Am I "wasting" my time trying to become a RN if I want to get into informatics?

IEDave, ASN, CNA, LVN · Jan 29, 2012

I'm sort of "half qualified" to answer this question, so I'll take a stab at it. First, my background - B.S. in Computer Science, 23 years of IT experience, jobs all the way from grunt computer operator through Sr. Programmer/Analyst, with stints of supervising, technical training, etc. And, just finished my CNA certification 2 days ago (yay for me!); working towards the dreaded BSN m'self, heading for hospice care.

My take is this - from what I've gathered (looked into nurse informatics myself - I'd really rather not do it, but it's a potential fallback career option) the informatics discipline is a "major in Nurse, minor in Analyst" type of position - you do a lot of system configuration, report generator setup, teach the users how to use the system sort of tasks. Not a lot of patient interaction; your target audience is likely to be the charge nurses, supervisors, DSD/DON/ADON/etc. types, with a smattering of floor nurses that need someone to bounce questions off of. Plus, squaring off with the IT folks from time to time.

From what I've read, what you're describing is almost a contradiction in terms - patient interaction and generalized analyst work. If it's patient interaction you want, frankly I'd be pointing you more in the direction of a CNA, and having you spend some time out on the floor - you'll be as "in touch" with patients as any RN/LVN/LPN, and probably moreso. Then, take a good hard look at where you want to go from there.

It's a little more difficult to advise on the question of Health Informatics degree vs. ADN/BSN, simply because (a) I've never done informatics, and (b) it's a relatively new field. My take is that part of the reason for having not just a BSN but some degree of seniority as a nurse is primarily to get the senior staff to actually LISTEN to what you're telling them when you say things like - "well, we can do what you're suggesting, but the end result is that you'll end up with a corrupted database", or the ever popular "well, you just nailed 30% of the patient records with one keystroke - let's go see if IT has a recent set of backups". BTDTGTTS. Sigh. Whether a Health Informatics degree'll be enough to get your audience to listen to what you're telling them is anyone's guess.

If I were doing it, I'd be leaning more towards the BSN route, earn your chops, then get a certification in informatics and go from there.

Best of luck to you, and hopefully someone with some background in informatics'll chime in - I'd love to hear their take on this one.

----- Dave

Amanda.RN · Jan 29, 2012

At the facility where I work, we hire BSN prepared nurses who specifically have a degree in Nurse Informatics. They want these nurses to have the computer background, as well as a good understanding of what's involved in direct patient care. The Informatics Department works closely with Epic (our software charting system) to improve upon the software and ease of documenting. These nurses do not work directly with patients, but they do get to work with a lot of staff in a direct way (holding in-services, etc).

I'm curious about the comment your aunt made about nurses coming out of college ill-prepared. Does she have her ADN or BSN degree? If she has her ADN, she may be bitter about the recent rummblings of BSN being required sometime in the future (there's been rummblings about this for a very long time, but it's my understanding that some facilities are now only hiring BSN prepared nurses because of having Magnet "nursing excellence" status). If she has her BSN, perhaps she has seen a few come out of college that seem ill-prepared; or she's forgotten how much she's learned over the past 40 years that she too didn't know when she first graduated. Sometimes we forget how much we learn over time. I have my ADN, but I will soon be starting a BSN completion program because I received a promotion at work and I want my education/degree to keep up with my career.

Hopefully this information has helped answer any questions you have.

Good luck!

Amanda

RNetwork · Jan 29, 2012

I'm curious about the comment your aunt made about nurses coming out of college ill-prepared. Does she have her ADN or BSN degree? If she has her ADN, she may be bitter about the recent rummblings of BSN being required sometime in the future (there's been rummblings about this for a very long time, but it's my understanding that some facilities are now only hiring BSN prepared nurses because of having Magnet "nursing excellence" status). If she has her BSN, perhaps she has seen a few come out of college that seem ill-prepared; or she's forgotten how much she's learned over the past 40 years that she too didn't know when she first graduated. Sometimes we forget how much we learn over time. I have my ADN, but I will soon be starting a BSN completion program because I received a promotion at work and I want my education/degree to keep up with my career.
Hopefully this information has helped answer any questions you have.
Good luck!
Amanda

I believe she has her Masters. This is cubensis btw I don't know what happened to my account I can't log in and when I reset my password it keeps saying an error occurred and that it is wrong.

