Do you need IT background to be a nurse informaticist?

ikarus01 · Dec 12, 2016

I would like to know if nurse informatics is only for nurses who have degrees in computer science or IT?

No, nursing informatics is not ONLY for nurses who have a degree in computer science or IT experience.

In fact, it is safe to say that most nurses who only have nursing as a background and who are in the informatics field, most likely started out with zero IT background, if you define an IT background as using "processes, and methodologies (such as coding/programming, data communications, data conversion, storage and retrieval, systems analysis and design, systems control) and associated equipment employed to collect, process, and present information.

sweetlilwolf · Dec 12, 2016

What they said! :)

mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN · Dec 18, 2016

NO! I have very little experience in IT. I found an affinity for EPIC and it has made me want to get others to love it as much as I do :)

SummitRN, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2016

Depends what kind of Informatics you do.

IT background will ALWAYS HELP.

If you are functioning as a simple project manager or an EHR super-duper user, you probably don't need a deep IT background. But if you want to do some data analytics and or application management, then yes, having an IT, computer science, or at least a statistical background can be essential.

I've seen plenty of pretty useless Informaticists who don't even have the basic computer application skillset you'd expect from a front office supervisor at any small business, who need help with simple functions in office applications, can't handle spreadsheet functions, much less write a SQL query.