Interested in Nursing/Healthcare informatics

[crazybumblebee]

Hi all,

I recently graduated with my BSN from an accelerated nursing program (woo hoo!).

Unlike many of my classmates who went to nursing school because it had been their dream since they were younger, I was working in many administrative roles prior to applying to nursing school. I worked in accounting, real estate/post escrow, data entry, admin support (you get the drift).

While I really enjoyed admin work, I decided to apply to nursing because:

1) the pay was horrible in the admin role (there was no way I would be able to support a family with that pay if I were the sole provider)

2) I had always been interested in people and healthcare (which was why I majored in psychology and biology)

3) many people have told me that I would be a great nurse and

4) I wanted to do something different with my life, make something of myself.

While I was in nursing school, I initially saw myself falling behind those who worked as an aid before they got into the program, but I adapted quickly. I am a very hands-on learner, I enjoy conversation and am not a very shy person. I enjoyed doing all of the "procedural/skill parts" of nursing, putting in IVS, NG tubes, giving medications, hanging IVs/starting pumps, taking out epidural lines, anything that I could get my hands on, I was excited to do it, and I became very good at it! I loved learning about the pathophysiology behind disease processes, and learning about how to make people feel better, while seeing it firsthand. In my clinical experiences, I have had great reviews from my preceptors and clinical instructors. Everyone said that I am very optimistic, enthusiastic, careful and will do well as a nurse.

My clinical instructors always asked me, what type of nursing would you want to do? This question has been a daunting task throughout my entire program. From Psych, L&D, Med/surg, Oncology, School Nursing, PICU and Emergency Room. I haven't found an area in nursing that I could say that I am "absolutely in love with".

The only thing I could think of is to combine my skills in computers and nursing. I am very interested in Healthcare informatics. I love computers and technology, my previous work experience dealt with computers. I also spend more time on the computer a day, than I do sleeping. Computers put me at ease, and I am very fast at learning it, I quickly learned all of the Electronic medical record systems in my clinical settings: Meditech, Cerner, Epic and helped some of my fellow classmates on how to navigate the charting systems.

Now that I am in the process of taking the NCLEX, and applying for jobs. I can't help but want to explore more about Nursing Informatics.

As I am from Northern California, I have my eyes on the Healthcare Systems Leadership program at the University of San Francisco, which combines: nursing, informatics, business and administrative role into one entity. I am tempted to apply to the program after I pass my NCLEX as it does not require any work experience.

However, I will probably not do this, as I plan on working full-time for at least a year doing bedside nursing. Any job in nursing would be fine, in my opinion, because I have had positive experiences in all of my previous clinical settings.

I am writing here because I am wondering what steps should I take in pursuing this pathway... I also want to know:

1) What are the job responsibilities of the Healthcare Systems Leadership role?

2) What does this career pathway entail?

3) What is the average salary in Northern California?

4) What are the usual hours of work?

5) What type of work would I look forward to with this sort of degree?

6) Is this type of degree in demand?

The program is 4 years, and if I were to pursue this, it would be a huge financial responsibility on top of my loans from my first undergrad degree and my accelerated nursing degree. I currently live in Northern California, and would like to stay in the bay area.

Thank you so much for reading my post!

[stephenfnielsen]

Don't take my advise as gospel, but you will find it very, very difficult to find work in that kind of field without previous health care leadership experience. Ask yourself- why would a hospital administrator want to give you a leadership position within the hospital when you have next to no experience in the field? All a degree like you are perusing will do for you is check a box on an application that says, "Requirements: MSN and 5-10 years of health care experience with progressive leadership responsibilities". If this type of thing is your goal, I would get a hospital job, spend a couple of years building up your experience while going to school part-time. By the time you finish your degree you'll be ready to apply for the type of jobs that you are considering.

Best of luck!