Ok, so there are a million posts out there on how to get into nursing informatics, and most of them suggest trying to take on some informatics-related projects at your organization, like being a Super User. What if, hypothetically, your boss and/or organization was not being super supportive of you trying to get more involved and you had to go outside the hospital to get more experience and education?
Things I'm looking into:
1. Volunteering in the community in computer-related volunteer roles (to demonstrate basic computer experience/skills)
2. Learning about computer programming, databases, and general informatics concepts with online CEU courses or MOOCs (through Lynda, Coursera, etc.)- can I put this on a resume?!! Is education in programs like Excel and Access worthwhile, or do employers mostly want to see experience with the big EHRs?
3. Joining HIMSS or ANIA-CARING and going to events and/or conferences (expensive, is it worth it if you're new to the field?)
4. Doing a formal education program like a master's (expensive, and seems that this isn't that useful unless you have experience).
Anything I'm missing? Any thoughts on what types of courses or skills would be most transferrable to NI (Excel, SQL, programming)?
Thanks!