Nursing Informatics Working Group

Chair: Michelle Honey

• NI Terms of Reference
• Nursing informatics resources (list maintained by M. Honey)
• 2005 Annual report
• 2004 Annual report
• Nursing Informatics Email Discussion List

2005 NIWG Report

At the last AGM in July 2004 a verbal report was given as the HINZ WG: Nursing Informatics (HINZ WG:NI) had been established for under a year. This is the first written report to the AGM.

One of the key purposes of the HINZ WG:NI is to 'To support and provide a network for nurses within HINZ' (Terms of Reference, 2003). This has predominantly occurred through email and there an email list was commenced and this has grown to a contact list of 55 interested people. At this time in 2004 there were 33 on the contact list. Messages have come from those on the list and others who have forwarded items of interest. These have ranged from information about conferences, other events and articles to employment. Both professional and nursing informatics information have been circulated.

Not all of those on the email list are members of HINZ, and so the email list has enabled others to be informed about HINZ events as these are also circulated. A number of those on the list further circulate information within their organisations.

Two extra meetings were held this past year. One was as part of a HINZ seminar and the other coincided with visitors from Japan. The Japanese visitors were from Okinawa who participated in a TeleHealth Forum and those who could joined to hear, as well as share about telehealth developments in New Zealand and Japan.

Guidance was offered to those who wished assistance with ideas for possible conference papers and for paper writing, and a few took up this offer. It is hoped this will also assist nurses wishing to submit papers to IMIA NI triennial congress in Seoul 2006.

2004 NIWG Report

1. Terms of Reference (ToR) drafted, discussed at an initial meeting on 23rd September 2003, then circulated to those who expressed an interest but couldn't attend (more than 20 people). The final ToR were forwarded to HINZ Executive for approval.

2. A Nursing Informatics Working Group Ideas document was developed, discussed and distributed to members. This included ideas for workshops/seminars, communication and the raised the issue of the difficulty in identifying nurses within HINZ.

3. First seminar presented 28th November 2003, in Auckland, in conjunction with a HINZ seminar. It covered:

• What is HINZ and the Nursing Informatics Working Group
• What is Nursing Informatics and what other types of informatics are there
• What are the benefits of using IT at work?
• What might a nurse working in informatics do?
• What career opportunities are there? Hear a panel of local nurses share their experience

4. Auckland seminar repeated in Wellington in February 27th 2004, also in conjunction with a HINZ seminar. 8 nurses attended.

5. Request received for a Rotorua seminar, initially planned for March 2004, but deferred until after the July HINZ annual conference.

6. The HINZ WG: NI also provided a communication link to promote the HINZ annual conference. A thread within the conference programme was designed to attract and be of special interest to nurses.

7. Paper Writing Workshops, offered by Paulo Rocha (Microsoft), in both Auckland and Wellington in early 2004, were designed to encourage and support nurses to contribute papers to the HINZ 2004 conference. The Wellington workshop was cancelled due to low numbers, but the Auckland workshop had enquiries from over 40 nurses and 20 attended the 31st March 2004 lunchtime session.

8. Current number on the HINZ WG: NI list is 33.

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