Welcome to The Bold Brief—

You are a member of this community of top-notch expert nurses and healthcare professionals who aspire to be “bold” in career and life.

We want to be bold in our life’s purpose, and bold in life and career choices so that we can live with authenticity, balance, and meaningful challenges, driving forward with confidence.

Get Ready for HLTH USA 2025. Thanks to 1440 Media!

So, bold in discernment…

What This Edition Is About

Digital tools are everywhere. Apps. Devices. Dashboards. Platforms. Promises.

Many are designed for nurses, but few are designed with us.

Discernment is the ability to perceive, evaluate, and decide with clarity and insight. It requires critical thinking, awareness of bias, and intentional reflection before taking action.

In the context of nursing, healthcare, and innovation, discernment is your professional superpower because helps you distinguish between what is merely new, shiny and what is truly valuable, safe, and effective.

This week’s edition is your call to action: Start asking better questions about innovation.

Because if we do not, we will continue to inherit tools that do not work for nurses and in many cases, actively work against us.

Why This Topic? Why From Me?

As a medical device advisor, and nursing leader, I spend a great deal of time evaluating health technologies and the research that claims to improve care.

Some work. Some do not.

Over the past 20 years, I have designed and led more than 30 human-centered usability and safety studies with attention to nursing for medical devices/technologies ¹ ,² ,³ including:

• Infusion pump safety and interruption-related errors 

• Cryogenic and stem cell storage systems

• Urologic devices and nurse-led urinary incontinence innovation

• Respiratory devices and alarm fatigue

• Emerging device interfaces intended for nursing workflow

My work applies human factors and ergonomics (HFE) and usability frameworks that assess the safety, effectiveness, and real-world application of health technologies.

This lens has taught me one truth: technology does not equal innovation. 

Only safe, effective, usable technology is worthy of nurses’ time and trust.

What Is Usability? What Is HFE?

Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) is a scientific discipline that studies how people interact with technology, tasks, and environments. In healthcare, HFE principles aim to reduce error and improve safety not just for patients, but for the clinicians delivering care.

Usability is not about how “easy” a tool feels. It is about how well it works in context with real users, real tasks, and real settings.

Usability is defined by how effective, efficient, and satisfying a system is for the intended user performing specific tasks in a specific environment.

This is why a perfect interface in a product demo can fail in a busy medical-surgical unit when compared to different unit such as critical care or PACU. Nurses do not need more friction. They need solutions designed with their judgment, workflow, and environment in mind.

You need …

5 Questions for Digital Discernment: Choosing Tech That Works for Nurses

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4 Days Until HLTH 2025

I am so excited to meet nurses, executives, and innovators from everywhere next week! Thank you for all the suggestions on the agenda.

I will break down HLTH 2025 during and after so that you do not simply hear about innovation … You can and should be a part of the future!

Look at the Agenda with a focus on NURSING! Let the me know what is MOST interesting to you!!

⬇️ Down to Comment→ Share your ideas → Ask me questions.

5 Questions for Digital Discernment: Choosing Tech That Works for Nurses