I was selected to serve a 2-year term (2017-2019) as an emerging nurse leader with the Alliance for Nursing Informatics. This article provides a description of my activities and accomplishments during the mentorship program in which I completed a leadership project. I had two primary goals in the first year: (1) expansion of my professional network and (2) describe healthcare leaders' views on the challenges and goals of using data science.1
Given what was learned in the first year, I sought to provide nurses, nurse informaticists, and other clinicians with greater access to data science knowledge, skills, and resources in year 2. Therefore, a freely available, Web-based resource that connects users with existing resources to learn more about data science (http://nursingdatascience.org) was developed.
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Experiences in my leadership program allowed me to develop a list of resources for data science. In one experience early in year 2 of the program, Dr Bonnie Westra (one of my mentors) invited me to join her on a panel at the State University of New York in Binghamton. The panel comprised several nursing data scientists. As a member of the panel, I presented my curated set of resources for learning more about data science, including acquisition of specific skills and how to become a data scientist. Not only did this expand my professional network (a goal in year 1), but it also provided me with an opportunity to thoughtfully collect resources that would eventually be included in the Web site.
I met with peers in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine to brainstorm potential Web site layout and functionality. Because Web sites can easily become very complex to create and manage, it was decided to start with one basic functionality that would allow users to quickly access resources most meaningful to them. Interactive trees with nodes that could expand/collapse when clicked were used. For example, on the "What Is Data Science?" tab, a user can first select "Webinars" or "Brief Reads" rather than being overwhelmed with a static list of all the content at once. When reaching the end of a tree, clicking the final node opens a new Web browser tab directing the user to the selected resource.
With the content in hand and an idea of how to organize the Web site, I iterated through multiple versions with my mentors, Drs Susan Matney and Bonnie Westra. A beta version of the Web site was prepared for presentation at the Nursing Knowledge: Big Data Science 2019 conference at the University of Minnesota. The beta version of the Web site was presented to approximately 50 attendees, and real-time feedback was received.
The final product of this experience was a Web site organized with the following tabs: (1) "Home" with healthcare use cases of data science, (2) "What Is Data Science?" with introductory concepts, (3) "Learn Specific Skills" to learn focused aspects of data science, and (4) "Become a Data Scientist" with more in-depth opportunities to become a data scientist. Each of the tabs has a tree with expanding and collapsible nodes for interactivity. Additionally, a tab to "Provide Feedback" and information "About Me" were included.
RESOURCE DISSEMINATION
The domain name http://nursingdatascience.org was acquired early on in the program. The Web site is currently being hosted through a personal Web hosting platform; however, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing has agreed to host the site in the near future, redirecting users of http://nursingdatascience.org to the Vanderbilt-hosted site (Figure 1).
To notify potential users, flyers were distributed at several of the AMIA 2019 Annual Symposium nursing events. The flyers described the goals of the Web site and a link to the Web site's address. Future Webinars are planned to offer further direction and descriptions of the Web site's content and functionality. During the beta launch (June-October 2019), 465 unique visitors accessed the Web site. Since the formal launch at AMIA through the end of 2019, 231 unique visitors accessed the Web site. The Web site sees approximately 100 visitors per month.
SUMMARY
This freely accessible and fully operational Web site can assist nurses, nurse informaticists, and other clinicians in learning: (1) what data science is, (2) specific data science skills, and (3) how to become a data scientist. If Web site traffic continues to flourish, recommendations received from feedback sessions as well as continued survey feedback from Web site users may be incorporated.
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience as an ANI emerging nurse leader. With the help of my mentors, I have achieved the goals I set for the program, including the expansion of my professional network and the development of a Web-based resource focused on learning more about data science. I highly recommend interested readers to consider applying for the emerging leader program at the next cycle!
Acknowledgment
The author thanks his mentors, Susan A. Matney, PhD, RNC-OB, FAAN, FACMI, FHIMSS, and Bonnie L. Westra, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, for their guidance through the project.
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