The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Annual Conference and Exposition is always an exciting event, and the 2005 conference in Dallas was no exception. Particularly exciting was the Nursing Informatics Symposium, now in its second year of implementation. More than 450 nurses attended the symposium-the room was packed. Speakers presented on roles in informatics, challenges in system implementation, and models for successful system design. HIMSS 2006 will be held February 12-16, 2006, in sunny San Diego.
The Nursing Informatics Working Group of the American Medical Informatics Association will be sponsoring a Nursing Symposium at the AMIA Annual Symposium, October 22-26, 2005, in Washington, DC. As in the case of HIMSS, this will be the second implementation of the nursing symposium; the first was held last year at MedInfo in San Francisco.
These two conferences provide a wonderful opportunity for informatics nurses to meet, network, and obtain continuing education credits. The presentations are timely, topical, and relevant to day-to-day informatics practice. I encourage all CIN readers to take advantage of these educational opportunities.
The AMIA and HIMSS have been providing leadership to the Alliance for Nursing Informatics (ANI). The Alliance represents 18 national and regional nursing informatics groups and more than 2000 nurses. The ANI will allow the groups to work as a whole and provide the staff and synergy needed to support the efforts of nursing informatics professionals toward improved delivery of healthcare, including organizing programs and activities.
I am very pleased to announce that one of the benefits of ANI membership is a discounted subscription to CIN. I hope that members will take advantage of the journal not only to read the latest articles on topics relevant to nursing informatics, but also to share research, ideas, and experiences.
To that end, I am delighted to welcome Linda Q. Thede, PhD, RN, author of Informatics and Nursing: Opportunities and Challenges, 2nd ed, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, as the editor of CIN Plus. Published three times a year (in January, May, and September), CIN Plus is the perfect forum to share timely, non-research-based articles with colleagues. Linda's first issue as editor will appear in May 2005.
As always, I welcome contributions to both CIN and CIN Plus. Please contact the editorial office ([email protected]) with queries on manuscript development or to request a copy of the Information for Authors.