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I'm a pre-nursing student exploring the wide array of career options within nursing. I am interested in NI. I've read clinical experience is helpful, and it's hard for a new grad to just step into a position as an Informatics Nurse. So, what background and skills are best to have to make such a transition?

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I've met all types of people doing nursing informatics; those that went to nursing school, got clinical experience, started working on an 'informatics project' and now they do nursing informatics; I've also met people with a nursing degree with no clinical background doing informatics, and met people with no nursing degree doing the same job; like anything else, you find people that do a great job no matter what degree they have, and you also meet people that even though they have a lot of clinical experience do a terrible job. It all comes down to, do you enjoy what you do; having a clinical background might or might nto give you an edge.

NOw that I work with nurses doing informatics, those that do well and excel at their job are those that seem to have also a good understanding of technical knowledge; for example, somebody comes with an excel sheet full of data, and thsoe nurses that know how to manipulate that data in access or excel will do a better job than those that have no idea what access can do for them. But it all depends also on what your job role is! :)

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Okay, so there's no one-sized answer to fit everything...I see. :-) Some articles I read said clinical experience was needed, and other's said none was needed. Of course, I can't get ahold of anyone on the phone to answer in questions! :) So what's your work experience like? How'd you get into Informatics? What's your job like? :) Thank you for the information! It's fascinating to hear about all the options there are!

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I started out with a bachelors degree in nursing; did med surg/travel nursing, and after 3 years in the field, got burned out; went back to school, got a comp sci degree, got a job in software testing, which was not related to the medical field. Got sick of that, and started to look for companies that did medical software and just applied to a bunch of them til i got accepted. What is my job like.....you get assigned to a hospital that is going to implement the software, i help the client make decisions based on the software, you collect that info, build the software on those requirements, then test what you built, if not too many problems, then go live with the product. As for myself, I love the job cause it gives you the opportunity to interact with all types of people; also, i get to solve technical problems that i never did when i was a nurse---in my case i like dabbling with databases, comparing data, writing quick scripts to get me what i need, and troubleshooting the software etc. I also love reading the technical functionalities, and coming up with ways of breaking the software. So my job gives me a balance to interact with people, and it also lets me have my quiet time where i can solve problems. As for the work experience--there are good days and bad days; a good day might be when i solve all my problems and a bad day is when the software has defects and you cannot do anyhing to fix it, but wait for the engineers to rewrite the code and release a new service pack to fix it; then u have to deal with the angry client, etc. Not so much fun! :)

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So is it a sort of 9-5, Monday-Friday job? Are there travel oppurtunities as an Informatics nurse? So you do some programming yourself?

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So is it a sort of 9-5, Monday-Friday job? Are there travel oppurtunities as an Informatics nurse? So you do some programming yourself?

Well, it could be a 9 to 5 job; mine fluctuates; there are down times and times where you will be working 7 days a week putting in 12 hour days; it really all depends on what type of job you have; you might be working support where you have a set time when you come in....8am to 5pm; or you can be working on a project where the goal is to get it off running by a certain date; if so, then you will be working long hours some weeks, while other weeks you might be waiting for issues to be fixed so you might just do 30 hours that week.

And yes, you can travel; nationally, internationally; if travelign is what you want, then you can look at what is known as application consultants; do you want to travel internationally? then look at companies that have software that is used internationally---Mckesson, Cerner, Siemens.... And no, i don't do programming; I'm not so good at that, and I don't like it much!!! :) However, it helps to know a little bit about programming, but you dont have to know any programming; some nurses love to get into that area, and they want to program, but not MOI!

Main thing is----what is it that you want to do---teach an application to others, implement the application in a hospital setting/doctor's office? do you want to travel? do you want to get on the sales side of the application? do you want to oversee different sites at how they are implementing the application? do you want to do technical support? do you want to come up with processes on how to best implement an application? as you can see, so many opportunities; question is---what is it that you would be interested in doing?

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Wow, I certainly did not know how many options were available within nursing informatics. Thank you for the additional insight. :) I am not exaclty sure what I would like to do, so for now I'm just exploring all my options. Travelling is very appealing to me, as is working 12 hours a day and only having to work 3 days a week...but if I had the choice to travel, or pick my schedule--I'd travel. :) Have you done many international projects? Where at? How long do they last? The school of medicine (which is by the nursing school I'm wanting to go to) has a Medicla Informatics program. But the email I recieved from them describes their program as general medical informatics, with no specific focus/courses on Nursing Informatics. What's the diference between the two? :)

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Have you done many international projects? Where at? How long do they last? The school of medicine (which is by the nursing school I'm wanting to go to) has a Medicla Informatics program. But the email I recieved from them describes their program as general medical informatics, with no specific focus/courses on Nursing Informatics. What's the diference between the two? :)

I have worked on international projects but virtually; haven't traveled out of the countyr for them yet; however, assignments vary; from weeks to months; depends where you are going, what project, etc; i'm not sure what thee difference between those two are; i don't have a degree specific to nursing informatics. I just have a BSn and computer science degree.

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I email the school to ask them--but of course I have got no answer! :) How many projects have you worked on? Have you done a variety of projects? :)

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I email the school to ask them--but of course I have got no answer! :) How many projects have you worked on? Have you done a variety of projects? :)

i have worked on 4 -5 projects ....not sure. i dont keep track; is all the same, really. Start with the design phase, data collection, build system, test it, and release the beast, and hope for the best!

heh

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Are you always working with a team, or alone?

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I also wonder what the average tenure is for an informatics nurse?

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