Some Kid dreaming big!

rninformatics, DNP, RN · Jul 10, 2006

Hello Mat,

Chicago is my hometown too!

Lets see if I can help you with your questions.

1. Nursing Informatics is not an undergraduate major as English, Science or pure Nursing is. Your major would be in Nursing first. Nursing Informatics is a specialty within the field of Nursing Science.

2. Yes you could technically apply your science credits towards a degree in Pharmacy. There would be very few transferable science credits between a clinical nursing program and a computer science program - probably could transfer the liberal arts credits.

3. If an Ivy League school has a school of nursing (Duke University and U of Penn comes to mind) then yes they might have a nursing informatics degree option.

I'd strongly suggest you speak with your high school counselor and surf the websites of several of the Ivy League schools.

Good Luck

Angela

Hello everyone! I'm kinda new here and I'm from Chicago.
I was wondering if you can help me with more Info on Nursing Informatics. I'm okay with computer, and I want to make computers a big part of my life. I've looked around for majors in college I may like and found this one. and have some questions
1- this is a major a graduate can take right?! I can take this as a my very first major in college. (planning to do generals and major at the same time)
2- This major can go into Pharmacy or Computer Science job after I graduate with this right?
3- Does anyone have a list of colleges that have this major? does Ivy League have it? CHampaign?
THANK YOU SO MUCH. SO SO SO SO MUCH.... You may have determined a high school's kid' future!

Matt000 · Jul 14, 2006

um.... I'm sorry, I dont get what you mean by a speciality in Nursing Field. Does that mean I take Nursing classes first, then later the teachers will start asking which speciality we choose after we learn "nursing generals?"

Sorry for not knowing so much.

Is there an official website that can answer my questions or some of it? I wanna read more about nursing infomatics.

Thank you!

perseus29 · Jul 14, 2006

When I was in nursing school this is how it worked:

2 years to complete all prereqs---basic chem, anat and physiology, statistics, microbiology, etc, social sciences and all those prereqs colleges make you take; once you do those and you get accepted into a nursing program is 2 more years of pure nursing school; in my case my 2 years had 4 clinical rotations: 1 in pediatrics, labor and delivery, psychology, medical surgical, and then 1 final practicum which was in an area or specialty you chose---such as intensive care, operating room, community health, etc. Most students chose their practicum in an area they wanted to work in, hoping they would get a job in that area when they graduated. Also, as you take those rotations, you also take classes in nursing foundations, etc.

When i went to school there were not that many informatics program. If you really like computers, maybe you should check out a health informatics program, and not sure if there are those; but google does wonders. If you want more into you're welcome to pm me; i have posted a lot posts with relevant info to your question....so you aslo need to read the old posts....cheers!

Gompers, BSN, RN · Jul 31, 2006

um.... I'm sorry, I dont get what you mean by a speciality in Nursing Field. Does that mean I take Nursing classes first, then later the teachers will start asking which speciality we choose after we learn "nursing generals?"
Sorry for not knowing so much.
Is there an official website that can answer my questions or some of it? I wanna read more about nursing infomatics.
Thank you!

There is no shortcut. You first go to college - preferably a 4-year university where you'll get your Bachelor's degree - and your major will be nursing. You will be a nursing student, do clinicals at the hospital, etc. After graduation, you have to take the state boards (NCLEX) and get your nursing license. Then you will need to work as a nurse for awhile. You can start taking Master's degree classes as soon as you graduate, but you still will need some nursing experience on your resume before you finish your Master's in Nursing Informatics because you will have a hard time getting a job without it. Reason being that nurses who do informatics need to understand nursing and what nurses - especially hospital nurses - do before they can help design computer programs for them.

So you're looking at at least 7 years of education here before you can finish with a Master's in Nursing Informatics. And to answer your questions from another thread, yes this job can be outsourced in the future. ANY computer job can be.

If you aren't interested in actually working as a nurse (even for a few years) then this major isn't really for you, I don't think. Going into computer science or pharmacy right off the bat when you start college might be a better idea if you're more interested in computers or chemistry than nursing. Nursing informatics isn't an easy way to get a computer job in a market where computer jobs are hard to come by. There aren't a ton of jobs out there for this field.

Loyola University Chicago has an Informatics Master's program. Do a Google search and you'll find more schools if you'd like.