With more than 300 attendees, the conference featured distinguished speakers and a series of breakout sessions that focused on the intersection of nursing, technology and data.

The opening keynote speaker, Rebecca Freeman, PhD, RN, FAAN, FNAP, a second-career nurse with an IT background, set the tone for the conference with her keynote, “The Future of Nursing … More Flintstones, Less Jetsons.” She surveyed the audience on the necessity of technology competency for nurses, leading into eye-opening statistics on health care data growth. Freeman highlighted the challenge of drowning in data while barely scratching the surface of its use. Emphasizing the need for enhanced data literacy, she proposed integrating modern competencies into nursing education.

Freeman addressed the importance of standardizing data practices, citing challenges in electronic health record clarity and nursing terminologies. She concluded by urging the audience to envision a future where everyone, from bedside nurses to the C-suite, can access and trust data, emphasizing the critical role of education in overcoming barriers to this vision.

Following Freeman’s keynote, Alvin Jeffery, PhD, RN-BC, took the stage as the closing keynote speaker. An assistant professor of nursing and biomedical informatics at Vanderbilt University, Jeffery, with a background in pediatric critical care nursing, shared insights on the promising and challenging landscape of AI in health care. Titled “Artificial Intelligence: Hope, Hype, & How We Help Our Patients,” Jeffery demonstrated exciting applications of AI, emphasizing the incredible possibilities if the audience could meet the data literacy challenge posed by Freeman. He navigated through the Gartner Hype cycle, the crucial “garbage in/garbage out” dilemma, as well as the ethical concerns of bias and health inequities. Jeffery encouraged the audience to become knowledgeable consumers and outlined steps for getting more engaged, including considering learning data science skills.

The conference hosted four breakout sessions, featuring nearly 20 speakers who covered a spectrum of topics. From the challenges of implementing enterprise EHRs to discussions on education, documentation burden and other critical domains, each session provided attendees with a deeper understanding of the role of data in nursing leadership.

This year’s conference was sponsored by the Kirbo Charitable Foundation, UF Health, UF Health Jacksonville, RN Enterprises and the Alpha Theta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau.