Legacy: Dr. Saba

Dr. Virginia K. Saba, EdD, Honorary PhD, DS, RN, FAAN, FACMI, LL
Founder of Clinical Care Classification (CCC) System, President and CEO SabaCare, Inc.

Dr. Virginia Saba was a pioneer in the field of nursing informatics (NI) and a resilient advocate for nurses. During her more than 40-year career, which encompassed community and public health nursing, research, education, advocacy and informatics, she spearheaded NI both nationally and internationally, advancing nursing knowledge through the development of a comprehensive terminology/classification of nursing ⁠— Clinical Care Classification (CCC) System, or SabaCare. Dr. Saba conducted many of the first workshops on NI and gave lectures on the new specialty around the world. She promoted the acceptance of NI as a new nursing specialty by nursing’s professional organizations, namely the ANA and NLN; developed its professional requirements, standards and certification; and endorsed its inclusion as an integral part of nursing practice, administration, education and research. Dr. Saba also instituted early academic programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, including the development of new and innovative academic materials that resulted in the co-authoring of the textbook Essentials of Nursing Informatics with Dr. Kathleen McCormick.

Dr. Saba published widely and served on several national and international technology and standards committees. She also received numerous awards, including the American Academy of Nursing Living Legend Award and the Saba Award, which is presented annually in her name by the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). She was a Distinguished Scholar, Emeritus at Georgetown University; Adjunct Professor at Uniformed Services University and George Mason University, among others; and is a retired officer in the U.S. Public Health Service.

Dr. Saba graduated from Skidmore College, Columbia University and American University. She received honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Maryland, Excelsior College, University of Athens in Greece and University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, Finland.

We are indebted to Dr. Saba, developer of the Clinical Care Classification System, who passed away on November 20, 2021.