Nursing Informatics or Health Informatics?

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I actually have several questions. Feel free to answer any of them :)

I want to get into informatics, but I'm having licensure issues. I already have my BSN, and I was considering doing my masters in Nursing Informatics, but they usually require a nursing license. Health Informatics, on the other hand, doesn't. Would you recommend Health Informatics over Nursing Informatics? Why or why not? What's the difference?

btw, the two main programs i'm comparing are UT Houston's Masters in Health Informatics and U of Maryland's Masters in Nursing Informatics. UT Houston is cheaper for me because I'm a resident, but I've heard U of Maryland's program is the best when it comes to Nursing Informatics.

Also, how important is having a license to actually work in informatics?

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actually guys, to clarify my situation...

i was working as a nurse in different capacities, finished up, graduated, and got my BSN, but a little bit after, i got into some licensure issues with the board. i had to voluntarily surrender my license for a year. well, a year has passed, and i'm currently eligible for reinstatement.

however, i'm hesitant to go back into floor/clinical nursing. i've always been more of an IT person and have never been a good fit for the more traditional nursing roles (could possibly be a root cause of my licensure issues). anyways, i really want to pursue informatics because i think it takes advantage of my predisposition for IT and my background and experience as a nurse. i'm working on getting my license back, but i'm wondering how helpful it would be if i'm choosing to pursue a career in informatics. any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

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to clarify my situation even further...

i'm currently debating whether the cost of getting a lawyer to reinstate my license is worth it if all i really want to do as a nurse is informatics. i really don't see myself doing well in any other nursing roles but i can see myself excelling in informatics. is there a way i can get into health/nursing informatics without having to reinstate my license? or is being an RN an absolute requirement to being a nurse informatician?

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i keep posting questions, but never get any answers... :(

Is Health Informatics a viable route to becoming an informatician if I decide not to reinstate my license? How is Health Informatics different from Nursing Informatics? How are they the same?

i'd really appreciate some answers... if anyone wants to help me...

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Specializes in Informatics, Education, and Oncology.

Greetings Paulschwinn,

Welcome to the NI Forum. Perhaps the other informaticians that frequent this forum are otherwise occupied with family and leisure activities, this being the weekend and for some the start of PTO/vacation in anticipation of the 4th of July Holiday.

To assist you in using the NI forum - Please come out of this post, go to the top of the main NI forum page and click on the "Go to Stickies" button which will scroll you down to content on the difference between NI, medical and healthcare informatics.....and much, much more!

To search the NI forum, again return back up to the top of the NI forum page, below "Start a New Topic Now" you will see a magnifying glass and to the right an arrow, click on the arrow and enter in search words (such as advance degree or Masters in healthcare informatics, etc) in the field labeled "Search this section", click on Go.

Many of us (myself included as forum moderator) visit and post to this forum in our spare time second only to working full time in our primary roles. Additionally many of us also travel, teach and have multiple responsibilities thereby negating an immediate (or even 24-48 hour) response to posts.

Qualities and characteristics needed the most to practice successfully in this specialty are the ability be a proactive, self directed and independent information seeker - one needs to have more than one resource for seeking answers and researching questions. I humbly invite you to read and utilize previous posts and content on this forum for knowledge and answers, as your questions posted here since yesterday might not get a response in a time frame that meets your immediate needs.

Be reassured that the questions you have posted above have been asked and answered numerous times. I am confident you will locate a wealth of content. Although, legal questions related to licensure are outside the scope of this forum and its members.

Good Luck and have a Wonderful 4th of July Holiday!

i keep posting questions, but never get any answers... :(

Is Health Informatics a viable route to becoming an informatician if I decide not to reinstate my license? How is Health Informatics different from Nursing Informatics? How are they the same?

i'd really appreciate some answers... if anyone wants to help me...

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Specializes in ICU.

actually, very few company are requiring a master degrees. Its experience they want. You don't need to drop 30k or whatever it is on masters degree (plus loss of income 100,000 ...that 130k for that masters degree).

If you really want to get into this area....try to become a power user for their software program. Then try to move up. Only when your ladder is being blocked for further advancement because you don't have masters degree should you consider taking on the 130k price tag of masters.

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actually, very few company are requiring a master degrees. Its experience they want. You don't need to drop 30k or whatever it is on masters degree (plus loss of income 100,000 ...that 130k for that masters degree).

If you really want to get into this area....try to become a power user for their software program. Then try to move up. Only when your ladder is being blocked for further advancement because you don't have masters degree should you consider taking on the 130k price tag of masters.

thank you overtonis! you saved me a lot of money :)

i think i'll go with your advice. it matches what i'm reading in a lot of these other articles.

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Specializes in informatics for 10 years.
would you recommend health informatics over nursing informatics? why or why not? what's the difference?

when searching for jobs, at least in my personal experience, the only time this seems to matter, if it matters at all, is when you're looking for management jobs. some jobs might specifically ask for a master in nursing informatics, but many simply ask for a master's.

also, i know that when we have gone through candidates' resumes, it doesn't really matter to us what degree they have---health or nursing informatics. we are more interested in the experience they have in the field or the experience they have with an application. we don't sit there thinking, 'oh, this candidate is better because he has a master's in nursing informatics, and this candidate only has a master in health informatics.'

and what's the difference in the degrees? that your class composition will be either made up by (all) nurses, or made up by people with different (education) backgrounds, not just nursing.

also, how important is having a license to actually work in informatics?

this also varies by jobs. some jobs specifically want you to have an active license, while others don't. when i worked for a vendor, they were just interested in the fact that i had clinical experience; and throughout the jobs i've had in the past, i never have had to give a copy of my nursing license or been asked for it; however, at some point i was looking for hospital jobs, and some of those jobs would say, "current rn license required." but plenty of jobs out there which don't/didn't require a license either.

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Nursing informatics and health informatics have a tremendous overlap. The only difference is one is a RN and one has a degree in computers or some other field before training. Having an RN is beneficial, it shows additional experience in health care. Nurses would accept another nurse easier. But both are qualified to do the same thing. With the exception is that it may be easier for health informatic people to get a job in a non-nursing setting. There are many subspecialties, nursing is just one.

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Not sure if you're still following this thread, but my advice would be to get your RN back, if at all possible. You put in the time for the education, and you passed your boards, why not get it back? True, some employers may not care, but if you are competing against someone who does have an RN and all else is equal, then the other candidate will get the job. Finding employment in a field like healthcare IT is very tough where I live - not sure about where you are.

I worked as an investigator for the Board of Nurse Examiners previously, so feel free to send me a message or post here if you have any additional questions.

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Hey Paul,

I am currently in a similar situation, except I am currently working as a floor R.N on a telemetry unit with his ADN. I have just been part of a project implementing CPOE with Meditech at my hospital and took on the role of "super user". I very much enjoyed this project, as I also have had a love of I.T ever before I became a nurse. I am looking into a informatics career shift now, and am also wondering if I should go the route of Nursing informatics or Health Informatics. I am currently looking at programs that offer an RN-BSN (then MSN in Nursing informatics), RN-MSN in Nursing Informatics, RN-MSN then gaining a Informatics cert., RN-BSN then gaining a Informatics cert., or even a RN-Bachelors in Health Informatics offered by WGU. I am conflicted as to what the right path is too. I enjoy nursing and would like to have to option open to nurse in the future if I wanted to, but I definitely want to pursue Informatics now, but retain my nursing disposition. If anyone with experience in Nursing/Health Informatics, or has been involved in management position in charge of hiring such candidates, see's this I'd also appreciate some input. Good luck you paul.

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