Anyone studied Nursing Informatics?

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Has anyone studied nursing informatics and/or worked in this specialty? It seems interesting but I'm not sure of all thats involved in this sort of work. Where specifically does a nurse with this type of training work? Is it hard to get a job once trained? Can anyone recommend a good online program? Do you need a Masters to be successful?

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I have not, however I am currently the IT Director of a title company (also a certified, but non-working CNA) applying to nursing school, and hoping to find a niche in the future combining IT & Nursing. There seems to definitely be demand for it, especially with companies like Epic, and other healthcare-software companies. I've seen job postings for nurses with IT skills, so there's definitely opportunity avail.

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I was at a session on this at the SNAP convention in lancaster.....we were told that is important to first be a bedside nurse so that you know where nurses really need the info in the computer systems and that the nurses involved in "nursing informatics" all basically fell into it. Your exact question came up at the convention. And there really was no answer as to an exact course of study for it. They basically said you MUST first be a bedside RN. I know this is not the answer your looking for but it seems there is not really an answer yet because the field of nursing informatics is so new! My school just added the informatics class for our upcoming semester. Good Luck

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Specializes in Health Information Management.

There are other forms of informatics that don't necessarily require bedside nursing experience. Healthcare/health informatics is a very similar growing field. It's one of my interest areas, only I'll be going into it from a background in HIM as opposed to a nursing background. My understanding is that a master's is highly desirable. A good program I know of UC-Davis's master's degree in health informatics. http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/informatics/masters/ Northwestern has a program in medical informatics that is somewhat similar, but it's run through the School of Continuing Studies and is being transitioned into an online-only program, so I cannot vouch for the quality without doing much more research.

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I was at a session on this at the SNAP convention in lancaster.....we were told that is important to first be a bedside nurse so that you know where nurses really need the info in the computer systems and that the nurses involved in "nursing informatics" all basically fell into it. Your exact question came up at the convention. And there really was no answer as to an exact course of study for it. They basically said you MUST first be a bedside RN. I know this is not the answer your looking for but it seems there is not really an answer yet because the field of nursing informatics is so new! My school just added the informatics class for our upcoming semester. Good Luck

Actually, I've been a practicing RN for 25 years now. I was a nurse's aide for 4 years prior to this while a student nurse, and prior to that an aide for 1 year while still a senior in high school. I think I've got the bedside thing covered. I can't imagine how I might fall into informatics!

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Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.

i studied it in one course during my bsn program. i know of a few nurses who do it for a living. the requirement at my place of work is bedside experience of at least three years and a bsn. however there is one who is enrolled in a program and so an exception was made given her years of bedside experience. the job, from what am told, entails making the it environment habitable to bedside nurses. the it department utilizes their experience to make programs and modify programs to suit the bedside nurses. informatics nurses can also be used to help with the databases and archives of medical records, protocols, and materials.... some places may require informatics certs after a year or two... (i do not recall them right now), while others may not ... informatics is a whole other world of nursing just like any other profession...

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We had it multiple times during my BSN. There is a master's program at the school and professor was always trying to convince us informatics was the way to go.

My school was Case Western Reserve University, but I dont think you can do it entirely online.

On another note tonight on a different thread I saw a nurse was resigning from her informatics position and returning to bedside nursing. Perhaps you should connect with her! The thread was called "Just quit my job" and the user was CathyLew

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This is an interesting field especially for those coming from the IT sectors. Haven't come across any colleges offering it as a major but that's probably because IT and nursing is still "merging". Hope it grows to a fully stand-alone field.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the Nursing Informatics forum

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