Today is May 6th and it marks the start of another year of National Nurses Week in the United States!

As I thought about Nurses Week, I wondered, what is the history of this week for our profession? 

As a nurse of now 24 years, I have always had National Nurses Week. However, it was not long before that where there was not such a celebratory week recognizing the efforts and talents of the nurses across the country. 

According to the American Nurses Association's history of Nurses Week, it was in 1993 when the ANA Board of Directors designated May 6th - May 12th as National Nurses Week for 1994 and beyond! 

Thus, 2024 would mark 30 years of continued celebrations. 

As nurses who have an interest, curiosity, or are currently working in health information technology and/or informatics, you may also be interested to know that the first board certification exam for informatics nursing was offered right around that time in 1995 (and recognized as a specialty practice...

Wishing each of you a happy holiday season! 

As 2022 nearly comes to an end, it is natural to think about the future while also reflecting on the accomplishments of the past year. 

At iCare, we saw so many of you reach your goals and share your successes with us! Those are exciting moments for us and we appreciate you sharing your accomplishments with us!

We also heard from you of areas where you'd like to see more from us in the year to come and beyond. (More to come in 2023...)

We upgraded our website and moved to a new platform for more ease of use and the opportunity to expand our offerings in a more seamless way. 

We also added on some new programs with one more coming *hopefully* before the end of 2022!

Revamp your Resume was added to support your professional  resume development. We often hear from nurses who are not in formal informatics roles but wish to do so, how they can showcase their informatics and health IT expertise. While this program was...

Can you believe that we are less than two months away from a new year? The 2022 year has gone by fast. Something that always comes to mind toward the end of a year is closing out the current year and planning for the next. 

As we head toward closing out the 2022 year, it is important to reflect on what you have accomplished in your professional career. 

Perhaps you were asked to serve on a new health IT, quality and safety, or informatics council. 

Perhaps you were asked to give a presentation on behalf of your colleagues for a project that helped support care delivery. 

Perhaps you took on a new role, received an award, or earned a new certification. 

Whatever you may have achieved, now is the time to ensure it has been added to your resume. In fact, I encourage you to consider establishing a cycle at least once, preferably twice, per year where you revamp your resume!

I often hear from nurses who are either looking for ways to stand out in their resume or...

I recently read, Devices and Desires: Gender, Technology, and American Nursing by Margarete Sandelowski PhD RN FAAN. I did not know what I would learn while reading but was intrigued by the possibility of uncovering more about nursing and technology in care delivery. I was also delighted to know such a book was available on this topic. 

Without giving anything away, the book offers many insights that continue to perpetuate in today's healthcare delivery systems. Nurses continue to be the most involved caregiver with patients. Nurses also continue interact with technological hardware and software tools more frequently than their healthcare professional peers. We continue to struggle with finding the right balance between human care and technological tools to support such care. Nurses also continue to advance the profession through their own day to day advocacy for those whom they care whether 100 years ago or today. 

One of the sentences that really caught my...