The TIGER Initiative is something that has been mentioned at some point during our nursing careers, but what is it really?
The TIGER Initiative – T.I.G.E.R. - Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform
OBJECTIVE: provide the necessary preparation required for nurses and students to incorporate technology and informatics to enhance patient care. The Initiative works towards a 10 year goal of usage of the electronic health record.
PHASES: (http://www.allianceni.org/tiger.asp)
- “Phase I of the TIGER Initiative engaged stakeholders to create a common vision of electronic health record-enabled nursing practice”
- “Phase II of the TIGER Initiative facilitated collaboration among participating organizations to achieve the vision”
- “Phase III of the TIGER Initiative is a call to action to our leaders, organizations and you! Whereby all stakeholders are charged with ACTION in the following crucial areas:”
- Standards & Interoperability
- National Health IT Agenda
- Informatics Competencies
- Education and Faculty Development
- Staff Development
- Usability & Clinical Application Design
- Virtual Demonstration Center
- Leadership Development
- Consumer Empowerment & Personal Health Records
The TIGER initiative is currently in the “implementation” phase. The TIGER initiative is working towards the ultimate goal of extending the use of electronic health records; therefore, it calls for nurses, experienced as well as students, to be competent in informatics and its use. During my research, I kept coming across this quote “…making IT the stethoscope of the 21st century”( http://www.aacn.nche.edu/education/pdf/TIGER.pdf), I take this to mean that soon technology will hold an even greater place in our profession and most of what we do, it would be essential for us to be competent in the knowledge of it. Practicing, as well as student nurses, are urged to participate in designing and revising the tools and programs that will be used, so that these tools can be designed for us, by us. I believe we, as nurses, should play an integral role in that, which will affect our profession and we need to embrace the progressing movement. It also seeks for us to support policies relating to the initiative as well as lobby for more support. Several recommendations for the integration of technology have already been suggested for professional nursing organizations as well as academic institutions. As nurses, we definitely need to become more familiar with the TIGER initiative as it will affect us all at some point.
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/education/pdf/TIGER.pdf
http://www.allianceni.org/tiger.asp
