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Guideposts to the Future—An Agenda for Nursing Informatics

^a SAIC Health Solutions, Falls Church, VA
^b School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
^c College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
^d School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
^e College of Nursing, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
^f Office of Performance Accountability, Resources and Technology, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD
^g Aurora Health Care, Milwaukee, WI
^h School of Nursing, University of Colorado, Denver, CO
ⁱ School of Nursing, University of Kansas, Kansas City, KS
^j Cerner Corporation, Kansas City, MO
^k Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
^l The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.

^_* Correspondence and reprints: Kathleen A. McCormick, PhD, RN, SAIC Health Solutions, Brown Operation, 5203 Leesburg Pike, Suite 1477, Falls Church, VA 22041; Tel: (703) 575-7209; Fax: (703) 824-8547. (Email: kathleen.a.mccormick{at}saic.com).

Received for publication: 10/20/05; accepted for publication: 10/16/06.

As new directions and priorities emerge in health care, nursing informatics leaders must prepare to guide the profession appropriately. To use an analogy, where a road bends or changes directions, guideposts indicate how drivers can stay on course. The AMIA Nursing Informatics Working Group (NIWG) produced this white paper as the product of a meeting convened: 1) to describe anticipated nationwide changes in demographics, health care quality, and health care informatics; 2) to assess the potential impact of genomic medicine and of new threats to society; 3) to align AMIA NIWG resources with emerging priorities; and 4) to identify guideposts in the form of an agenda to keep the NIWG on course in light of new opportunities. The anticipated societal changes provide opportunities for nursing informatics. Resources described below within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Committee for Health and Vital Statistics (NCVHS) can help to align AMIA NIWG with emerging priorities. The guideposts consist of priority areas for action in informatics, nursing education, and research. Nursing informatics professionals will collaborate as full participants in local, national, and international efforts related to the guideposts in order to make significant contributions that empower patients and providers for safer health care.