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The 2026 Nursing Knowledge: Big Data Science Conference brought together nurse scientists, clinicians, educators, academic leaders, informaticians, nursing executives, health system leaders, policymakers, and industry partners to explore the theme of implementation and the future of nursing knowledge in an increasingly digital and data-driven world. The conference marked the completion of the 2021-2026 NKBDS strategic planning cycle and served as a forum for reflection, collaboration, and future planning.
The June 3 pre-conference activities provided participants with opportunities to engage in focused learning experiences designed to support workforce development and capacity building across a range of topics.
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Dr. Jenna Marquard and Ryannon K. Frederick led Track 1, Empowering Nurses for the Age of AI: Co-Creating an AI Literacy Framework for Nursing Education and Practice, in which participants adapted the internationally recognized AILit Framework to nursing-specific competencies spanning patient advocacy and clinical ethics, documentation and care planning, safe delegation and clinical judgment, and workflow integration.
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Dr. Cathy Ivory led Track 2, The Newbie's Guide to the NKBDS Initiative and Conference, introducing first-time attendees to the Initiative's history, structure, workgroups, and eRepository, and helping new participants build relationships to support ongoing engagement.
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Track 3, Beyond Words, Beyond Silos: A Hands-On, Interactive Journey to Embrace the Real-World Innovator You Already Are, was led by Kelly Landsman, Michelle Noltimier, Shannon Lunn, Meg Edgerton, and Whitney Line, and gave participants hands-on strategies for turning innovation methods into real-world, systems-level action.
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Track 4, The Nursing Process on FHIR®: Enhancing Interoperability and Patient Care, led by Dr. Susan Matney and Dr. Laura Heermann Langford, offered a practical, resource-level walk-through of how FHIR supports the nursing process using U.S. Core FHIR profiles, standardized terminologies, and live demonstrations.
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The keynote presentation, Making AI Governance Work: Operational Lessons from a Health System, given by Dr. Leyla Warsame, challenged participants to consider artificial intelligence governance as a continuous lifecycle rather than a single implementation activity. Discussions emphasized workforce readiness, local validation, monitoring, accountability, human-AI collaboration, and responsible implementation. Participants were encouraged to consider how governance structures, organizational culture, and leadership influence successful adoption and sustainability of emerging technologies.
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The Executive Call to Action panel, moderated by Dr. Connie White Delaney, brought together nursing and healthcare leaders Dr. Shakira Henderson and Ryannon K. Frederick and focused on the future of nursing leadership, workforce preparation, and technology-enabled care. A recurring theme throughout the discussion was the critical importance of strengthening academic-practice partnerships. Presenters emphasized that educational programs and healthcare organizations must work together to anticipate future workforce needs and ensure that graduates enter practice prepared for increasingly complex, data-driven, and technology-enabled environments. The panel challenged nursing leaders to consider how educational programs can prepare learners not only for today's healthcare system, but for the realities of practice ten years into the future.
The discussion also highlighted the need to move beyond traditional educational models that emphasize confidence and toward competency-based approaches that prioritize demonstrated proficiency. As healthcare continues to evolve, future nurses will require competencies in areas such as data literacy, digital health, artificial intelligence, interoperability, systems thinking, critical thinking, communication skills, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The presenters stressed that these competencies should be developed across the educational continuum and reinforced through ongoing professional development.
Another important theme centered on the need for more holistic educational pathways that better reflect the interdisciplinary nature of healthcare. The presenters noted that many of the challenges facing healthcare transcend professional boundaries and require integrated approaches to education, workforce development, and innovation.
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The conference highlighted the growing importance of population health leadership as healthcare systems increasingly rely on data-driven approaches to improve outcomes, advance health equity, and support value-based care. In the Unique/Innovative Use of Data session, Dr. Martha Sylvia outlined the core competencies nursing leaders need to execute population health and value-based care initiatives, while Jennifer Houlihan showed how non-traditional data sources — including the Area Deprivation Index, social determinants of health screening, and automated frailty indices embedded in the EHR — can proactively identify risk, trigger community resource referrals, and close access and care gaps.
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A closing panel, SDOH and the Environment, moderated by Rebecca Freeman and joined by Dr. Heidi Roop, Jennifer Houlihan, and Dr. Martha Sylvia, brought these threads together with the climate discussion below, challenging nurses to think beyond the bedside and lead at scale. Together, these sessions reinforced the unique role of nurses in translating data into action by identifying patterns, recognizing vulnerable populations, implementing evidence-based interventions, and continuously evaluating outcomes at scale.
The closing keynote, Changing Technology Meets a Changing Planet – Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Big Data Impacts & Opportunities, presented by Heidi Roop, expanded conference discussions beyond traditional healthcare settings by examining the implications of climate change and environmental disruption for health, healthcare systems, and communities. Presenters explored how advances in data science, forecasting, artificial intelligence, and community-engaged partnerships can support climate adaptation, resilience planning, and public health preparedness. These discussions reinforced the importance of translating data into actionable strategies that strengthen community resilience and support informed decision-making.