Interested in switching to NI profession-questions....

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I am a relatively new RN. I have been working in a hospital for a little over 2 years now. I have only an Associate Degree currently. I have about 9+ years of previous experience in IT. I don't however have any certifications or degrees in IT. I became very interested while in nursing school in the nursing infomatics field. I have never actually run into anyone who works in this field so I had 'let it go' until recently. I have some questions as I'm doing some initial research on school and the job market.

1. What kind of degree should I be looking for (what are the key words)? Is there an actual 'Nursing Informatics' degree or should I be looking under HIT or something else?

2. Would I be marketable in the field with just a Bachelor's Degree? Like I said I have my associates, could I just go on and get my bachlors in this specialty?

3. Are there entry level positions around that I could be looking at now prior to school to break into that field? (I'm wondering what are the key words/job titles I need to be using to find such jobs).

Any direction would be very helpful! Any tips or useful websites to research this field as well.

Thank you!

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Specializes in Informatics, Education, and Oncology.

Greetings Love4OBX,

I am a strong advocate for folks doing their "home work" and research......... and proactively seeking knowledge.

....... as you will see if you read any of my previous post on this forum. This forum itself is one of the BEST places to research this specialty.

That being said I would strongly encourage you to read the posts on this forum first then follow any of the links that lead to other sources. Your questions have been asked (numerous times) and answered by many of the experienced informatics professionals who frequent this forum.

Good Luck and let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

I am a relatively new RN. I have been working in a hospital for a little over 2 years now. I have only an Associate Degree currently. I have about 9+ years of previous experience in IT. I don't however have any certifications or degrees in IT. I became very interested while in nursing school in the nursing infomatics field. I have never actually run into anyone who works in this field so I had 'let it go' until recently. I have some questions as I'm doing some initial research on school and the job market.

1. What kind of degree should I be looking for (what are the key words)? Is there an actual 'Nursing Informatics' degree or should I be looking under HIT or something else?

2. Would I be marketable in the field with just a Bachelor's Degree? Like I said I have my associates, could I just go on and get my bachlors in this specialty?

3. Are there entry level positions around that I could be looking at now prior to school to break into that field? (I'm wondering what are the key words/job titles I need to be using to find such jobs).

Any direction would be very helpful! Any tips or useful websites to research this field as well.

Thank you!

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Specializes in Peds Cardiac ICU, Peds ICU, Informatics.

Congrats on considering informatics! I know many RN's with an associate degree who work and do quite well in informatics. I think the educational decision will have to be a personal choice of weighing your reasons for going back with your personal goals. I would think that it would not hurt your resume to have BSN on it. As far as entry level positions, look for informatics councils or super user groups within your organization. Additionally, I would recommend joining professional nursing groups for networking and job listings. ANIA-CARING, HIMSS, AHIMA, and AMIA all come to mind. Google them and see which would be a good fit.

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I have a similar background. I have a bachelors in computer science, but no job experience. I went directly back to get an associates in nursing. After nursing for five years I accepted a position that recently opened with our new clinical design team. After being there a few months people in the department started asking why I didn't apply to the department sooner? My response was, 'I had never thought about it'. If you hospital has an IT dept or even a data processing dept, it would hurt just to talk to someone in that dept. You may be surprised. I understand that it's hard to find someone with both skillsets.

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