Basic Computer Competencies

Overview

The TIGER Informatics Competency Collaborative (TICC) in reviewing “real world” informatics competencies for nurses from over 50 healthcare delivery organizations from North America found that many of these institutions benefit from setting and administering basic computer competencies for their nurses. One would think that in this day and age basic computer competencies are something that an entering college student and practicing nurse brings to their school or workplace. Yet what we have found in our investigation is that 1) there still are a substantial number of “digital immigrants” in the nursing workforce who have never quite mastered basic computer competencies and that 2) many “digital natives” have gaps in their basic computer competency skill set.

Europeans seem to have realized this shortcoming evidenced in the workforce across many industries and acted on it since the late 1990’s. The European Computer Drivers License (ECDL) Foundation set ECDL basic computer competencies in the late 90’s and again in this decade. About seven million Europeans have now taken the ECDL exam and become certified in basic computer competencies.

TICC has adopted the ECDL competencies and is recommending them for all practicing nurses and graduating nursing students. (See Appendix X for a complete listing of the ECDL Syllabus.) In fact we define basic computer competency as being ECDL certified. The modules of ECDL basic computer competencies are:

  1. Concepts of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
  2. Using the Computer and Managing Files
  3. Word Processing
  4. Spreadsheets
  5. Using Databases
  6. Presentation
  7. Web Browsing and Communication

The ECDL syllabus is effectively a global standard in basic computer competencies. The syllabus is maintained by the not-for-profit ECDL foundation. Versions of the syllabus are periodically updated by the ECDL foundation. At the present time and for the foreseeable future the TICC has made the assessment that the ECDL Foundation is a reliable and effective source for basic computer competencies. The fact they are not-for-profit and maintain and update this standard in an effective manner makes the choice of ECDL for basic computer competencies a sustainable one.

The ECDL foundation makes arrangements with entities in various countries to localize the ECDL syllabus, that is to say make it more relevant to the particular country. Outside of Europe, ECDL is known as ICDL. According to the ECDL web site ( accessed 11/4/08) ICDL is available in the United States through CSPlacement (

Importance

Basic computer competencies are foundational to other competencies in the TICC model. As such they are essential to overall proficiency in informatics competency.

Many nurses use computers all the time in their workplace and schools. They can use their organization’s business and clinical systems in the way they were designed to be used to get their job done most of the time. Increasingly, however, nurses can benefit from general basic computer competency to access and interact with business productivity software like word processing, spreadsheet, presentation graphics and database applications for committee work and other initiatives. They can benefit from proficiency in file management and the use of information and communication technology like web browsing and searching, not just using one or two business/ clinical systems to process a narrow band of patient or organizational information.

Recently the United Kingdom’s (UK) National Health Service (NHS) made an ECDL course of study and examination and certification in ECDL available to all nurses who whished to pursue this option. Nine thousand nurses availed themselves of this opportunity. A sample of these nurses was compared to nurses who did not study ECDL or certify. The ECDL certified nurses were significantly more productive in their work performance across several measures than their sister nurses who did not certify. (xxx, 2006)

Top Ten

As mentioned previously the TICC recommends that all practicing nurses and graduating nursing students be ECDL certified. ECDL certification requires approximately 30+ hours of study and costs, more than some institutions may be able to afford at the present time, however. Therefore the TICC used a constant sum scaling methodology to rank the relative importance of ECDL syllabus items in order to determine the most important and relevant items for nurses at this time.

Based on a ranking of relative importance of ECDL syllabus itemsby 19 TICC and other TIGER active TIGER members, the TIGER Informatics Competency Collaborative recommends the following basic computer competencies as a first and significant step toward basic computer proficiencyfor all practicing nurses and graduating nursing students:
Module 1 - Concepts of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)*
Module 2 - Using the Computer and Managing Files*
Module 3 - Word Processing (ONLYone category within this module--3.1 Using the application--is recommended as a first step)

Module 5 - Databases (ONLYone category within this module--5.1 Understanding database --is recommended as a first step)
Module 7 - Web Browsing and Communication*
*If a half or more of the categories within a module were considered important, the entire module was recommended.

The TICC believes that this “first step” to basic computer proficiency for nurses is feasible and affordable and will not only provide basic computer competencies for nurses but allow them go on to obtain other TICC competencies.

The ECDL modules (listed above) are made up of four or more categories. Nineteen experts ranked the relative importance of the 42 ECDL categories across the seven ECDL modules. The “Top Ten” categories were:

CategoryPoints

  1. 2.2 File Management116
  2. 3.1 Using a Word Processing Application113
  3. 7.5 Electronic Communication 103
  4. 2.1 Operating System 96
  5. 7.2 Using the Browser 96
  6. 1.1 Hardware 94
  7. 7.6 Using e-mail 93
  8. 5.1 Understanding Databases 89
  9. 1.5 Security 88
  10. 7.1 Internet 86

Real-world illustrations

(Ann, can you help here?)

Implementation

TICC is recommending to the healthcare industry that all practicing nurses and graduating nursing students:

  1. within two years of the publication of these recommendations, as a first and significant step towards basic computer competency, gain or demonstrate proficiency in ECDL modules 1,2 and 7, as well as ECDL categories 3.1 and 5.1 and;
  2. within five years of the publication of these recommendations, become ECDL certified or hold a substantially equivalent certification.

We recommend that all nursing academic programsand healthcare delivery organizations adopt the above recommendations.

We recommend that nursing leaders make these recommendations happen.

Resources

As stated above, according to the ECDL web site,ICDL is available in the United States through CSPlacement. The site goes on to state “CSPlacement is an authorised partner of ECDL Foundation, the global governing body of the ICDL certification programme”.

CSPlacement has an e-learning course and a certification exam that is substantially equivalent to the TICC recommendation of a first and significant step towards basic computer competency in its CSP Basic offering.

CSPlacement has an e-learning course and a certification exam that is substantially equivalent to the entire ECDL syllabus known as CSP.

The Healthcare Information Management System Society (HIMSS) has a new certificate called HITS. The HITS program of e-learning, testing and certification contains content that is substantially equivalent to the TICC recommendation of a first and significant step towards basic computer competency, as well as other content.

The ECDL syllabus is readily available from the ECDL web site. University, College, and DiplomaSchool instructors as well as Nursing Staff Educators can obtain and teach to this syllabus (the current syllabus is included in this document as Appendix X).

Main take-away from the section

TICC is recommending to the healthcare industry that all practicing nurses and graduating nursing students:

  1. within two years of the publication of these recommendations, as a first and significant step towards basic computer competency, gain or demonstrate proficiency in ECDL modules 1,2 and 7, as well as ECDL categories 3.1 and 5.1 and;
  2. within five years of the publication of these recommendations, become ECDL certified or hold a substantially equivalent certification.