Nursing Infomatics

Moved to Nursing Informatics forum for a better response.

Greetings eriksoln,

Career transition no matter what the economic climate is risky. When I took my first NI job 10 + years ago I took a pay cut.
I'd say the climate is better for those who are already in the field and experienced and not trying to make the transition.

Healthcare Information Technology and nursing informatics are excellent fields, but thats just my personal opinion.
As one CIO once told me - there will always be jobs for exceptional, experienced people.
Check the NI forum as someone else asked a similair question about job security in this financial climate.

Do your research, there are numerous schools that offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in nursing, healthcare and medical informatics.

Please feel free to surf this forum and learn more about the specialty.

I agree with RNInformatics that persons with experience/credentials in the field are best poised to succeed during the next couple of years.


However...I foresee a big migration of "healthcare informatics consultants" from other infotech or general-business consulting areas-- regardless of experience/credentials-- pulled by the gazillion-$ stimulus legislation for electronic health records. There will certainly be be opportunities for anyone with some IT-speak and some healthcare-speak and some consulting skills to make a buck over the next 3-4 years. Whether you can get a "job" doing it might be very unlikely at first, until some "body shops" are set up to lease out your services. Then there will be opportunities to go clean up the messes caused/left by that first wave. :^)


I really recommend the AHIMA's big textbook, "Health Information Management Technology" as a starting point for anyone trying to get into informatics -- although it is not specifically about NURSING informatics.

I would say that of all five positions in my CAH mine is the most vulnerable as I'm am the least able to manage the entire complex of systems. Therefore, I am the least mission-critical.

Although luckily, my DON really likes me and I know she's trying to sniggle in some of my services on *gasp* her budget. We're short RN's.

I believe information systems help increase productivity. Also it is critical to have a clinical person advocating for the line staff. IT solutions are being mandated by CMS and insurance companies.

Also, as someone mentioned earlier, it's always risky making any kind of career transition. I graduated a year ago and jobs were pretty plentiful. Now I am reading that current RN grads are struggling finding positions in some markets. It's always going to be iffy to some extent to make a job change, but the more well-rounded you are, the better.

OK, I stated "However...I foresee a big migration of "healthcare informatics consultants" from other infotech or general-business consulting areas-- regardless of experience/credentials-- pulled by the gazillion-$ stimulus legislation for electronic health records."

But I did not foresee this: "Wal-Mart Plans to Market Digital Health Records System" ...!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/bu...l?ref=business

So now Wal-Mart is treading into Accenture/CSC/IBM territory:
"Wal-Mart’s role, according to Mr. Osborne, is to put the bundle of technology into an affordable and accessible offering. “We’re the systems integrator, an aggregator,” he said.

So perhaps becoming a nurse informaticist could lead to a job at Wal-Mart, after all...

Hey, their systems are good.