This appeared last week:
The framework enabling the digital capabilities of nurses and midwives
By Jane Allman
Friday, 12 February, 2021
2020 — Year of the Nurse and Midwife — was intended to be a global celebration of the critical and central role nurses and midwives play in health care. But a global pandemic saw celebration plans put on ice, as Australia’s largest healthcare workforce instead worked tirelessly in gruelling and unprecedented circumstances to fight for the lives of their patients.
Although celebratory plans were shelved, the value of nurses and midwives in our communities was brought into sharp focus — perhaps even more so than ever before. Frontline healthcare professionals, nurses and midwives have and are playing a leading role in Australia’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nurses and midwives have been using technology to care for their patients for many years, but with the recent rapid expansion of technology in health care, the focus is on empowering nurses and midwives to lead the digital transformation of the health system.
The National Nursing and Midwifery Digital Health Capability Framework — developed by nurses and midwives in collaboration with the Australian Digital Health Agency, the Australasian Institute of Digital Health, and peak nursing bodies and leaders — helps nurses and midwives assess their digital capabilities and pursue professional development if needed.
The Framework highlights the specific skills and capabilities necessary to deliver contemporary care, focusing on digital professionalism; leadership and advocacy; data and information quality; information-enabled care; and technology.
The Framework follows the introduction of the National Digital Health Workforce and Education Roadmap, designed to help the Australian health workforce use technology and further drive the digital transformation of health services to meet community demand.
Chief Clinical Officer of the Australian Digital Health Agency Angela Ryan explained that the success of the Framework is evident from the interest expressed by international groups, who are seeking to adopt similar strategies in their own countries.
“We’ve had international engagement on how to interact with the nursing and midwifery workforce.
“Our next step is to implement the framework and put it to work in a variety of settings. One example is the Agency's work with Queensland’s Emerald community to connect healthcare providers to My Health Record and provide associated training that will benefit the community.
“As part of the Communities of Excellence Program, Emerald is being used as a model for building digital health communities across Australia.”
Angela Ryan spoke to Hospital + Healthcare about the importance of the Framework and the impact it will have on the digital and leadership capabilities of nurses and midwives in Australia.
Here is the link:
There was a release in response for the Aust. Institute of Digital Health.
Institute welcomes digital health capability framework
12 February, 2021
The National Nursing and Midwifery Digital
Health Capability Framework is positively welcomed by the Australasian
Institute of Digital Health’s Nursing and Midwifery Community of Practice.
The framework provides:
- a transparent vison for nurses and midwives, of the skills expected of them during the delivery of care using digital health technologies and maximising data driven decision making
- an understanding for nursing and midwifery management and executives, of how the workforce, resources, and scopes of practice need to be structured in a digitised environment to foster best practice and support health outcomes
- the necessary tools and common language for nursing and midwifery leaders, to support a culture of technology acceptance and innovation awareness and empower the workforce to develop the key capabilities required for 21st century practice
- the key graduate attributes for nursing and midwifery education providers, to competently and confidently demonstrate in a digitised clinical setting
- clarity in career planning toward nursing and midwifery informatics roles, for those nurses and midwives who wish to evolve and participate in within their organisations
- a conceptual framework for nursing and midwifery researchers, which directs critical thinking and continuous quality improvement activities for individual practitioners, healthcare organisations, and the professions
- visible and agile nurse and midwife commitment to their patient and client, which is agile and responsive to the changing landscape of healthcare.
We know that technology has the potential to improve outcomes for patients and clients, as well as increasing efficiency and effectiveness for those delivering care. This framework provides a structured approach to develop capability. It strengthens nursing and midwives’ pursuit in incorporating digital tools and understanding the value of data and information in the future healthcare environment.
Australian Digital Health Agency 2020 National nursing and midwifery digital health capability framework available here
Here is the link:
https://digitalhealth.org.au/blog/institute-welcomes-digital-health-capability-framework/
Not that they were going to be critical since they were involved in the development, indeed they led the effort!
Having read through the Framework I guess I worry that the whole thing is placed rather in the stratosphere and what nurses and midwives are seeking is knowledge that enables them to provide their care optimally. If that involves the use of digital tools then all to the good, but it is the quality and safety of the care and how comfortably it can be delivered – with the minimum of effort and stress that is key!
Has anyone noticed a clamour from the profession for this sort of framework or do we rather see requests for sensible in service training around how to apply technologies that are clearly useful for both patient and nurse. I somehow feel there also needs to be more for the Nursing School sector.
I guess the proof of the pudding will be what practical and positive change is seen over the next year or two!
I am sufficiently cynical to be mightily concerned that this is just box ticking exercise for the ADHA to say we have a Strategy for that – let’s move on!
What do you think and what value do you see in the effort?
David.
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