TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR CAPACITY-BUILDING IN NURSING INFORMATICS: A PERUVIAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Nursing personnel has to face the great challenge of taking advantage of new technological resources to carry out their work in a more efficient and effective way. Nursing informatics has been described as an essential competence for nurse professionals in several countries. In Peru, nursing personnel is predominantly female and represents the largest workforce group in the healthcare system. This article discusses the challenges for capacity-building training programs in nursing informatics in Peru. In general, the published literature on nursing informatics training programs in Peru is rather scarce. Only one out of four Peruvian universities offer courses related to health informatics in undergraduate nursing academic programs. In 2020, the Peruvian Ministry of Health defined the core nursing competences to manage information and communication technologies, and health information systems, including telemedicine. However, nursing informatics has not yet been sufficiently developed in Peru due to organizational, material, cultural and sociotechnical challenges. Moreover, pandemics such as COVID-19 require urgent action to transform health care delivery, to expand telenursing and distance learning nursing programs and initiatives in Peru. Therefore, it is essential to promote research and capacity-building programs in nursing informatics in Peru and foster global collaborative networks between public and private institutions.