[tman6366]

I recently received my Associates of Science and I'm currently taking my last two pre-req's before applying for a Nursing program at one of several universities; but lately I've been having second thoughts, due to finances.
I don't know how I can quit my current job and attend nursing school full time. So I started looking for other Health Care degrees that I could either attend in the evenings or online.
Has anyone heard of HealthCare Information Management?
www.ahima.org

Does anybody think this is a worthwhile degree or is it just a catch-all like business administration?
I've been trying to find salary ranges, but they seem to vary widely.

Any thoughts, suggestions?

[GottaGetIn]

Haven't heard of that program but it's not saying much. I haven't really researched it.

How about RadTech? Also, some nursing schools have night and weekend programs. Really, I think you should follow your heart and somehow find a way to make it work.

Could you try LPN first? You won't be in school quite as long....you can work and possibly get your RN later?

[tman6366]

The problem is all the schools in my area are daytime only and they are full time.

[WannaBeNrse]

Hey,

I actually considered Health Info managment, I do think it is a good field to get into, you'll have regular hours, decent pay and the job is probably physically less demanding than nursing.
I decided against it, though, because I am not all that great with computers and math and I think I would get bored at an office-job.

If you go this route, make sure that you will be eligible to take the RHIT (registered health info technician) exam when you're done, because there are alot of academically accredited programs out there that are NOT accredited by Cahiim and therefore won't let you take the RHIT/RHIA exams.

Good Luck!

[WDWpixieRN]

I think there's a board on here for IT nurses....here's a link:
http://allnurses.com/forums/f28/

See if they can give you some additional information or direction!

[MBA2BRN]

Originally Posted by tman6366

The problem is all the schools in my area are daytime only and they are full time.

I had this problem too. So I paid off all of my debts, cut my life-style down, worked full-time to pay cash to take pre-reqs and co-reqs courses, and saved up money to attend the local ADN program before I applied to the local program. It took 5 years to do the above process but today I am a Student Nurse!

I am also not attending school full-time since I completed all of my non-clinical courses before I started nursing school. I work part-time and have time to volunteer for two community organizations. Before I graduate with my ADN, I will have completed all of my RN-BSN pre and co-reqs. I am doing this so I do not have to attend the RN-BSN program full-time in order to complete the program within a year. GL.

[CuriousMe]

Originally Posted by tman6366

I recently received my Associates of Science and I'm currently taking my last two pre-req's before applying for a Nursing program at one of several universities; but lately I've been having second thoughts, due to finances.
I don't know how I can quit my current job and attend nursing school full time. So I started looking for other Health Care degrees that I could either attend in the evenings or online.
Has anyone heard of HealthCare Information Management?
www.ahima.org

Does anybody think this is a worthwhile degree or is it just a catch-all like business administration?
I've been trying to find salary ranges, but they seem to vary widely.

Any thoughts, suggestions?

I've heard of this profession, but only at a masters level. Since technology is what I've been doing for a job for the past decade or so, it's something I looked into when I first thought about nursing. It's not a direction I'm taking (if I wanted to continue to be a techy type person I would) but from what I found out, for any job that would pay a decent salary, you'll need a Masters and I think I remember that it's called like Informatics or something like that (but I could be wrong). Folks I spoke with had their RN license, a bachelors in something like Computer Science and then this Masters degree.

I would be wary of any two year certificate/non-accredited degree program in this field.

Oh and on a side note....I quit my full time techy job to go back to school full time, and I work full time on the swing shift at night as a care provider.

Good Luck!!!

Peace,
Cathie

[justme1972]

Originally Posted by MBA2BRN

I had this problem too. So I paid off all of my debts, cut my life-style down, worked full-time to pay cash to take pre-reqs and co-reqs courses, and saved up money to attend the local ADN program before I applied to the local program. It took 5 years to do the above process but today I am a Student Nurse!

I am also not attending school full-time since I completed all of my non-clinical courses before I started nursing school. I work part-time and have time to volunteer for two community organizations. Before I graduate with my ADN, I will have completed all of my RN-BSN pre and co-reqs. I am doing this so I do not have to attend the RN-BSN program full-time in order to complete the program within a year. GL.

My situation is similar, if I am accepted (and I'll find out this week), I'll only have two nursing courses per semester, and that's it. Nothing else interfering with my work, and hopefully I'll be able to keep a higher GPA as a result.

[DebberJ]

I received my RN at age 50 after working for 16 years in Health Info Management. I have my Assoc Degree, the RHIT. I was a cancer registrar but for the last 10 years a coder which I loved. I still work one day a week as a coder to keep my foot in the door. I have gained a lot of knowledge my RN co-workers dont have because I see the whole picture when a pt is hospitalized. You have to have just as much A&P, and the sciences as a nurse. I just needed my clinicals basically. I was making more money as a coder and had to take a cut in pay to take a RN job in the same hospital. However, I was at the top of my pay-scale and figured I could advance salary-wise more as a nurse. I would like to combine my knowledge in both fields once I get a year's experience on the floor (which is soon). I find the 12+ hours with no breaks too physically demanding not to mention the overall stress I did not have before. My nurse friends told me I was nuts to give up my coding job with the flexible hours. There are times I do regret it, I just have to look further ahead. Right now I am interested in a clinical documetation specialist position that may come up. Actually working as a nurse was quite a "culture shock" from nursing school and I have been discouraged by management issues and the stress nurses have to put up with. Its getting where the positives do not outweigh the negatives. There are other careers in HIM other than coder especially if you want to get into management which I do not. I did not want to go on and get the Bachelors in HIM which at this point I felt I would need to do. You can stay with the tech type jobs (i.e. coder, cancer or trauma registrar type things) but you will eventually dead-end there without further education of some sort. In some areas of the country coders are in high demand, other areas are saturated (I'm in the St. Louis area which is pretty full) or you can work at home in some situations via the computer. AHIMA is a well respected organization and you HAVE to have CEs to retain your license. Do be careful where you get your education, we had several people here who went thru the program, found it wasnt certified by AHIMA and are NOT RHITs (registered health information techs) so can not get a job especially as coders. They have to get a cert coding specialist certification on top of it and that cost more money and time. Hopefully, some of this will help you make a decision. I just recently found this website and forum. Its great!
Blessings,
Debbie

[lisabeth]

There are some part time programs. I am speaking of the University at Arlington. I dont know if that is an option for you, but they have a program through the college I go to for BSN. I have given that some serious thought. I dont know what the financial deal will be, so that will play a factor in my decision.