Love of all technology and nursing?

[Hermione Granger]

Hi I have been a RPN at a local nursing home. I love my job and all that it entails however I have been considering a job with technology. Now I have done some research of nursing informatics however all of them say you have to be an RN. Is there anyway that I could combine my love of technology and geekyness with my passion for nursing? I'm thinking of a job where I can input patient data or collect data or instruct new staff how to use the tablets at work or the online charting. Now if possible I would love to do as minimal schooling as possible as I am not a fan of school. Also completely opposite end of the scale I would consider being a hyperbaric nurse as I have my scuba diving license and find hyperbaric chambers fascinating! Note I live in Ontario Canada.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I'm not familiar with the Canadian healthcare environment but down in my area of the world . . .

We have all types of new roles popping up as we move further into the world of eRecords. We have Clinical Documentation Specialists - (BSN or other B degree in appropriate field with formal certification or education in Informatics) who are nurses with high levels of expertise in eRecords (complex relational database). Their primary responsibility is the ongoing analysis of documentation - to analyze deficiencies and develop strategies for improvement. They also work closely with all of the 'reporting' folks to develop automated processes for regularly scheduled reports & extracting data for the periodic or 'one of' reports that are needed. But - their jobs are not really techie-ish... more like data specialists.

Nursing & Clinical Informaticists (MSN or Masters in Informatics or Computer Science with clinical bachelors degree) - work with IT to develop & maintain eRecord systems, including analyzing changes/improvements needed and designing the changes. They do not code, but may have the skills needed to develop reports using Oracle or similar products. NIs & CIs may also be involved in teaching new employees or docs how to use our systems.

Security Analysts, Network Engineers, & other 'down and dirty' IT stuff - these folks have graduate degrees in Computer Science & slews of certifications in all kind of computer-y stuff. Clinical background not needed at all.

The hard core coding is done by IT folks - a lot of it is outsourced to contractors. They develop/modify user interfaces as well as development of specialized databases needed to manage smaller processes (ex: tracking regulatory compliance issues). We have very few hard core folks.

The "education" of staff & physicians - how to use tech and eApplications - is done either by educators or the 'owners' of each application. Most educators are RNs with MSNs - they work with 'subject matter experts' to design & develop educational resources... a lot of it is done via eLearning (developed by educators).

WHEW - that's a summary of how it works down here. Hope it gave you some ideas.