About the GL Chapter

ANIA Mission

To advance nursing informatics through education, research, and practice in all roles and settings.

What is Nursing Informatics?

The body of knowledge known as Nursing Informatics (NI) is now taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Nursing Informatics was designated as a specialty by the American Nurses Association (ANA) in 1992. Soon after, the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) began issuing board certification for informatics nurses. Hospitals, long-term care facilities, and technology vendor organizations are just a few of the places where our members practice NI. They serve in a variety of capacities, including those of analysts, project managers, program managers, educators, and consultants.

About the Chapter

The Chapter is a non-profit organization with goals for professional and academic development. This cooperative effort improves professional opportunities and career growth by providing educational initiatives that make use of the skills of subject-matter specialists who are knowledgeable in both nursing and healthcare informatics.  It also offers an opportunity for connection and support within member practice areas.

History

  • The Great Lakes ANIA Chapter was founded on April 29th, 2019 to serve members in the Great Lakes region and Ontario, Canada.
  • The chapter incorporated Western New York as part of it's coverage area in the Summer of 2023.

Who we serve

  • Nurse Informaticists
  • EHR Application Analysts
  • Program Managers
  • Leaders
  • Students
  • And many more!!

Where we support

  • Michigan
  • Ontario
  • Western New York

Achievements

  • 2026 Gold Distinguished Status
  • 2025 Gold Distinguished Status
  • 2024 Silver Distinguished Status
  • 2023 Distinguished Status
  • 2022 Distinguished Status

May Member Spotlight!

Beth Spoelstra


I graduated from Blodgett Memorial Medical Center School of Nursing in Grand Rapids, received my BSN from William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ, my School Nurse certification from William Paterson University, and my MSN in Informatics from Walden University. I have been a nurse for 40+ years with over 15 years in Informatics. I have worked in many different areas including M/S, Labor & Delivery, Childbirth education, High Risk OB Clinic, Quality, and informatics. I hold certifications in Quality (CPHQ), Informatics (NI-BC), Inpatient Obstetrics (RNC-OB), and as a school nurse in New Jersey (SN-NJ).

My informatics career has included being a principal trainer for Epic systems for two different organizations covering Inpatient Clinical Documentation, Stork, Bugsy, and Case Management. I also am a Certified Trainer for ClinDoc, Stork, Orders, OpTime and Anesthesia. My current role is as a Health Informatics Specialist for Trinity Health. While located in Muskegon MI, I work with an informatics team across Trinity from New England to California.

I have worked in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York prior to relocating to Michigan to be near our grandchildren. In my free time I enjoy quilting, knitting, reading, and spending time with my grandchildren and family!