Celebrating Clinical Informatics Nurses on International Nurses Day

Nurses (and midwives) are the backbone of healthcare. We all know this, they’re incredible. Part of the reason I enjoy being out on the wards is the interactions I have with the nurses. They save lives, comfort families, ease anxieties, and bring order and calm to incredibly complex situations.

They run the wards.

I have learnt more about patient care from just being around them than any textbook could teach, observing, listening, and asking questions.

Full respect.

On one specific occasion I will never forget, when I was new to working on wards, I remember when one nurse showed me on an ECG that her patient had heart block. She identified it BEFORE the medics had. To see her point this out to the doctors covering the ward that the patient had heart block on his ECG was truly impressive. Outstanding.

That same day I was almost traumatised after seeing a patient staggering off the bay in front of me covered in blood after pulling their cannula out - issues that nurses are constantly dealing with. How they do.

It's not just the wards. Nurses and midwives in the community, in primary care, in care homes, and beyond are all making a real difference every day. Wherever they are, they lead with compassion, skill, and sheer determination.

Over the last five years, I have had the privilege of working closely with a very specialist type of nurse, the clinical informatics nurse. They have all been nothing short of outstanding.

One of the most impressive professionals I have ever worked with was our former CNIO (Chief Nursing Information Officer). A senior leader who commanded deep respect, she had buckets of experience in both nursing and digital health. I was lucky enough to work directly with her on several pieces, including contributing to the Business Continuity Plan she authored. I joined meetings she chaired where her authority and composure were instantly evident. I remember a particularly difficult day where we had a significant issue to resolve. We stayed late and she calmly reassured execs that the situation was under control. She led by example: always the first in the office, always the last to leave.

What stood out most to me though, as with any true leader, was her approachability. No matter how busy she was, she always took time to chat, every single day as I walked past her office. She taught me so much about clinical informatics, and it was her vision that led to the creation of our Clinical Informatics Nurse roles, one for each division.

Today, we have four clinical informatics nurses in the Trust and they are all brilliant.

Each brings their own clinical background and unique strengths. Two are midwives, one has extensive experience in community nursing, and one is a specialist in adult inpatient care, particularly discharge planning. Between them, they cover an incredible breadth of clinical knowledge.

Note: I do acknowledge the fact there is a difference between nurses and midwives and International Day of Midwives was last Monday 6th, but I wanted to celebrate both together.

They are not just passionate about nursing, they are passionate about digital transformation and patient safety. All four are trained Clinical Safety Officers (as am I), and each one takes on the CSO role in every digital clinical project we run. Their input ensures that every system we roll out, change we make, or improvement we plan has real frontline insight and clinical safety at its core.

To give you just one example. A few years ago, one of our clinical informatics nurses was instrumental in engaging the maternity department. She worked closely with them to embed the use of the EPR for managing discharge medications, something we had struggled to implement for years. Her clinical credibility and communication skills unlocked the change.

Coincidentally, our current CXIO (Chief Midwife Information Officer) is also a midwife by background and brings a wealth of digital and clinical leadership experience to the table.

Between them all, this is a formidable team, and the impact they’ve had on our department and the wider Trust, has been nothing short of transformative.

So for International Nurses Day, I just want to say: Thank you.

To nurses and midwives everywhere, on the wards, in the community, in clinics, and in digital roles, you are the heart of healthcare.