The Impact of Nursing Informatics Competencies on Clinical Decision-Making: Evidence from a Public Hospital

Objective: This study aimed to examine the levels of informatics competency and clinical decision-making approaches among nurses working in a public hospital, and to explore whether demographic factors influence this relationship. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional and descriptive design was employed. Data were collected from 502 nurses in Ankara, Türkiye, between January and March at 2025. Instruments included the “Technology Informatics Guiding Educational Reform (TIGER)-Based Nursing Informatics Competencies Assessment Tool" and the "Nurse Decision-Making Scale." Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, Spearman correlations, and Multiple Regression analyses were performed. Results: The mean age of nurses was 30.2 years; 73.3% were female, and 87.4% held at least a bachelor’s degree. While 64.9% had received general informatics training, only 22.3% had specific nursing informatics education. Overall, informatics competency was rated as “competent” (X̄=2.37), with the highest score in basic computer skills (2.64), and the lowest in clinical information management (2.25). Nearly 90% of the nurses exhibited intuitive decision-making tendencies. Correlation analysis revealed significant associations between informatics competencies and decision-making. In the regression model, basic computer skills (β=0.381) and clinical information management (β=0.377) positively predicted decision-making scores, whereas information literacy (β=–0.364) negatively influenced decision-making scores. Conclusion: Nurses in this study demonstrated moderate informatics competency (TIGER mean score=2.37), with relatively stronger basic computer skills but lower scores in clinical information management and information literacy. The mean Nurse Decision-Making Scale score (91) indicated a predominant use of intuitive decision-making. These findings highlight the need for structured informatics education and evidence-based system integration to support clinical decisions.