News Releases

University of Maryland School of Nursing Professor Co-Authors Award-Winning Textbook

February 6, 2014

Textbook awarded first place for Information Technology/Informatics.

Baltimore, Md. – The University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) is pleased to announce that Professor Nancy Staggers, PhD ‘92, RN, FAAN, has co-penned a health informatics textbook that received an American Journal of Nursing (AJN) Book of the Year Award. Staggers and co-author Ramona Nelson, PhD, RN-BC, ANEF, FAAN, professor emerita, Slippery Rock University, wrote Health Informatics: An Interprofessional Approach, which was awarded first place in the Information Technology/Informatics category for 2013.

AJN award winners are chosen by an expert panel of judges for authoring what are widely considered the most valuable texts of the year. According to AJN, faculty, librarians, and readers often use this prestigious honor to determine which texts to purchase.

Health Informatics: An Interprofessional Approach covers a wide range of skills and systems that prepares readers to work in today’s technology-based clinical field.  It is targeted to students in the health disciplines and is a comprehensive set of topics in contemporary informatics written by leaders in the field. Topics in the textbook include clinical decision support, clinical documentation, provider order entry systems, system implementation, adoption issues, and more. Additionally, the textbook features chapters written by field experts and case studies accompanied by discussion questions.

“Dr. Nelson and I recognized the need for this text after spending many years working in the health information technology arena and teaching students about informatics. It’s an interdisciplinary endeavor, but texts were not yet available to address that perspective while providing a solid overview of the field,” Staggers said. “We are especially grateful for this award and the recognition by our colleagues as making a worthwhile contribution. It is a very exciting time to be in the field of health informatics."

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The University of Maryland School of Nursing, founded in 1889, is one of the oldest and largest nursing schools, and is ranked eleventh nationally. Enrolling more than 1,700 students in its baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs, the School develops leaders who shape the profession of nursing and impact the health care environment.