The CNIO Exchange and NurseTech Summit are poised to confront the most pressing technological hurdles that nurse leaders face in 2026.
Why should nurses lead in tech?
As the backbone of healthcare, nurses are often the first and last touch points for patients when they come to the hospital, and they remain caring for patients throughout the duration of care. As a result, nurses are the ones using technology the most at the bedside and are the most capable of determining the success of a technological initiative.
In her career as a nurse and informatics leader, Rebecca Mitchell-Perry, CNIO at WVU Medicine, has seen firsthand when technology decisions are made without nursing leadership at the table. Workflows become fragmented, documentation burdens increase, and patient safety can be unintentionally compromised.
"Nurses are the largest user group of health IT," Mitchell-Perry said. "Without nursing leadership, even the most advanced tools will fail to deliver value."
Change happens best when it happens with nurses, not to them, and the same is true for technology. Along with implementation processes, CNIOs and CNOs must be ready with change management strategies to make technology integration run smoothly. Nurse leaders must use their voices to make this possible, Mitchell-Perry explained.
"In today’s environment, where interoperability, AI, predictive analytics, and workflow automation are rapidly evolving, the voice of nursing must shape how these tools are implemented," Mitchell-Perry said. "Nurse leaders ensure that technology enhances clinical judgment rather than replaces it, and that it reduces burden instead of adding to it."
Turning ideas into leadership solutions
The weight of this responsibility requires peer and organizational support.
HealthLeaders and the HealthLeaders Exchange are proud to announce the creation of the CNIO Exchange (CNIOX) and the NurseTech Summit. The co-located events will take place November 4-6 in Washington D.C. and will showcase a number of speakers and learning opportunities for nurse leaders at every level.
The NurseTech Summit will explore the tools that are revolutionizing healthcare. From ambient documentation to AI-enabled decision support and digital workflows, every session will emphasize practical implementation, usability, and outcomes, showing how technology can meaningfully reduce administrative burden, improve efficiency, and strengthen care delivery without eroding the nurse–patient connection.
Simultaneously, the CNIO members at the CNIO Exchange will be sharing high-level strategies and solutions to financial investment, incorporation into workflows, and streamlining change management to make implementation as successful as possible. Mitchell-Perry, who serves on the advisory board for CNIOX, explained that the goal is to have nurses at the forefront of this movement.
"Events like CNIOX and NurseTech matter right now because healthcare is being reshaped in real time," Mitchell-Perry said. "Nursing must help define what comes next."
To register for the NurseTech Summit, click here.
G Hatfield is the CNO editor for HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
To address the healthcare technology revolution, HealthLeaders and the HealthLeaders Exchange are proud to announce the creation of the CNIO Exchange (CNIOX) and the NurseTech Summit.
Nurses are the ones using technology the most at the bedside and are the most capable of determining the success of a technological initiative.
Along with implementation processes, CNIOs and CNOs must be ready with change management strategies to make technology integration run smoothly.