Nursing Informatics Pioneer and Healthcare Data Science Expert
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University of MinnesotaTotal Students
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Dr. Bonnie L. Westra serves as Associate Professor Emerita at the University of Minnesota's School of Nursing and former Director of the Center for Nursing Informatics. Her academic credentials include a Ph.D. in Gerontology and Chronic Illness from the University of Wisconsin (1991), an MS in Community Health Nursing from the University of Colorado (1979), and a BS in Nursing from the College of St. Teresa (1975). Through her Coursera course "Nursing Informatics Leaders," she helps healthcare professionals understand the intersection of nursing and information technology. Her expertise spans nursing informatics, terminology development, predictive analytics, and electronic health record systems. As a former software company owner developing integrated healthcare records, she brings practical experience to academic research. Her work leading the Nursing Knowledge: Big Data Science initiative has advanced the field of nursing informatics through developing shareable nurse-sensitive data. Her contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including fellowships in both the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) and the American College of Medical Informatics (FACMI), and the 2014 AMIA Leadership Award