The comparison of nursing graduates, nursing educators, and employer expectations for information technology

Nursing is involved with managing information in practice and research as well as in education. Standards for technology competencies have been stated generally and employers' expectations for technology have not been established. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to assess the information technology expectations of employers of nurses in one mid-south state and compare these expectations to self-reported computer experience of senior nursing students in baccalaureate degree nursing programs and their faculty.;The Staggers Nursing Computer Experience Questionnaire was adapted and sent to 425 students with the return of 143 (33.6%), 190 faculty with the return of 75 (39.5%), and 200 employers of nurses with the return of 59 (29.5%). One-way ANOVA with post hoc comparisons revealed that employer expectations were significantly higher at the 0.05 level of significance than the self-reported student use and knowledge in both general computer applications and hospital information systems. Employer expectations were also higher at the 0.05 level of significance than the self-reported faculty use and knowledge of hospital information systems which included activities such as order entry, patient care planning, patient classification systems, documentation, and data access.;Recommendations. Informatics educational offerings should be designed for nursing faculty and nursing students in both general computer applications and hospital information systems. These hospital information systems should be designed in simulation format to ensure actual patient confidentiality while preparing faculty and student nurses. Faculty must be prepared in informatics if they are to educate nursing students in core informatics content. Outcome criteria need to be identified to assure competencies as well as continued systematic assessment of employer expected competencies of nursing graduates.