Big Data Science Conference panel discusses COVID-19’s impact on nursing informatics

The final online session of the Nursing Knowledge: Big Data Science Conference was held Sept. 17. The session, Reimagining the Future of Big Data: How COVID-19 has elevated the importance of nursing informatics, included a panel discussion with Connie White Delaney, dean of the School of Nursing; Jakub Tolar, vice president for Clinical Affairs, Judy Murphy, chief nursing officer, IBM Global Healthcare; Laura Reed, chief nurse executive and chief operating officer, Fairview Health System; Deb Trautman, president and chief executive officer, American Association of Colleges of Nursing; and Sheila Ochylski, chief nursing informatics officer, Veteran Health Administration.

“Our work together in these sessions and during our year-round work always focuses on anchoring in the present and leveraging nursing data and big data science to accomplish health care transformations,” said Delaney.

The panel discussed how the pandemic has required a team approach with an interprofessional focus that embraces technology, data and artificial intelligence.

The Nursing Knowledge: Big Data Science Initiative is advancing a national action plan to ensure that nursing data are captured and available in sharable, comparable formats for clinicians, administrators, researchers and policy makers to improve health outcomes.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 in-person conference was held as four virtual sessions. The 2021 conference will be held June 9-11, 2021 in Minneapolis.