Nelson-based nurse wins Clinical Informatics Award

NEWS - eHealthNews editor Rebecca McBeth

A nurse manager who helped develop a patient management system (PMS) tailored to meet the unique needs of district nursing has won the 2024 Clinical Informatics Award.

In its sixth year, the 2024 award attracted 15 exceptional nominations highlighting the value that clinicians bring to whānau and community by providing data and digitally enabled clinical care.

The winner, Lisa Knowles, was one of three finalists selected by a judging panel who then went to a public vote. 

She holds the nurse manager role across Nelson Marlborough District Nursing services and describes winning the Clinical Informatics Award as an amazing honour.

"I want to acknowledge the incredible team around me working together on this project and the engagement we had from people wanting a solution that was going to be fit for purpose for district nurses. That engagement was what made the project successful,” she tells eHealthNews.

“Nurses wanted a solution that would give visibility to our work and to give us an understanding of the complexity of our workloads. 

“Demand is forever increasing and we need that data from the system to give us the information about meeting that demand.”

The judges commented that they were impressed with the initiative shown by Knowles in her learning to help deliver a complete solution comprising many technical parts. 

“She brought a high level of clinical experience of district nursing pathways to a project that has had wide-spread impact and benefit across urban and rural communities,” they commented. 

“She contributed across the project including engagement of varied stakeholders and her knowledge ensured the use of data and reporting to support patient care.”

Knowles wins $5000 from Accenture New Zealand, to go towards attending a conference or further education or to fund resources related to the initiative outlined in the submission.

Accenture Aotearoa hauora lead Will Reedy says it is great to see the award go to someone whose focus is on improving the lives of every day nurses.

“Accenture supports this award because the future of healthcare is heavily reliant on clinicians who understand technology and its ability to transform the health system,” Reedy says.

New Zealand’s Clinical Informatics Leadership Network worked in partnership with HiNZ to launch the Clinical Informatics Award in 2019.

The other 2024 finalists were Emma Calvert, clinical director, Ka Ora Telecare and Ashwin Patel, managing director, MyPractice.

Read Knowles’ profile on eHealthNews.nz.

Image: Lisa Knowles receiving the Clinical Informatics Award from Accenture Aotearoa hauora lead Will Reedy

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