Steps to becoming a NI??

[CD965045]

I'm now a sophomore in college, and I'm majoring in Nursing (RN); I've been going back and forth with if I should actually keep pursuing nursing or change my major. BUT, I've been doing a lot of research and I finally found a job in the nursing field that interested me, which is Nursing Informatics! I've read that NI's only needed their Bachelors degree, but that some jobs preferred them to at least have their Masters. The reason I wasn't sure if I should do nursing is because they have to work with patients... (Obviously) BUT my thing is, the thought of being responsible for someone else's life scared me, I've googled and searched for nursing jobs that didn't involve patients and I found this! I'm not afraid of the hard work, I just didn't want to mess up with a patient and end up making a horrible mistake.

The thing is, I don't really know where to start to become a Nursing Informatic, and I know that I might have to have a little experience with patients, at least that's what I read on some website. It said I'd have to have at least 2 years of experience with being an RN. I'm not sure how true all of this information is, that's why I came here hoping to get some help. Don't get me wrong, I would love to work with patients, but I don't think I'm the right person to do that job, I'd rather do the work behind the scenes in the office. If I had to work with patients during my clinicals and after I got my RN license, then I wouldn't mind, but I don't want to continue doing it, if I don't have to. If anyone has any helpful advice/information they could tell me about this job, the education requirements and your experience (if you're a NI or becoming one) then please let me know! I'd really appreciate it!

[ikarus01]

I've read that NI's only needed their Bachelors degree, but that some jobs preferred them to at least have their Masters.

...

and I know that I might have to have a little experience with patients, at least that's what I read on some website. It said I'd have to have at least 2 years of experience with being an RN. I'm not sure how true all of this information is,

For a usual analyst position, a bachelors and nursing experience is usually required. For a leadership position in informatics, experience in the field and usually a master's is required.

As far as the 2 years...really depends on the employer and on the situation. But that definitely could be true. And I say it like that because many NI jobs even require you to have at least 3 years of nursing experience. But again, this depends on the employer.

However, it is 2015. Nowadays they have healthcare informatics degrees.

If you don't like patient care, why not look into a healthcare informatics degree? There are other IT healthcare related jobs out there not just nursing informatics jobs.