In this module, we explore the landmark events and milestones of nursing informatics to appreciate when technology developments occurred and how these shaped the specialty of nursing informatics. Technology is defined in this module as both hardware and software. After completing the videos and readings for this module, you will interview a nursing informatics leader or someone in a similar role. In the previous module, one of the activities was to identify someone you want to interview and the questions you plan to ask. After completing your interview, you then will participate in the discussion about technology changes in healthcare and how you, the pioneers, and your interviewee responded to them.

In this module, we examine ways in which networks provided opportunities for the development of the pioneers as leaders in nursing informatics. There are many different styles of leadership and the leadership styles vary based on the situation. Pioneers in nursing informatics described styles used to increase the visibility of nursing within interprofessional organizations. After learning about various styles from the pioneers, you will create a visual diagram of people and organizations in your life that shaped your leadership style in specific situations. The discussion this week builds on the visual diagram and is an opportunity for you to share your what you learned about your strengths and opportunities as a leader through developing your network diagram.

In this module we will discuss examples of pioneer nursing informatics roles in academia and research to understand their approaches to leadership across cultures and academic settings. The pioneers developed curriculum to mentor the nursing informatics leaders of the future. We will analyze nursing informatics leadership roles as they evolved over time to envision the leadership styles needed to teach, conduct research, and/or administer programs today. Finally, you will synthesize values, insights, and attitudes of three nursing leaders to understand commonalities as exhibited in different scenarios. In your discussion, you will compare how the three pioneers’ insights from this module and those of your interviewee apply to your development as a leader nursing informatics.

In this module, you will identify the career paths of pioneers in becoming leaders in practice or industry to understand how these careers evolved as nursing informatics became a specialty. Industry is a practice setting for nursing informaticists. We will explore the attitudes, advice, and strategies of nursing informatics pioneers to gain insight into values and beliefs that support improved population health and quality of care. You then will synthesize historical perspectives and compare them with your experience in nursing informatics today to gain insight into attitudes and strategies that support today’s nursing informatics leadership success.