Competencies and credentialing: nursing informatics.

This paper provides an overview and description of the processes that address the competencies and credentialing of nurses in the field of nursing informatics (NI). It provides the highlights of the informatics competencies that were proposed as the NI field advanced. It also provides an overview of the ANCC nursing informatics credentialing process. It will also present the credentialing process of the HIMSS organization which offers several different certifications. And finally it will address the new process for the international certification entitled Nursing Informatics Competency Recognition Certificate. The Nursing Informatics Special Interest Group of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA/NI-SIG) approved this certificate at the general assembly meeting during NI'2003 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The certification is based on a professional portfolio that demonstrates expertise in this field for nurses outside the USA and Canada.