Message from the Chair of HiNZ-NMI-SIG
Welcome to this edition of our newsletter
This year brings a fresh approach for our HINZ Nursing and Midwifery (NMI) Special Interest Group (SIG), and I’m excited to share what’s ahead.
In 2026, we’ve made the deliberate decision not to hold a standalone face-to-face nursing and midwifery workshop alongside the HiNZ conference, as we’ve done in previous years. Instead, we’re embedding nursing and midwifery content throughout the main conference programme (dependent on nurses and midwives putting their hands up with abstracts etc). This shift is about visibility and impact - ensuring our perspectives, innovations, and leadership are woven into the broader health informatics conversation, not sitting alongside it. It also opens the door for more attendees to engage with our sessions, strengthening connections across disciplines.
We know how valuable dedicated learning is, so we’re planning to complement this change with a series of virtual education sessions throughout the year. These will be accessible, practical, and designed to keep the conversation going well beyond the conference - no travel required.
We’re also thrilled to introduce our new executive team for 2026. This is a passionate, volunteer group of nurses and midwives from a range of health sectors who bring fresh ideas and energy to the SIG. Rather than a one-off introduction, we’ll be spotlighting one or two members in each newsletter so you can get to know the people behind the work and the diverse expertise they bring.
This newsletter will showcase JM Burgess and Erin Bensley. Watch out for the features of our other Exec members in future newsletters: Pippin Morrison, Elf Eggimann, Amio Matenga Ikihele, Victoria Brevoort, Yoonah Cho, Courtney McKerrow and of course, me! If you can’t wait, look us up on LinkedIn, or contact us directly through the eHealth Forum.
As always, thank you for being part of this community. We’re looking forward to a year of greater connection, visibility, and shared learning.
Carey Campbell (@Carey)
Chair
A great read from one of our very own…..
Nurse Leadership’s Role in Enabling Digital Adoption
With the digital landscape across healthcare evolving rapidly, now more than ever nursing leadership is essential to successfully adopting innovation. In 2022 I published my research findings (Burgess and Honey, 2022), where I explored how nursing leaders can best support nurses during digital transformation. I found that nurses engage more effectively with digital technologies when leaders serve as a bridge between clinical realities and digital innovation. Nursing leaders contribute to improved uptake by: being visible in clinical areas, demonstrating digital competence,understanding real-world impacts, communicating an inspiring vision, and being present in clinical-digital governance forums.
In addition, by enabling access to practical support, they build trust and credibility during periods of transition. Practical support may come in the shape of digital nurse champions, who provide coaching and hands-on guidance, playing an important role in supporting nursing teams, particularly in times of increased workload pressures. Equally important is ensuring nurses have access to well-timed training and protected time to learn, practise, and adapt.
Central to all findings, however, is the importance of valuing the voice of nurses. When the design, introduction and refinement of digital solutions is influenced by nurses, engagement and confidence in using these increase. With proactive leadership, digital transformation becomes something shaped with nurses rather than something done to them .
So, where are we at in 2026? Membership of the Nursing and Midwifery Informatics Group is growing, reflecting a rising appetite to influence digital transformation. Nurse-led digital innovations are being profiled and celebrated across the motu, showcasing our analytical abilities, creativity, and problem-solving strengths. Yet, unlike our peers overseas, Aotearoa New Zealand still lacks dedicated nursing informatics leadership roles, particularly in the public sector, such as Chief Nursing Informatics Officers, stemming nursing influence where strategic digital decisions are made. Nurses are, after all, the largest group of healthcare professionals in the workforce, as well as the biggest end-users of clinical digital systems, and, dare I say it, should have a prime seat at the table.
Despite this, however, the challenge and the opportunity for every nurse is this: regardless of where you are in your leadership journey, you can make a difference. Every nurse can contribute, even in small ways, to how digital health is understood, adopted, and ultimately used to deliver safer, smarter, and more connected care.
Reference:
Burgess, J.-M., & Honey, M. (2022). Nurse Leaders Enabling Nurses to Adopt Digital Health: Results of an Integrative Literature Review. Nursing Praxis in Aotearoa New Zealand, 38(3). https://doi.org/10.36951/001c. 40333
Our Exec members….part 1
About JM Burgess (exec member)
I am a Nurse Manager with a strong interest in leadership, practice development, and digital enablement in nursing.
Born in the UK and having spent a significant part of my childhood in France, I am an internationally qualified nurse who trained and worked in London before moving to New Zealand in 2007. I have 25 years of nursing experience, with a clinical background in neuroscience, critical care, and perioperative nursing.
I moved into senior nursing roles in 2010 and am currently the Nurse Manager for Clinical and Practice Development within the Professional Development Unit at Waikato, where I oversee a team delivering clinical education and workforce development programmes. In addition, I hold a digital enablement portfolio for Waikato’s Office of the Chief Nurse.
I am an enthusiast for all things digital and have a particular interest in supporting nurses to engage with and adopt digital technologies in meaningful and practical ways. In 2022, I completed my Master’s in Nursing, researching how nurse leaders can enable digital engagement among nurses, and have since presented my findings at several forums and conferences.
Outside of my professional life, I am happily married to Kiri, a Kiwi nurse and midwife whom I met while working in London, and we have three beautiful, strong‑willed teenage daughters. I also enjoy dabbling in music, particularly metal and electronic, synthesiser‑based genres. I play multiple instruments—bass, electric guitar, and drums—albeit at a very amateur level, and spend much of my spare time producing electronic music.
About Erin Bensley (exec member)
Erin Bensley (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa) is the Clinical Informatics Manager at St George’s Hospital in Ōtautahi and is a committed advocate for the role of nursing informatics in advancing safe, equitable, and high quality healthcare. With a strong clinical foundation in nursing, Erin brings a nursing lens to the design, implementation, and ongoing optimisation of digital health systems that support clinicians and contributes to improve patient outcomes.
Erin’s professional journey reflects her passion for bridging clinical practice and technology. After completing postgraduate study in nursing leadership and management, Erin developed a strong interest in health informatics and went on to complete further postgraduate education in health informatics and health services management. This combination enables her to effectively translate clinical needs into digital solutions that are practical, usable, and person centred.
A significant focus of Erin’s work has been the digitisation of clinical records at St George’s, where she has worked closely with nurses, interdisciplinary care teams, and IT colleagues to develop digital patient records that enhance access to information while protecting privacy and data integrity. She is particularly focused on how well designed digital systems can support clinical decision making and contribute to better care planning.
Interesting stuff
Health NZ’s Health digital investment plan
Health NZ’s Centre for Digital Modernisation of Health
The list of team members is here:
HNZ’s Centre for Digital Modernisation team.pdf (24.2 KB)
Latest edition of the IMIA NI Newsletter
If you haven’t already, you can request to join their LinkedIn group here.
IMIA NI NEWSLETTER March 2026.pdf (662.9 KB)
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About HiNZ-NMI-SIG
The HiNZ nursing & midwifery informatics special interest group (HiNZ-NMI-SIG) supports the development of nursing and midwifery informatics in New Zealand. HiNZ-NMI-SIG meets on the eHealth Forum and publishes a free eNewsletter with digital health updates of relevance to nurses.
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What is nursing and midwifery informatics?
Nursing and Midwifery Informatics science and practice integrates nursing and midwifery, its information and knowledge and their management with information and communication technologies to promote the health of people, families and communities world-wide.