LAUSR

BACKGROUND Nurses are increasingly confronted with IT-based systems as part of their daily work. However, they often lack basic competencies in managing these complex systems. OBJECTIVES To analyze the need for continuous education in health informatics among Austrian nurses. METHODS Survey within five of the largest healthcare organizations in Austria. Overall, 280 nursing practitioners with IT responsibilities and nursing managers from middle and top management participated. RESULTS Participants assessed five topics (IT project management, IT in nursing, eHealth, nursing terminologies, and computer science basics) as important for continuous education in health informatics. Top management rated the importance of most topics higher than middle management did. Nursing practitioners gave ratings in between middle and top management. CONCLUSION Austrian nursing practitioners with IT responsibilities and nursing managers see a need for continuous education in health informatics. This supports findings of international recommendations of nursing informatics continuous education. There is, however, a lack of suitable opportunities for continuous education in Austria.