Development of a nursing informatics model: A description of nursing elements needed to obtain essential data for deciding about nursing information systems

There is an increasing opportunity for nurses to make decisions about the compatibility of existing or proposed information systems and nursing's information processing needs. If nurses making these decisions have limited experience with information technology, they may need to rely on nursing informatics literature to guide their decision process. No graphic model was found for obtaining essential data for making decisions about a nursing information system (NIS). The purpose of this study was to develop a model that provides nurses with a guiding framework for deriving essential data for selecting, evaluating, enhancing, or designing an NIS and to test the completeness and usefulness of the model in deciding about systems.; Five areas of focus were identified as model elements from nursing informatics literature. Structured analysis techniques were then used to identify sub-elements within each of the five elements and to produce a graphic model that identifies inputs, transactions, outputs, and constraints for each model element. Outputs from each model element are the essential data or definition of requirements for an NIS to be utilized when deciding about an NIS. To establish content validity for the model the sub-elements were compared with system selection guidelines that appeared in the nursing informatics literature.; The model was tested using a self-administered questionnaire constructed for this descriptive study. Both the model and questionnaire were reviewed by a panel of six experts in nursing informatics. Experts verified that the five model element outputs are essential to consider and are useful in deciding about an NIS. A purposive sample of 75 registered nurses in hospital settings who had made decisions about an NIS was surveyed.; Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results indicated the model element outputs were defined in terms that users can understand. The model also contained the necessary model elements. The model element outputs were both essential to consider and useful for obtaining data needed in deciding about NISs. And finally, the model diagram communicated the model elements and their sub-elements clearly to the user. These findings support the proposed nursing informatics model as a tool for defining requirements for nursing information systems.