Help on how to get foot in door

[droid82]

Hi all,

I have been a bedside ICU nurse for 4.5 yrs and have been looking to get my foot in the door doing something other then bedside. I have been a travel nurse for 2 yrs and have worked with multiple EHR systems. I was wondering what would be the best way to get my foot in the door with nursing informatics? I am pretty good with computers and people come to me for help with EHR questions. i have not been a super user yet though. I have tried to look up on whether to get a certificate vs master's degree and have not come across a clear answer on what i should do? if anyone has any advice on what my first step should be that would be great.

Thanks,

Andrew

[RN MS]

Hi,

I have worked in Health Informatics now for 11 years and also teach the subject as an adjunct professor at a local Nursing school. My transition point was working in ICU and volunteering to represent ICU at IT meetings. I literally came in on my own time for this. I was engaged, participated, got to know the Clinical Applications staff and eventually they hired me full-time as an Analyst. Most everyone I know transitioned in this manner.

You MUST have an aptitude for project work, team dynamics, driving change, teaching, figuring complex problems out on your own, be a go-getter and understanding that you still represent the clinical team. Check out HIMSS. Begin studying for the HIMSS based certification CPHIMS or ANCC Nursing Informatics certification. Also, Masters in Health/Nursing Informatics. FYI, on the job work experience/exposure is the best way to go..formalize your education on the way.

[kishykat]

I agree with the previous poster. Although I just started in Informatics within the last 6 months. But I have worked at this facility for 3 years. I became a superuser when we completely changed over from paper to electronic record. After finding out how much I enjoyed this type of work, I literally did everything I could to be part of the IT department. I came to every single meeting with IT to represent the floor nurses as well as my specialty (telemetry) I volunteered to help with other areas of the hospital when they went live. I volunteered to work extra to help train other employees. I worked side by side with the Director of Informatics to start refining some of the processes in place. I did that for almost a year and a half until a position that was a good fit for me opened up. But because I was so in tune with key people already, they actually contacted me before the job was even posted.