Becoming digitally professional in Australia: enabling an educative approach for nurses

Work readiness for digital professionalism: To ensure the next generation of student nurses are educationally prepared for a digital future in healthcare, swift action is required. The knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours required for digital professionalism to flourish need to be systematically implemented and embedded within curricula.

How to become prepared for the future: The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council Registered Nurse standards for Practice and Explanatory Note outline expectations for education of students including health technology and informatics. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation has developed nursing informatics competency standards, and the Australian College of Nursing, Health Informatics Society and Nursing Informatics Association position statement also provided guidance. These documents when coupled with the National Australian Digital Health Agency strategy provides direction for adoption of digital technology by health professionals and organisations by 2022. Similarly, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality Health Service standards supports organisations to integrate digital technology for the benefit of all stakeholders. Australia now has the policies and standards for adoption of health technology and health informatics at all levels.

Outcome of preparation: Legitimisation of safe, appropriate and effective use of digital technology by students of nursing who are educationally prepared on campus through simulation activities, guided during work integrated learning by their host supervisors and enabled by organisations to be work ready can occur when clear direction is provided at a National level. Synthesis of these documents need to be undertaken in consultation with the National Boards. The outcome of consultation would be a joint national policy overseen by Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. The publication of clear guidelines for all current and beginning level registered health practitioners would ensure digital professionalism can be a 'safe, seamless and secure' integral component of professional identity formation of students, nurses and midwives.