Is there a shortage or glut of nurses in informatics?

maxidred · Nov 28, 2008, 01:30 PM

Re: Is there a shortage or glut of nurses in informatics?

What exactly is an EMR?

I am currently taking my prerequisites for an RN Associates degree. I have alway been interested in IT. I did some classes in oracle years ago. I am currently working as a secretary in a hospital while my Union helps me pay for my nursing education. A nurse executive told me about the field of Nursing Informatics and told me I should look into after I finished my associates.

I am blessed to have discovered this website. Thank you all for all the information you have provided.

*SuesquatchRN* · Nov 28, 2008, 01:39 PM

Re: Is there a shortage or glut of nurses in informatics?

EMR = electronic medical record.

One thing I would caution people about though: With a recession here, facilities are scaling back on implementing new technologies, and on hiring people to do that, obviously. We have a hiring freeze on and NO new systems installations or upgrades are being considered for the next year.

If you are interested in this field continue on your clinical path and don't give up your day job without something solid in hand. It's getting grim. As it is everywhere.

chris2732 · Nov 28, 2008, 01:52 PM

Re: Is there a shortage or glut of nurses in informatics?

Maxidred,

Check out the thread "Starting salary to annual salary?" At the very end of the thread, there was a post about a bachelor's degree in health informatics that is delivered online.

http://allnurses.com/forums/f28/star...ry-220793.html

**rninformatics** · Nov 29, 2008, 01:03 PM

Re: Is there a shortage or glut of nurses in informatics?

Greetings and Welcome Maxidred!

EMR = Electronic Medical Record
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Medical_Record

Originally Posted by maxidred

What exactly is an EMR?

I am currently taking my prerequisites for an RN Associates degree. I have alway been interested in IT. I did some classes in oracle years ago. I am currently working as a secretary in a hospital while my Union helps me pay for my nursing education. A nurse executive told me about the field of Nursing Informatics and told me I should look into after I finished my associates.

I am blessed to have discovered this website. Thank you all for all the information you have provided.

rickparrott · Dec 03, 2008, 09:07 PM

Re: Is there a shortage or glut of nurses in informatics?

I am interested in Clinical Informatics also. I have a background in the mainstream IT field as a technical support specialist, network administrator and IT manager. (Why change careers? OUTSOURCING!)

I am currently finishing up the Army LPN program and will be returning to San Antonio. I have already started on my RN/ADN program. Should be complete by the end of 2009.

I want to leverage my IT experience and I know I can bring a lot of knowledge to the Health IT field, but how do I break in?

Is it Nursing Informatics? Clinical Informatics? or Medical Informatics? Do I need to be an RN or is an LVN good enough to start? It seems to me that the definition of "Informatics" is very fluid and/or undefined!

HELP!

*SuesquatchRN* · Dec 04, 2008, 06:43 AM

Re: Is there a shortage or glut of nurses in informatics?

Yes.

Volunteer to work on something with the IT staff when you get there.

**rninformatics** · Dec 04, 2008, 01:14 PM

Re: Is there a shortage or glut of nurses in informatics?

Greetings Rickparrott,

The International Medical Informatics Association defined NI in 1998
The American Nurses Association originally defined Nursing Informatics in 2001
So the "definition" of nursing informatics is specific and defined. There is also healthcare, dental, medical and clincal "Informatics" ...........think about the area of practice or the scientific discipline (example nursing) and then combine that with "informatics" Depending on the role it may be nursing, medical or clinical informatics. Do your research to learn the differences........and similarities.

You do not have to be an RN to practice in the specialty of NI ......if you want to pursue an MSN degree on the other hand, yes you need an RN. Are there more opportunities for RNs as apposed to LPNs/LVNs in the specialty of NI? Yes. There are also opportunities in medical, clinical informatics and the other subspecialties of Informatics.
I can also tell you that this specialty is not just about having a strong background in IT but also having a strong background in clinical nursing practice and being able to combine the two to improve patient care, nursing practice and healthcare delivery.

Decide first what exactly it is you want to do or how specifically you think you can bring "knowledge to the Health IT field". Are you interested in training users to use HIT?

Originally Posted by rickparrott

I am interested in Clinical Informatics also. I have a background in the mainstream IT field as a technical support specialist, network administrator and IT manager. (Why change careers? OUTSOURCING!)

I am currently finishing up the Army LPN program and will be returning to San Antonio. I have already started on my RN/ADN program. Should be complete by the end of 2009.

I want to leverage my IT experience and I know I can bring a lot of knowledge to the Health IT field, but how do I break in?

Is it Nursing Informatics? Clinical Informatics? or Medical Informatics? Do I need to be an RN or is an LVN good enough to start? It seems to me that the definition of "Informatics" is very fluid and/or undefined!

HELP!

rickparrott · Dec 04, 2008, 02:26 PM

Re: Is there a shortage or glut of nurses in informatics?

Actually, I would love to train customers in the HIT field.

I do understand that I will need to gain clinical experience to balance out my IT background, but I do not plan to wait several years to gain that experience.

And yes, I do have a lot of knowledge to bring to the table. I have been working for over 30 years, the last 15 in Information Technology.

I do appreciate you helping me out!

Thanks!

perseus29 · Dec 10, 2008, 03:13 PM

Re: Is there a shortage or glut of nurses in informatics?

Originally Posted by rickparrott

Actually, I would love to train customers in the HIT field.

I do understand that I will need to gain clinical experience to balance out my IT background, but I do not plan to wait several years to gain that experience.

And yes, I do have a lot of knowledge to bring to the table. I have been working for over 30 years, the last 15 in Information Technology.

I do appreciate you helping me out!

Thanks!

My first degree was nursing, then it was computer science; i was working for an IT company, and when i was interviewing for clinical it positions, even though i had been a nurse for 5 years, and been doing IT for 2, i always got turned down by interviewers because they would tell me that i had never implemented a project at a hospital; crazy. Of course, i kept on applying and applying, til i finally got a job, so yea, you don't need years of clinical experience, but if you can get yourself on a project at a hospital---maybe as a superuser---then that would give you tons of credibility when interviewing.
As i have said in many of my posts, i know many people that got into the informatics field with zero clinical background, but you do have to create your opportunities in this field because many of the people in the field do want that clinical background, but I've worked with many hospitals that have people in the team that have zero clinical background, or they recruited nurses that had zero IT background.
Good luck!

S-Rank · Dec 16, 2008, 12:02 AM

Re: Is there a shortage or glut of nurses in informatics?

Hi everyone,
I wanted to know in which clinical area would you recommend to get experience to specialize in nursing informatics

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Is there a shortage or glut of nurses in informatics?

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