At HIMSS, May is National Nurses Month, a time to recognize and celebrate the impact nurses have on improving lives and shaping the future of healthcare. HIMSS is proud to spotlight members of the nursing informatics community whose expertise, innovation, and leadership are transforming care delivery beyond the bedside. From advancing digital health to influencing strategy and technology, these professionals exemplify the vital role nurses play in driving meaningful change. Join us in honoring their contributions and the lasting impact they make across healthcare.

Interested in getting involved? We welcome you to join the nursing informatics community and connect with peers who are shaping the future of digital health. To learn more, reach out to us at nursinginformatics@himss.org

This week, we highlight how nurses are driving innovation through the use of AI and digital technologies. Nursing informatics professionals are at the forefront of integrating tools that enhance clinical decision-making, reduce burden, and improve patient outcomes. Their work demonstrates how nurses play a critical role in shaping technology to better support care delivery.

HIMSS: Where do you see the biggest opportunity for AI to support nurses in the next few years?

Cory Stephens: The biggest opportunity is freeing nurses from the noise so they can focus on what matters. AI is quickly becoming part of nursing’s invisible infrastructure, enabling the flow of intelligence where nurses need it most: across information, decisions, people, and care.

HIMSS: What role do nurses play in shaping how new technologies are designed and implemented?

Cory Stephens: Nurses are not just users of technology. We are translators between care, complexity, and human need. Our role is to ensure emerging technologies are designed and implemented in ways that are safe, intuitive, equitable, and grounded in the realities of practice.

HIMSS: What excites you most about the future of AI in nursing?

Cory Stephens: What excites me most is the possibility that AI can help create a future where healthcare quality reaches new heights, gaps in care narrow, and people live healthier, happier lives. Nurses will remain central to that future, but with less burden and greater ability to apply their knowledge, judgment, and compassion where they matter most, helping move care toward greater integration across person, health, environment, and nursing.

HIMSS: One word to describe the future of nursing:

Cory Stephens: Harmonized

HIMSS: The biggest challenge for nurses in the next 5 years and how we can address it:

Cory Stephens: The biggest challenge will be ensuring that nursing remains a leading force in shaping how AI is designed, implemented, and governed as it becomes more embedded in care. We can address this by investing now in nurse education, leadership, and influence so technology advances in ways that strengthen quality, close gaps, and reduce burden rather than deepen fragmentation.