image: Nurse Ellen Makar, R.N.-B.C., M.S.N., coordinates information integral to clinical decision support at Yale New Haven Health System, Conn. view more
Credit: AMIA/courtesy of E Makar
Two nurses have won recognition as emerging leaders in the field of nursing informatics, selected by the Alliance for Nursing Informatics (ANI) to participate in a jointly supported Nursing Informatics Emerging Leaders Program. The selections were based on a number of criteria, including a mid-level position in informatics in a health care setting, a current license to practice as a registered nurse, and the ability to make a difference as a leader in the field of informatics. This inaugural program aims to develop leaders capable of assuming national leadership positions in an informatics-related organization. The two emerging leaders selected are: Ellen Makar, RN-BC, MSN, of Yale New Haven Health System, Conn.; and Sandra Ng, RN-BC, MSN, UCSF Medical Center, part of the University of California, San Francisco.
ANI and its Nursing Informatics Emerging Leaders Program are jointly supported by the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). To fulfill their commitment to the program, each Emerging Leader is expected to 1) complete a nursing informatics leadership project, 2) attend meetings of the ANI governing directors, 3) participate in the HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition (March 1-4, 2010), including the Nursing Informatics Symposium, and 4) participate in the AMIA Annual Symposium (Nov. 13-17, 2010).
"This mentorship opportunity for Ellen," said Charles Torre, Jr., Corporate Director of Decision Support at Yale New Haven Health, "will infuse our institutional thinking toward a data management and implementation capacity that can become a national model."
Ellen Makar currently serves as a clinical coordinator in the Decision Support Department at Yale New Haven Health, where she retrieves and analyzes administrative health data for projects that require operational, clinical, and financial decision-making. She is also a doctoral student at Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes Jewish College in St Louis, Mo. Ellen will be paired with two mentors: Bonnie Westra, Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing; and Carol Petersen, Manager, Perioperative Informatics, at the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses.
Sandra Ng is currently responsible for operating trials of ground-breaking hardware and applications in a clinical setting, redesigning workflow processes, and evaluating impact of these innovations on various clinician workflows during routine patient care. During her involvement in the two-year leadership program, Ms. Ng will be mentored by HIMSS Vice President of Informatics Joyce Sensmeier and Curtis Dikes, National Director, Clinical Informatics Technology Integration at Kaiser Permanente.
"Informatics is fundamental to clinical-decision support," says mentor Bonnie Westra. "This program enables nurses to grow their expertise in an area that supports optimum healthcare outcomes through improving systems that deliver quality health care." Dr. Westra explains, "This program is introduced to encourage healthcare professionals to work together and make a qualitative difference in the nursing profession."
ANI is co-sponsored by AMIA and HIMSS to represent nursing informatics with a unified voice, while providing synergy and structure needed to advance the efforts of nursing informatics professionals in improving delivery of patient care. ANI represents more than 5,000 nurses, brings together 26 distinct nursing informatics groups, integrates nurses from a broad swath of academia, practice, industry, and a variety of specialty areas, working collaboratively with nearly three million nurses who currently practice in the United States today.
About American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)
AMIA is a member-supported professional association of leaders advancing biomedical and health informatics in the United States. AMIA supports the development and application of informatics in patient care, public health, human life sciences, education, research, administration, and health care-related policy. AMIA's 4,000 members advance the use of health information and communications technology with the ultimate goal of improving health and healthcare systems.
About the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
HIMSS is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded in 1961 with offices in Chicago, Washington D.C., Brussels, Singapore, and other locations across the United States, HIMSS represents more than 23,000 individual members and over 380 corporate members that collectively represent organizations employing millions of people. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives designed to promote information and management systems' contributions to ensuring quality patient care.