Nursing Informatics in the Philippines: History and Present Educational Situation

The word “Nursing Informatics” was made familiar to the Philippine community by the year 2008.

Philippine Medical Informatics Society (PMIS) was established which made a very strong influence in the development of health informatics in the Philippines faculty members of the University of the Philippines began formal education and training in medical informatics and information science Standards of Health Information of the Philippines 1999 (SHIP99) was established. It was headed by National Institute of Health of the UP Manila with the collaboration of Philippine Nurses Association

Health Informatics was offered by UP- Manila College of Medicine (major in medical informatics) and College of Arts and Sciences (major in bioinformatics) Commission on Higher Education Memorandum 5 Series of 2008 defined Nursing Informatics course in the undergraduate curriculum This was later revised and included as Health Informatics course in CHED Memorandum Order 14 Series of 2009 First Implementation of the integration of Nursing Informatics in the undergraduate curriculum was on the summer of 2010.

1.The inclusion of informatics as an integral part of the undergraduate curriculum has been one of the most influential factors for the increased awareness and interest in this field of nursing. However, the contents of the curriculum was adapted from international materials which does not match the local needs. 2.Lack of certification and credentialing programs in post-graduate levels are also absent with the scarcity of local nursing informatics experts. This new field has yet to gain acceptance and recognition in the nursing community as a sub-specialty.

As information technology and computing slowly advance HEALTH CARE practices nowadays, there is seemingly a need to improve the preparation of our nursing students academically and clinically as they engage themselves with a new concept of Nursing Informatics. Nursing schools across the country has been implementing the course Informatics. However, there is a need to standardize the contents of the course being implemented by nursing schools. Theoretical concepts and practical applications should be aligned so that it may be applicable to the Philippine setting.