This meeting was not the first, nor hopefully the last, of its kind to address a set of issues of very real concern--the future of healthcare, nursing and, in particular, nursing informatics. This summation reviews the purpose of the NI2006 Post Congress Conference, briefly reviews the preparatory work (which resulted in three days of intensive discussions for all participants after spending up to a week involved in a major international conference and associated meetings), the themes of each group and threads evident within the final reports included in these proceedings, observations as to issues not mentioned, and closing with suggestions of possible direction(s) and or course(s) of pre-emptive actions relevant for the international nursing informatics community.