaluation of the clinical hour requirement and attainment of core clinical competencies by nurse practitioner students. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 24(9), 544-553. Web.
Hwang, J., & Park, H. (2011). Factors Associated With Nurses’ Informatics Competency. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 29(4), 256-262. Web.
Roles, Competencies, Skills, Organizations, and Legislative Aspects of Nursing Informatics. (n.d.). Web.