HISTORY OF NURSING INFORMATICS IN CANADA "Registered nurses need to be able to demonstrate their unique contribution to the health of Canadians within Canada's rapidly evolving health care system. Basic, essential nursing information is required by nurses, employers, researchers, educators, policy makers, and clients so that informed decisions can be made about nursing's role in the changing health care system,” - Canadian Nurses' Association, 1993: Policy Statement on Health Information: Nursing Components, p. 1

CNA spearheaded an initiative, the National Nursing Informatics Project, to begin to develop a national consensus on definition, competencies, and educational strategies and priorities.

The use of technology in nursing is not new, in fact nurses have become proficient in utilizing and adapting complex technology into caring nursing practice for decades, at least since the time of Florence Nightingale in the United Kingdom and even earlier, when Jeanne Mance ( ) founded the first hospital in Montreal,Canada in 1642.

Various forms of machinery such as ventilators and physiological monitors were first used in intensive and critical care settings, and are now currently used in adapted form in less acute areas, even in home care.

Nursing has evolved significantly over the past few decades, with many of the changes being driven by advances in information and communication technology (ICT).

In 1998, the Canadian Nurses Association spearheaded another initiative, the National Nursing Informatics Project, to begin to develop a national consensus on definition, competencies, and educational strategies and priorities in nursing informatics development.

RAISING CANADIAN NURSING AWARENESS Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) >plays a unique and crucial role in the development of this new Canadian health information system.

ROLES: 1.Setting National standards for financial, statistical, and clinical data 2. Setting National standards for health information technology, 3. Collecting, processing, and maintaining health related databases and registries

In 1975, Canadian Organization for the Advancement of Computers in Health or COACH was founded. >actively initiated professional protocols for using computer systems in Canadian health care.

In 2001, COACH, as Canada's Health Informatics Association, launched the Patron Program. As an individual member based organization, COACH promotes understanding and effective utilization of information and information technologies within the Canadian Healthcare industry through education, information, networking and communication. Today, COACH is a leading organization with an evolving membership

The Canadian Nursing Informatics Association In 2001, a new group, the Canadian Nursing Informatics Association (CNIA) received emerging group status from the CNA and affiliate status in 2003 The mission of the CNIA is to be the voice for Nursing Informatics in Canada. Recognizing the importance of the work the CNIA is undertaking, the Canadian Nurses Association has granted associate group status to the CNIA. The CNIA is also affiliated with COACH, Canada's National Health Informatics Association