Mayo Clinic is rethinking how technology is introduced to its nursing staff, emphasizing that the tools should serve the clinicians, not the other way around.
Putting Nurses at the Center of Design
“Using technology isn’t the goal,” says Cheristi Cognetta‑Rieke, vice chair of enterprise nursing practice transformation at Mayo Clinic and a doctor of nursing practice. “Transforming nursing practice and improving patient care is the goal.” Her department follows a “for nurses, by nurses” model that embeds frontline clinicians in the design process. The idea is that technology can boost human experience, thinking and assessment capabilities, rather than replace them.
The clinic reports that gathering clinical input early prevents solutions that miss the mark. “Technology and informatics can’t solve clinical pain points without clinical input,” she adds. Stakeholders are brought together before any software is built, allowing a deep understanding of the problem first.
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At the University of North Texas Health Fort Worth, associate dean for research Tonychris Nnaka stresses a “clear line of partnership” between academic and nursing settings. He notes that leading institutions are uniting biomedical engineers, computational engineers and the clinical arm, with senior‑level commitment required to sustain collaboration.
Training Shifts to Match New Workflows
Dr. Margaret Lozovatsky, chief medical information officer at the American Medical Association, points out that understanding cognitive load helps identify the challenges clinicians face when they must retain large amounts of information.
Technology That Aligns With Business Goals
Healthcare leaders stress that technology must meet strategic objectives. Lozovatsky says clear governance and decision‑making structures are essential, ensuring that any new system aligns with top initiatives. At NYU Langone Health, senior director of nursing professional development Alice Nash highlights ambient clinical documentation as a tool that lets nurses perform head‑to‑toe assessments while staying present with patients, preserving body language cues.
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“It’s really about preparing people to adopt new ways of doing things and seeing where the technology is headed,” he adds, noting that systems are often slow to adapt. For Mayo Clinic, the focus remains on preserving relationship‑based and conversation‑based care while using technology to amplify those interactions.
Overall, the effort to involve nurses in design, adapt training to workflow needs, and align tech with strategic goals reflects a broader industry push to reduce turnover—currently over 16 % annually for registered nurses—and to ease documentation burdens for a workforce caring for an aging, complex patient population.