Information needed for a nurse who has a Master's in Informatics

[Trumi24]

Feedback is needed. I received a Master's degree in Nursing Informatics in December 2010 and it is now December 2012 and I have not secured a job in informatics yet. I was nine months pregnant during my Capstone courses and opted to graduate instead of completing an additional 25 clinical hours that would allow me to qualify for certification; a decision I now regret. I now need to complete 1000 work hours to be eligible to seek certification. Most jobs are requiring experience; however, how can I obtain experience if I can't get my foot in the door? Any advice on beefing up my resume with education only?

[stephenfnielsen]

You might try to hook up with a consulting firm that installs EMRs, they might be able to use you as a trainer. The reality is that nursing informatics is the marriage of clinical expertise technical knowledge, and project management skills. So you might ask yourself how you can beef up your resume such that it reflects the above. There is no easy way to do this, it takes time, networking and results. How would you start? Get a job in a hospital and tell you manager that as soon as the opportunity presents itself you would like to be a Super User for the EMR. From their start building relationships and looking for opportunities.

[ikarus01]

I'm curious, from the time you got your degree until now---have you been working in a clinical setting that has is using an EMR?

I know of some others who were in a similar situation as yours---got their masters degree, couldn't get a job because of lack of experience, so they went ahead and "offered their services" to their current employer just so that they could put that in their resume; in other words, they went to their informatics department and offered their time with anything needed like testing, or training. That helped them put relevant experience in their resume, and later on, they finally landed jobs. Just fyi though, most directors didn't really take them up in their offers, but these individuals persisted by befriending the analysts, so that they could find out when the next project was coming up, an where/when the informatics dept needed help. Testing is an area that always could use some volunteers.

Obviously, this only works if your current employers has an EMR, and if you're persistent enough...

Also, couple of other individuals took jobs in rural hospitals where nobody wanted to work in, but these individuals were single and 'free'.

Best of luck.

[Trumi24]

Thank you for the feedback. Outside of the major project I worked on during clinicals, I only have clinical and technical knowledge. Fortunately all of the facilities I currently work in use EMRs, so I will try to volunteer my services. I understand I need to start networking, because it is not about what you know, it's who you know.

[msenn2692]

Are you involved in any networking or social websites? It is a great way to find contacts that can help you located informatics jobs. Become a member of different organizations such as ANIA, HIMSS or if your state has a nursing informatics organization. Are you willing to move?