Brenda Kulhanek is the Academic Program Director and Associate Professor for Nursing Informatics at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. Throughout her career, Dr. Kulhanek has been committed to strengthening nursing through nursing education, informatics competency, and the integration of informatics into practice to support improved patient outcomes. She led development of a national nurse residency program that reduced graduate nursing turnover by 40%, and authored informatics education modules funded through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Workforce Education program. Her past research includes a mixed-methods study that explored the foundations and approach to informatics education in the practice environment, and her recent work has focused on the impact of health information technology on the work and workload burden of the nurse. Dr. Kulhanek has developed an electronic Informatics Competency Self-Assessment Tool with linked Micro-Learning content that is available nationally and internationally. She continues to lead and contribute to multiple national initiatives where data is used to advance nursing science, improve informatics competency, and where policy is generated to improve the future of nursing.

Dr. Kulhanek received her PhD from Capella University, her DNP from Walden University, and her BSN and MSN from Metropolitan State University.