Message from the Chair of HiNZ-NMI
Welcome to the next edition of the HiNZ-NMI newsletter
We were lucky enough to meet up recently - in this world of zoom and teams meetings nothing beats a face to face! It was a fantastic day, you can read further details below. I am looking forward to meeting face to face with many more people at the HiNZ AI Summit in Wellington on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
This newsletter has some reading in it if you chose to do so. There are a lot of very interesting things happening out there, and we enjoy bringing these to you. Anytime you want to highlight work you are doing or someone, try and recruit for studies, or simply want to share something interesting that you have read, please get in touch.
Emma Collins (@emma.collins)
Chair of HiNZ Nursing & Midwifery Informatics Special Interest Group (HiNZ-NMI)
HiNZ-NMI Updates and News
HiNZ NMI Face to face meeting
On Wednesday 7 May the HiNZ NMI executive had our annual face-to-face meeting in Auckland. We were lucky enough to be hosted by Southern Cross Healthcare, courtesy of Pippin Morrison – A HiNZ NMI executive member and National Nursing Advisor for Southern Cross Healthcare. Southern Cross Healthcare provided care for more than 100,000 New Zealanders last year. They champion and advocate for nursing leadership in digital health, and have a highly-functioning digital services team as well as clinical informatics liaisons throughout their hospitals.
Throughout our day at Southern Cross Healthcare we were lucky to spend some time with Wendy Matthews, the organisation’s Informatics Lead. Many of you may recognise Wendy from the talk she gave at the HiNZ NMI workshop in 2024. She is an advocate for nurses being at the table for conversation and decision making in digital health
During this day we also covered off and discussed many topics on our work plan. We started the day by looking at the purpose of our group (you can read these in our terms of reference here) and reflecting on whether or not we are achieving this. We strategised around the newsletter, relationships with organisations such as the nursing and midwifery councils, as well as engagement and communication.
Watch this space for a survey where we ask you, our members, what you would like to see from us as an executive. We also spent a large portion of the day planning our November workshop – more information to come on that soon.
In the afternoon Scott Arrol and Alex Kemp from HiNZ met with us and we talked about our shared goals and how we can work closely together to achieve these. We feel that this executive is going from strength-to-strength and we look forward to taking you all on this journey with us.
Understanding How Everyday Workplace Decisions Can Perpetuate Racism in Public Health
We’re sharing a thought-provoking article from Dr Elana Curtis in E-Tangata, titled “How Racism Plays Out in Public Health”, which explores how seemingly routine workplace decisions can contribute to systemic racism within public health organisations.
You might be wondering: Why is this relevant to a nursing and midwifery informatics audience? One key reason is the way racism can be perpetuated through data—specifically, the lack of cultural consideration in how data is collected, used, and interpreted.
To address this, we must consider Kaupapa Māori methodologies and principles of data sovereignty to ensure that our digital systems support more equitable healthcare outcomes.
A review of the literature highlights several foundational principles of Māori data sovereignty, including:
- Whakapapa – recognising lineage and connection
- Kaitiakitanga – guardianship and protection of Māori data
- Manaakitanga – upholding the dignity and respect of data subjects
- Rangatiratanga – ensuring Māori control over data
- Wairuatanga – acknowledging the spiritual and cultural significance of data
- Adherence to Te Tiriti o Waitangi
- Recognition of data as a taonga (treasure)
We encourage readers to engage with Te Mana Raraunga – the Māori Data Sovereignty Network – for further insight and expert advice on embedding these principles in your digital health initiatives.
Read the full article on E-Tangata
Visit Te Mana Raraunga
Call for Contributions: Electronic Fluid Balance in EPRs
Has your organisation implemented an electronic fluid balance feature in your electronic patient record (EPR) system? If so, we’d love to hear from you!
Southern Cross Healthcare is nearing completion of its EPR and has recently introduced a fluid balance monitoring solution. We’re keen to connect with others on similar journeys to share learnings and insights. Contact pippin.morrison@schl.co.nz
New publications from the Nursing and Midwifery Community of Practice
Latest edition of the IMIA NI Newsletter.
IMIA Nursing Informatics (NI) April.pdf (2.5 MB)
IMIANursing Informatics _May2025.pdf (3.0 MB)
If you haven’t already, you can request to join their LinkedIn group here.
Learning and Development
Upcoming Events
National events
https://hinz.eventsair.com/dhwnz24/home-2025
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International events
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About HiNZ-NMI
The HiNZ nursing & midwifery informatics special interest group (HiNZ-NMI) supports the development of nursing informatics in New Zealand. HiNZ-NMI 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 informatics?
Nursing Informatics science and practice integrates nursing, its information and knowledge and their management with information and communication technologies to promote the health of people, families and communities world-wide.