Description

The Chief Nursing Informatics Officer (CNIO) serves as the senior executive responsible for aligning clinical practice, nursing operations, and healthcare technology to improve patient outcomes, clinician experience, quality, safety, and operational performance. The CNIO provides strategic leadership for nursing informatics and clinical technology initiatives across the health system, ensuring that information systems support evidence-based practice, care delivery transformation, regulatory compliance, workforce effectiveness, and organizational goals. 

The CNIO acts as the primary liaison between Nursing, Information Technology, Clinical Operations, Quality, Medical Staff, and senior leadership, translating clinical needs into technology-enabled solutions that advance patient-centered care and organizational performance. 

Essential Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership 

• Leads the organization's nursing informatics strategy, aligning clinical, operational, and technology initiatives to support patient care, workforce effectiveness, and organizational goals. 
• Serves as the executive liaison between Nursing, Information Technology, Clinical Operations, and Senior Leadership. 
• Leads nursing governance structures for clinical documentation standards and workflow standardization 

Clinical Technology & Informatics 

• Partners with executive nursing leadership to provide oversight for the design, implementation, optimization, and adoption of clinical information systems and digital health technologies to support quality, safety, workforce and operational initiatives. 
• Ensures technology solutions support efficient workflows, evidence-based practice, and clinician engagement. 

Quality, Safety & Regulatory Compliance 

• Advances the use of technology to improve patient safety, quality outcomes, regulatory compliance, and clinical performance. 
• Ensures health information technologies support organizational standards, accreditation requirements, and nursing practice regulations. 

Data Analytics & Performance Improvement 

• Promotes the use of clinical analytics, business intelligence, and predictive technologies to improve decision-making, patient outcomes, and operational performance. 
• Measures and evaluates the effectiveness of clinical technology investments and informatics initiatives. 

Organizational Collaboration & Innovation 

• Partners with clinical, operational, physician, and IT and Data & Analytics leaders to identify opportunities for innovation and digital transformation. 
• Partners with the Chief Medical Information Officer to ensure the clinical informatics strategy aligns nursing, physician, and interdisciplinary workflows; supports safe, efficient care delivery; and ensures technology decisions reflect the needs of frontline clinicians and patients 
• Evaluates emerging technologies and industry best practices to support strategic growth and care delivery transformation. 

Leadership & Workforce Development 

• Leads and develops nursing informatics professionals while fostering a culture of innovation, accountability continuous improvement, and technology-enabled care. 
• Serves as a mentor and advisor to nursing leaders and clinicians regarding informatics and digital health initiatives. 

Budget & Operations 

• Provides executive oversight for the nursing informatics budget. 
• Oversees departmental staffing and management, productivity expectations, and labor utilization for the nursing informatics function, ensuring resources are aligned with organizational priorities and operational demand. 
• Establishes clear goals, accountability structures, and performance expectations to ensure informatics services, education programs, and workflow improvement projects are delivered on time and with measurable value. 

Requirements

Education 

Required: 

• Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Nursing Informatics, Health Informatics, Information Systems, Healthcare Administration, or related field. 

Preferred: 

• Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), PhD, or other terminal degree. 
• MBA or Master's degree in Information Systems, Healthcare Administration, or related discipline.

Experience 

Required: 

• Minimum 7 years of progressive nursing leadership experience. 
• Minimum 5 years of healthcare informatics experience. 
• Experience leading enterprise clinical technology implementations and optimization initiatives. 
• Experience collaborating with executive leadership, clinical operations, and information technology teams. 

Preferred: 

• Experience in a multi-hospital integrated health system.
• Experience with the Epic EHR platform. 
• Experience leading digital transformation, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and virtual care initiatives.

Licenses and Certifications

Required: 

• Valid and active RN licensure in appropriate state (TN or VA) 
• Professional nursing certification in nursing informatics on hire is preferred. If not present on hire, is required within 18 months of hire