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:

Saba VK, McCormick KA, editors. Essentials of Nursing Informatics, 7th Edition. 7th edition. New York: McGraw Hill / Medical; 2021.

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).

Within AMIA, the Nursing Informatics Working Group (AMIA NIWG) describes Dr. Saba as a Nursing Informatics Innovator and a ‘… pioneer of computer technology in nursing [who] for over 40 years, spearheaded the nursing informatics movement.’   

A webinar hosted by the NIWG on September, 2022, titled ‘Virginia K Saba: Nursing Informatics Visionary, Mentor, Trailblazer ‘ provides a look at her many contributions, noting   ‘…not all nurse informaticists, especially nurses just entering informatics practice, are aware the profound impact she had on the evolution of informatics.’

In 2018, Dr. Saba recorded  a six part lecture series  at Simmons University. In this series, she provides an overview of the Clinical Care Classification System including how it fits into Nursing Plans of Care and how it can be mapped to other terminologies.

Dr. Saba was a Distinguished Scholar, Emeritus at Georgetown University; Adjunct Professor at Uniformed Services University and George Mason University, and  a retired officer in the U.S. Public Health Service.   The American Medical Informatics Association Nursing Informatics Working Group lists her as a Nursing Informatics Innovator. 

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.