Informatics
HIMSS joins the Alliance for Nursing informatics (ANI), American Nurses Association (ANA), and other supporting organizations in the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Informatics Nurses board certification credential change from RN-BC to NI-BC in the fourth quarter of 2023. This monumental, long-awaited, and timely transformed credential now clearly identifies informaticists who have completed the journey to attain this esteemed, globally recognized nursing profession specialty certification.
The Informatics Nursing Certification History
Since 1992, the ANCC has designated the Informatics Nursing credential as RN-BC (Registered Nurse-Board Certified), which did not explicitly express the nursing informatics specialty certification. Nursing specialty certifications offered by the ANCC have increased over time, with 183 specialty certifications in 2022 for specific board-certified designations for each specialty to accurately reflect the area of certification and expertise. Some examples of the ANCC board certifications offered today include the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-BC), Nurse Executive, Advanced (NEA-BC), and Nursing Professional Development (NPD-BC) (Alliance for Nursing Informatics, 2023).
The Designation Change
According to the ANCC (2023), the Informatics Nursing board certification entails a competency-based examination that provides a valid and reliable assessment of the entry-level clinical knowledge and skills of registered nurses in the informatics specialty. Once the eligibility requirements are met for the certification exam and passed, nurses receive the credential Nursing Informatics-Board Certified (NI-BC) award. This significant change, championed by nursing informatics experts, formally signifies informatics nurses as highly proficient informatics practitioners like many other nursing specialties. ANCC certification data (2022) show 3286 nurses designated as board-certified in Informatics Nursing.
The 2022 HIMSS Nursing Informatics Survey Certification Findings
The ANA (2022) Nursing Informatics Scope and Standards of Practice, 3rd edition’s revised definition of nursing Informatics, “the specialty that transforms data into need information and leverages technologies to improve health and healthcare equity, safety, qualify and outcomes,” reflects the continued evolution of the contributions of this nursing niche in the healthcare ecosystem, widely (ANI, 2022). With this, in 2022, HIMSS, which captures salary, professional status, and practice trends while identifying changes that have occurred in the workforce, surveyed current state nurse informaticist actions, perceptions, and motivation about achieving certifications, including the ANCC NI-BC designation, in the healthcare technologies landscape (HIMSS, 2022).
As the known value of informatics and interest in the specialty continues, certifications continue to be obtained by nurses. Drivers are primarily personal, with personal satisfaction (60%), credibility (55%), and validation of specialized knowledge (54%) being the top three values for pursuing certifications, along with the professional reasons for employer recognition and advancement opportunities. With a personal perceived value of certification suggests, it remains impactful to informaticians’ careers at a rating of respondents at 4-5, on a scale of 1-5. (HIMSS, 2022). The Impact of Certification on Career: 41% report that achieving certification has distinctly impacted their career in 2022. Among those with certification, 58% have moved to a new role since becoming certified, an increase from 41% in 2020, and salaries for those with informatics certifications now range from $100,000-$125,000 annually (HIMSS,2022)
HIMSS Champions the Commendable Change
HIMSS stands for nursing informaticists as essential healthcare technology workers who drive the success of healthcare technology and realize every human's full health potential. Understanding the significance of the motivations and benefits of informatics certifications, we acknowledge, celebrate, and freely support our large global nursing informatics community with the significant ANCC credential change to NI-BC for a complete and explicit recognition of the informatics board certification accomplishment and its value to the nursing informatics role in healthcare.
References
Alliance for Nursing Informatics (2023). Nursing Informatics Credential From RN-BC to NI-BC: What’s in a Name (or Credential)? https://www.allianceni.org/sites/allianceni/files/ni-bc_final.web_0.pdf
American Nurses Association (ANA) (2022). Nursing informatics: scope and standards of practice (3rd Ed.). Silver Spring, MD. American Nurses Association.
American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). (2022). 2022 ANCC Certification Data.
https://www.nursingworld.org/~49a2df/globalassets/docs/ancc/ancc-cert-data-website.pdf
American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) (2023). Informatics Nursing Certification (NI-BC™).
https://www.nursingworld.org/our-certifications/informatics-nurse/
Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society. (2022). HIMSS Nursing Informatics Workforce Survey. https://www.himss.org/resources/himss-nursing-informatics-workforce-survey
Published on
January 10, 2024
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