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 focus on the growing influence of nurses in leadership and strategic decision-making. Nursing informatics leaders are helping to guide digital transformation efforts, ensuring that technology investments align with clinical needs and organizational priorities. Their leadership is essential in bridging the gap between care delivery and innovation.

HIMSS: What does effective leadership in nursing informatics look like today?

Genevieve Conlin: Effective leadership in nursing informatics today means bridging clinical practice and technology—advocating for safe, usable workflows while aligning digital tools with patient outcomes and organizational goals, keeping in mind a collaborative cross-discipline approach often needs to be considered. It looks like leading change through strong stakeholder engagement, using data to measure impact, and ensuring privacy, equity, and clinician well-being are built into every implementation.

HIMSS: How can nurses position themselves to have a voice in digital transformation efforts?

Genevieve Conlin: Nurses can position themselves by getting involved early, even during undergraduate nursing studies, as well as in practice by joining shared governance, informatics councils, and optimization workgroups. These forums focus on frontline workflow and patient safety and stay central to design decisions. I also think it’s important to build credibility by bringing evidence: track pain points, quantify time/safety impact, and partner with informatics/IT to propose practical solutions and participate in testing and training. Data speaks volumes. Additionally, approaching these efforts with a spirit of 'how can we (safely, reasonably, effectively etc.)' adopt new technologies can build a strong sense of collaboration and collegiality.

HIMSS: What skills are most important for nurses who want to grow into leadership roles in informatics?

Genevieve Conlin: The most important skills for these nurses are a mix of clinical credibility and systems thinking; strong communication, stakeholder management, and the ability to translate bedside needs into clear technical requirements. On the technical side, comfort with EHR workflows, data literacy (quality metrics, dashboards), basic understanding of interoperability and clinical decision support, and solid change management skills make the biggest difference. The ability to demonstrate the power of the nurse's expertise at the intersection of clinical care and technology is crucial to positioning the importance and necessity of these roles.

HIMSS: One word to describe the future of nursing:

Genevieve Conlin: Resiliency (and agility)

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

Genevieve Conlin: The biggest challenge will be balancing increasing patient acuity and staffing pressures with rapid technology change without adding documentation burden or burnout. We can address it by redesigning workflows with nurses at the table, using automation and decision support thoughtfully, and measuring success by time saved and patient outcomes, not just the number of clicks.