Another option is to go straight to a health informatics degree instead of a BSN and work as a CNA on the side. I am trying to get through school asap. I am 36, got fired in December from a job I absolutely hated. I believe healthcare is in my future.

CNA1991, CNA · Jan 29, 2012

Well, I am not a Nurse yet but Nurses always tell me it's about the program itself and externship. Both ADN and BSN programs have a two year program that works pretty much the same from what I hear it's the education before that is different. Obiviously, you will spend more time working on your GE before you get to go through your BSN program, but the actual programs have roughly the same outline for BSN/ADN from what nurses tell me. I sense that your aunt might have been a diploma nurse (which, is some of the best hands-on experience from what I read/Nurses tell me) and she has seen some new Nurses who are probably still finding their legs and who are a little burnt out from school. BSNs abosolutly get hands-on experience as do ADNs and they worked hard to earn that title but I am betting it takes awhile to earn the confidence to work with patients (not that they lack the skills or knowledge itself) because now it's the real deal, you have a license, you're no longer a student with limited liability, if someone gets hurt, it's your ass now. I would be nervous too in that situation too and probably start off a little hesitant.

As for which degree to pursue first, I would probably say BSN. Nurses on this site stress that getting a higher degree leads to more jobs and how hard the job market is the lower you go down on the totem poll of degrees. Heck, I would even go that route myself if I had the money (I am going the ADN route then transferring once I make enough money to so that I can get a higher degree). If you have the means to get a higher degree by all means do it. It will be easier to find a job once you graduate and you won't have to worry about always having to take the next step or risk losing your job or never finding one.

As for patient care, I bet you will get some as soon as you get your first job because most of the time, you start out with any job that will take you then you move on to the job you want. Your first job will probably be something in a clinical setting that you may or may not like (I hear a lot of Nurses don't like their first nursing jobs) that you will have until you find the right job in informatics.

P.S. Are you going just for your BSN or are you getting a second degree to suplement it? Maybe you can get a Job in IT before you go on to nursing so you can get your Informatics postition sooner. It will also give you a chance to network and show some skills before going for the position you want. I hope you haven't been discouraged from your ideal job because of what your aunt said you have to just keep at it! Good luck!

RNetwork · Jan 30, 2012

P.S. Are you going just for your BSN or are you getting a second degree to suplement it? Maybe you can get a Job in IT before you go on to nursing so you can get your Informatics postition sooner. It will also give you a chance to network and show some skills before going for the position you want. I hope you haven't been discouraged from your ideal job because of what your aunt said you have to just keep at it! Good luck!

I haven't decided yet. Not sure if I want to get my HIM degree first or get my nursing degree first. I am leaning towards the HIM first because I think I would finish it faster since I a a huge computer geek.

These are the programs I am interested in.

http://www.llu.edu/explore/step2.html#07.005.1216.0000.5.000

http://www.llu.edu/explore/step2.html#07.005.1216.9284.8.001

Another reason is that it takes time to get accepted since everyone and their mom wants to get into nursing. I am at a community college right now, I need A&P, Micro and chemistry to be finished with the pre reqs. Then I don't know how long it will take.I want to get out there and workin then go to school on the side.

leenak · Jan 30, 2012

You might want to check out the Nursing Informatics subforum

Nursing Informatics - Helping You Be a Better Nurse

That program you linked isn't nursing informatics. It is health records management.

From what I understand of nursing informatics, you use your nursing knowledge to help design/implement/recommend systems used by nurses and other healthcare workers.

Another area that might interest you is bioinformatics. Before I decided to give up on IT, I was considering going into bioinformatics. Basically, you work with biological data and most of the current research seems to be geared toward pharmaceuticals.

If you are sold on Nursing informatics as your ultimate goal, I'd get your BSN and then a certificate in Informatics. You can also take some computer classes while you are doing your BSN as well. Most of the BSN programs I've been looking at also have a class on informatics.