Making the jump back

I think with your background, you don't need to look specifically for informatics - there aren't that many. You have technical skills - a business analyst and/or systems analyst would be a better fit and more opportunities.

Typically, informatics position don't require significant technical skills - generally they tend to be geared toward education and workflow changes. With most healthcare having implemented CPOE, documentation etc.. there isn't as much of a need.

However, having technical skills such as SQL, programming, database development etc.. are far more valued. Most healthcare are needing the technical - they need people who can write and pull metrics and stats, who can test and build, who can help in terms of data mining , interface development etc..

Business analysts tend to have more contact with the customers so it helps being a nurse but they also are expected to work a variety of projects / implementations etc.. where the technical skills are more valued.

I don't know how much value there is in an informatics degree - I don't know of any staff working in informatics that have a degree specifically in informatic- a MSN is just a valuable from my perspective. But other areas of the country may be different.

There are plenty of ni jobs. Your background is great. I'll send you a pm.

Anyone who says they're are no ni jobs must not know where to look.

Mydesygn, thanks for the information. My understanding was that the data mining, drill-down report generation, etc. was at the heart of Informatics, not just EMR implementation and maintenance. I agree that I will be of more benefit on the technical side. Do you work in Informatics or interface with them alot? Any information about roads into that arena is greatly appreciated! :)

There are plenty of ni jobs. Your background is great. I'll send you a pm.

Anyone who says they're are no ni jobs must not know where to look.

Fantastic! Thanks so much!

I distinguish informatics from analyst. The informatics jobs are usually looking specifically for nursing/healthcare and focus on implementation / workflow. It's typically your analysts that do building / maintenance etc.. Depending on the facility, they may do both. I work as an analyst - currently the job market is light on pure informatics jobs in my area (but may be better dependong on the location you are looking and if you are willing to relocate) - you will want to search healthcare analyst as well as informatics. Many of the open HIT positions at major hospitals are focused on SQL, reporting, interface etc.. From what I have heard from one recruiter, even the consultant firms are letting go of consultants.

Easiest thing is to set up searches on some of the major job sites (Indeed, Careerbuilder) and just see what the qualifications are for various listings.

I share your interest and our backgrounds are extremely similar. I have been working in an office position for the last four years trying to figure out where to go next. My heart was set on being a nurse practioner. However, the RA God's have blessed me with the displeasure of not working in patient care any, ore. And then they threw in the bonus of Addison's Disease to boot. I am an ER and Crtical Care Nurse by background. Love technology and gadgets. I train others in my curent job and spend a lot of time "playing", if you will, at home. My current position is completely reliable on computer technology. I am in the application process with Grand Canyon University at this time. I feel they are a great fit for me. I find that in our system (four hospitals, two nursing homes, and several satellite sites), the focus is mostly on making the charting more user friendly and efficcient, complete and accurate documentation, and analysis. With the new healthcare reform and restrictions on Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement, our system is really trying to focus on accurate charting from registration to discharge. The problem is that, although the system has been in place for three years or more, there is still a huge education gap amoung the staff. Partly due to lack of education, but also due to just plain trying to work out several bugs. One of those bugs being the different roles amount the staff and their charting needs. I have researched the job market and found that there are several NI jobs out there that pay well. They are just at different levels and involve different roles. One job posting will ask for a Nurse Informatics Specialist, while another might ask for something else. In some markets, a BSN with more then 3 years experience and computer knowledge is all that is required. In others a working RN with a Masters is preferred. I am excited about this switch. I think that, while the role is ever changing, it is going to be more and more relevant as healthcare systems try to keep up with the increased insurance and government policies. Let's face it...medicine is a business (as much has it pains me to write that). Systems are doing more and getting paid less. So, informatics is going to help them insure they do tnat. Whether it is by making sure their systems can perform efficiently or analyzing processes that can be improved upon to make their dollars stretch. Just my opinion...

I've updated my resume, updated my LinkedIn, and started applying for analyst/informatics jobs in the area. I'm in the process of applying for the online program at University of Illinois at Chicago, which seems like a really good program. No nibbles on the job front yet, but it's only been 2 weeks, and I suspect it's a niche where there's more "wait and see" than other IT fields.

I've updated my resume, updated my LinkedIn, and started applying for analyst/informatics jobs in the area. I'm in the process of applying for the online program at University of Illinois at Chicago, which seems like a really good program. No nibbles on the job front yet, but it's only been 2 weeks, and I suspect it's a niche where there's more "wait and see" than other IT fields.

Don't get discouraged. Back when I started, it took a couple of months to get noticed and I was sending out resumes daily and I also had nursing and IT experience since I have both degrees---nursing and computer science.

In you original post you mentioned you know reporting and that's one of the hottest niches in informatics. If I were you, I would "unrust" those skills and start applying for those jobs. My buddies who were in IT doing database work, are now in healthcare IT and as they are pretty well.

In fact, one of them works for a big healthcare System and they did a big cut on jobs last year, and he was one of the few employees who was begged not to leave because of the job he does, so the job security in that specific niche seems to be quite good.

So you could also look for reporting jobs in the field if that is something that interests you, because it seems there is a shortage of SQL analysts in healthcare IT.

Going for a master's degree given your experience seems to be the long way to go about it, but then again, not bad to have a master's degree if you want to eventually go into management.

Yeah, I ended up talking to a couple of people in passing who work in Healthcare IT, and they both had one burning question: could I write SQL. I only ate, drank, and breathed SQL for 15+ years, so I had to laugh. They were both convinced I'd do very well if I made the jump back. I'm going ahead with my masters program, but I'm not waiting for that to try for a HIT job. I'm putting my resume out there and networking.