Dr. Saba's NI Journey and the Clinical Care Classification (CCC) System

In this podcast, Dr. Diane Skiba interviews Dr. Virginia Saba who describes her distinguished journey as a pioneer in American and International Nursing Informatics and the development of the Clinical Care Classification (CCC) System.

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Launch in external WMV player	Introduction by Dr Dee McGonigle Interviewed by Dr Diane Skiba

Virginia K. Saba, EdD, Honorary PhD, DS, RN, FAAN, FACMI, LL has pioneered the integration of computer technology in the nursing profession for over 30 years. She spearheaded the nursing informatics movement. initiated academic computer technology programs, promoted distant learning technologies, and developed computer-based information systems for health care settings including the Clinical Care Classification (CCC) System. She is an Informatics Consultant, has served as a faculty member in academia, and as a Nurse Officer in the US Public Health Service (PHS).

Dr. Saba received the title of Distinguished Scholar from Georgetown University School of Nursing (GUSON) in 1997. During her 20 year tenure in the GUSON she taught and integrated computer technology in the graduate and undergraduate programs, supervised the faculty and student computer laboratories, and served as liaison to campus-wide computer committees. She also conducted a federally funded, over a million dollar national research study focusing on community health patient care needs.

Dr. Saba also served as a full professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) where she taught and integrated computer technology in the Graduate School of Nursing (GSN) Research Program. At USUHS she designed and coordinated a Distance Learning Project between the Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Administration (VA). It was a prototype for an adult nurse practitioner (ANP) program using interactive video technology with participating VA Medical Centers (VAMCs). In the Fall 1997, students from eight VAMCs across the nation participated in a Post-Masters ANP Certificate Program culminating with its first virtual graduation in June 1999.

During her career as a Commissioned Nurse Officer in the PHS, Dr. Saba provided national leadership to improve the quality of nursing practice. She conducted numerous national surveys, developed and tested computerized information systems primarily in community health. In her position, she promoted the use of computer technology to solve problems in administration, education, research, and clinical nursing practice..

Her national research study was designed to predict care needs and develop a national database on home health care. The study also produced the Clinical Care Classification System (CCC). It consists of two standardized terminologies: CCC of Nursing Diagnoses and Outcomes & CCC of Nursing Interventions and Actions both of which are classified by 21 Care Components. It is designed to assess, document, code, and classify clinical nursing practice in all healthcare settings. The CCC System is the first national nursing standard accepted by the Secretary of HHS as a named standard within the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) Interoperability Specification for the Electronic Health Records. The CCC is also recognized by the ANA as a critical IT nursing language, usable for national databases, and electronic health record (EHR) systems. It is integrated in the Thesaurus of the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) of the National Library of Medicine's (NLM), CINAHL, LOINC, SNOMED-CT, and recognized by HL7. The CCC System Web Site: www.sabacare.com

Dr Saba's accomplishments in the nursing informatics movement are numerous. In 1981 she initiated the first nursing informatics working group and nursing sessions at SCAMC at an NIH. She initiated computer technology nursing sessions at local, state, national, and international conferences such as: (a) American Nurses Association (ANA), (b) National League for Nursing (NLN), (c) International Council for Nursing (ICN), (d) Medical Records Institute (MRI), etc. She was instrumental in creating ANA's Council of Computer Applications in Nursing (CCAIN), later called Steering Committee on Databases to Support Clinical Nursing Practice. In 1991, the Committee received ANA approval for Nursing Informatics as a new nursing specialty and created its own certificate program. She served as ANA liaison to several national and international organizations. Currently, she is involved in health standards groups such as, Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP, International Standards Organization (ISO) US TAG WG3, and IMIA/NI-SIG Concept Representation Group.

As a national and international recognized leader in nursing informatics, she has served on numerous committees, conducted workshops, lectured, presented papers, and published numerous articles and books. She was consultant to the Nightingale Project, a European Union funded project on telematics. She is credited as having developed and taught one of the first NI academic courses at Georgetown University. SON.

She is Past Chair of Nursing Informatics Special Interest Group (NI-SIG),of International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) and of the Steering Committee of ISO/TC215 -WG3 Nursing Reference Terminology Model. She is a consultant and faculty member for Excelsior College Distance Learning (Internet) Informatics Program. She served on Fellow Selection Committee (2001/2) and on Development Committee of the Academy (AAN).

Dr. Saba has authored several books, book chapters, and articles including the CCC Manual (2007), four editions of Essentials of Computers for Nurses (1986,1996, 2001, 2006), Nursing and Computers: An Anthology (1989 & 1998);served on editorial board of Computers in Nursing Journal and other health care technology journals. She is a Fellow of American Academy of Nursing (FAAN), American College of Medical Informatics (FACMI), member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society, and Academy of Medicine of Washington, DC.

She have received numerous awards: (a) 2006 First AMIA- Saba Award for Nursing Informatics. (b) American Academy of Nursing Living Legend Award, (c) AMIA Nursing Informatics Working Group Appreciation Award for her seminal work in nursing informatics and for professional leadership in promoting the development of the field, (d) USUHS Award for spearheading DoD/VA Distance Learning Project; (e) GU-SON Faculty Distinguished Service Award for her dedication to the GU- SON; (f) first Sigma Theta Tau International Information Resources Information Award for her dedication and commitment to the advancement of nursing through information systems and computer technology; (g) Excellence in Nursing Informatics Awards from the ANA and Rutgers Colleges of Nursing, and (h) PHS Commendation Medal for her contribution in manpower and management information system studies.

She is a graduate of Skidmore College Baccalaureate Nursing Program, Masters of Nursing Arts, Teachers College, Columbia University, Maters of Science in Computer Technology of Management, & Doctorate of Education in Educational Administration and. Scientific & Technical Information Science, American University, DC, and has Honorary Doctorates from University of Athens (6 / 2000), Greece, and Excelsior College (7/2005).