Global nursing honour for Huddersfield academic

Professor Nick Hardiker inducted into the American Academy of Nursing for work around improving care via better information management

The University of Huddersfield’s Professor Nick Hardiker has been selected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN).

Professor Hardiker, who is Professor of Nursing and Health Informatics and Associate Dean (Research and Enterprise) in the School of Human and Health Sciences, has been inducted into the AAN for his work to improve nursing practice and care through better information management.

“I am absolutely delighted to have been selected as a Fellow of the Academy,” said Professor Hardiker. “It is a huge honour. The Academy is one of the most prestigious and influential nursing honours societies in the world, and it makes a significant contribution through the collective knowledge and experience of its Fellows to global health policy.”

Having started his career in general nursing, Professor Hardiker recognised an opportunity to improve patient care through better use of information. He achieved Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Computer Science from the University of Manchester, and now has over 25 years of experience in theoretical and applied research in Nursing and Health Informatics.

Study Nursing at Huddersfield

“I was inducted as a Fellow into the American College of Medical Informatics in 2014 for the information management side of my research, but it is incredibly satisfying to receive recognition for its contribution to nursing,” adds Professor Hardiker, who still retains an active registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council.

Better health informatics vital

“It is really important to me that nurses themselves recognise the importance of good information management. It’s probably worth remembering that there were no computers in the majority of health settings when I first started out as a nurse! This Fellowship is an indication of how far we have come, with the profession itself recognising the importance of this topic area.”

Professor Hardiker believes that information continues to be key to the effective management of the current pandemic.

 “We have seen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic the rapid implementation of a range of new information technologies that seek to support nurses in practice. My research is looking at how we can re-imagine and optimise our information practices within an electronic context. The question should be not ‘can we make these new information technologies do what nurses used to do on paper?’ – instead it should be ‘can we co-design usable systems that truly meet the information needs of nursing?’

“I have learned, through my work with the International Council of Nurses, and through our shared experience of the pandemic, that nurses practice in a global context. We are fortunate to live in the Internet age where we can build tools that are able to manage information across geographical boundaries - I am determined to make the most of this opportunity.”