Inflection Point: Artificial Intelligence, Digital Health, and the Evolution of Pre-Licensure Nursing Informatics Competencies

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence, telehealth, and sensor technologies have fundamentally transformed health care, creating an urgent need to update and revise nursing informatics competencies for pre-licensure education. The purpose of this narrative, non-systematic review is to (1) describe and characterize the evolution of pre-licensure nursing informatics competencies; (2) discuss the central phenomena driving current digital transformation in health care; and (3) discuss future directions to evolve pre-licensure nursing informatics competency frameworks in an era of digital health. We conducted multiple literature searches in support of the narrative review. Current pre-licensure nursing informatics competency frameworks require evolution, given the new knowledge and skills needed for nurses to engage with rapidly advancing digital health technologies. The review reveals the need for a fifth wave of competency development that prepares nurses as informed users, contributors, evaluators, and stewards of digital health tools. We must advance nursing informatics education to meet the workforce needs of the digital health era by building on a robust foundation of past competency development efforts.