Welcome Back Katherine Taylor Pearson – Qlik Educator Ambassador for 2026!

[BrittanyFournier]

Over the past four years, Katherine has integrated Qlik into her teaching across public health informatics, healthcare analytics, and nursing informatics education. This powerful platform has helped students transform complex datasets into meaningful insights that support informed decision-making in healthcare and population health. Through hands-on learning experiences, students gain practical skills in analyzing data, identifying trends, and developing solutions that can improve both patient and community outcomes.

[BrittanyFournier]

The Inspiration Behind Using Qlik

As a nurse informaticist and educator, Katherine has always been passionate about bridging the gap between data analysis and patient-centered care. Qlik’s intuitive interface and strong analytics capabilities make it an ideal tool for teaching students how to visualize, interpret, and communicate healthcare data effectively. By working with real-world datasets and applied scenarios, students develop the analytical thinking and problem-solving skills needed in today’s healthcare environment.

Integrating Qlik into the Classroom

Qlik has become an important part of Katherine’s teaching strategy through active, hands-on exercises that allow students to analyze healthcare trends, public health indicators, and social determinants of health. Students engage with dashboards, explore datasets, and learn how analytics can inform better care delivery, workflow improvement, and population health decision-making. She also encourages students to explore Qlik training opportunities and certifications, helping them build marketable skills that strengthen their confidence and career readiness.

Real-World Impact: Internships and Job Opportunities

Many of Katherine’s students have successfully used their Qlik experience to pursue internships, practicum opportunities, and careers in healthcare analytics, informatics, quality improvement, and hospital operations. Employers increasingly value graduates who can translate raw data into clear, actionable visualizations, and Qlik gives students a skill set that aligns well with workforce needs in a data-driven healthcare landscape.

Classroom Goals for the Year Ahead

Looking ahead, Katherine is focused on expanding student engagement through even more immersive and innovative analytics experiences. In addition to continuing work in AI-driven analytics, predictive thinking, and data storytelling, she is planning a datathon that will challenge students to collaborate, analyze data, and generate solutions to real healthcare and public health problems. She is also launching a Public Health Data Forum Simulation, an interactive learning experience designed to help students interpret public health data, discuss findings with stakeholders, and make informed recommendations in a simulated decision-making environment.

These initiatives are intended to strengthen students’ confidence, communication skills, and ability to apply analytics in realistic healthcare and public health settings.

Industry Trends and the Future of Analytics in Education

Healthcare continues to become more data-driven, with AI, machine learning, predictive analytics, and real-time data sharing playing increasingly important roles in clinical, operational, and public health decision-making. At the same time, higher education is placing greater emphasis on applied learning experiences that prepare students not only to understand data, but also to use it in meaningful, ethical, and practice-focused ways. Katherine believes that providing students with practical analytics experience is essential to preparing the next generation of nurse leaders and informatics professionals.

Life Beyond Teaching

Outside the classroom, Katherine enjoys staying active through swimming, running, and yoga. She also loves spending time outdoors with her family and their Siberian Husky. Based in Texas, she remains deeply committed to advancing nursing informatics, public health, and data-informed education.

Looking Forward as an Educator Ambassador

As an Educator Ambassador, Katherine is excited to continue collaborating with fellow educators, exploring innovative teaching strategies, and creating new ways to engage students with data analytics. She looks forward to sharing insights from her work in nursing and public health informatics, including her datathon and Public Health Data Forum Simulation initiatives, while continuing to grow as an educator and advocate for data-informed learning.