Informatics leaders, practitioners and other members of the healthcare community will convene June 23-27, 2012, in Montreal, Canada, for the 11th International Congress on Nursing Informatics (NI2012). The Congress gives participants from across the world a forum to discuss the impact of informatics on patient care improvement, global health, professional practice, health policy and research.
NI2012 is a rare opportunity for nurses, midwives, community health workers and scientists to participate in a program built around the world's most knowledgeable and highly-trained informatics professionals. The meeting, which generated paper, poster and panel submissions from 38 countries, includes sessions that represent viewpoints from multiple regions and continents. Select sessions will be simultaneously interpreted in Spanish
"If you are working to improve the health of your community or your population and you are using information, communications technology or informatics, you should come to the meeting," said Patricia Abbott, PhD, RN, NI2012 Chair, and an associate professor of informatics and co-director of the WHO Collaborating Center at Johns Hopkins University.
Each day features a host of distinguished speakers beginning Sunday, June 24 with Judith Shamian, RN, PhD, LLD, DSci, FAAN, President and CEO of the Victorian Order of Nurses of Canada and President of the Canadian Nurses Association. She will discuss informatics as it relates to global health and the central role informatics can play in building healthy communities and sound health policy. Shamian will also offer her perspective on how informatics can contribute to improving healthcare practices. On Tuesday, June 26, Vic Strecher, MPH, PhD, a renowned speaker recently featured on TedMed, will discuss eHealth as a mechanism for encouraging healthy behaviors in his keynote address, and Patricia Flatley Brennan, RN, PhD, will serve as the closing keynote speaker Wednesday, June 27. Brennan is a professor of nursing and industrial and systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Among other highlights, the Congress features a plenary panel, "Nursing Informatics: Perspectives from the Americas," on Monday, June 25. Panelists are: Silvina Malvares, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization; Pedro Urra Gonzalez, Havana University; Erika Caballero, Universidad Central, Santiago; Carol Hullin, World Bank/IMIA-LAC; Charles Friedman (moderator) University of Michigan.
"Our Congress theme, Advancing Global Health Through Informatics, reflects the team-centered and interdisciplinary approach that is required to truly transform the health of our nations, our communities and our patients," Abbott said.
Attendees will have the chance to engage in interactive panel discussions lead by informatics professionals who will share their expertise and discuss advancements in the field. Panel presentations will cover a variety of topics, including developing patient-centered interventions for e-health applications, understanding international perspectives on nursing informatics and using mobile health technology to support informatics innovations.
Concerns grow over quality of care as investor groups buy not-for-profit nursing homes