Patricia Sengstack

Dr. Patricia Sengstack is a Professor at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing with a secondary appointment in the Department of Biomedical Informatics. She specializes in healthcare informatics, focusing on optimizing electronic health record (EHR) systems to improve patient safety and reduce clinician documentation burden. Her roles include teaching informatics at graduate levels and serving as a Nursing Informatics Consultant for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Previously, she held leadership roles such as Chief Nursing Informatics Officer at Bon Secours Health System and Chief of Clinical Informatics at NIH Clinical Center.

Education:

• DNP, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
• Post-Master’s in Nursing Informatics, University of Maryland, Baltimore
• MS and BSN, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Research Interests: Her work centers on EHR safety, documentation burden reduction, clinical decision support effectiveness, and informatics structures for integrated healthcare systems. She advocates for technology designs that prioritize clinician-patient interaction and system usability.

Key Contributions: Dr. Sengstack co-developed the Six Domains of Burden conceptual framework and contributed to AMIA’s Chief Clinical Informatics Officer (CCIO) skillset guidelines. Her research has influenced national SAFER Guides for EHR resilience and highlighted EHR’s impact on clinical decision-making.

Awards:

• Inducted into American Academy of Nursing (2016)
• Inducted into American College of Medical Informatics (2021)
• Maggie B. Cox Award (2021)
• Dean Collen Conway-Welch Mentoring Award (2018)

Advocacy & Leadership: She has been a vocal advocate for nursing informatics education and clinician well-being, delivering keynote addresses on EHR-related challenges and solutions at major conferences. Her book Mastering Informatics: A Healthcare Handbook for Success remains a key resource in the field.