Nursing Informatics vs Health Informatics

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Hello,

I've been an Army RN for 3 years and am looking to go to grad school in informatics when I get out this fall. I live in DC, so everyone at work has been pushing me toward the MSN program at U-Maryland (when they are not trying to get me to stay in the military!). I've also heard the programs offered at Pittsburgh and NYU are good.

My question is how limiting is NURSING informatics? George Mason University has a health systems management with a concentration in health information systems program. An inside source told me that they are combining that program with one of the MSN programs in the computer school to do a Health Informatics program. Based on the name alone, it seems more collaborative and multi-d. The head of U-MD told me that nursing informatics degrees are not limiting and that it is an extendable skill, but how true is this? In your experiences, are the job markets more open for HEALTH informatics positions as opposed to NURSING informatics? What are the differences?

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Specializes in Informatics, Education, and Oncology.

I think you are very perceptive hanginglimbs,

I would not limit my education, career or informatics practice to just one discipline. I think a degree in health, healthcare, public health, clinical (or even dare I say Medical) Informatics would give you a broader area to practice in.

Surf and read previous on this forum to learn the what the differences are between the disciplines within Informatics - Nursing, Medical, , Healthcare, Clincial Informatics are.

Good Luck!

Hello,

I've been an Army RN for 3 years and am looking to go to grad school in informatics when I get out this fall. I live in DC, so everyone at work has been pushing me toward the MSN program at U-Maryland (when they are not trying to get me to stay in the military!). I've also heard the programs offered at Pittsburgh and NYU are good.

My question is how limiting is NURSING informatics? George Mason University has a health systems management with a concentration in health information systems program. An inside source told me that they are combining that program with one of the MSN programs in the computer school to do a Health Informatics program. Based on the name alone, it seems more collaborative and multi-d. The head of U-MD told me that nursing informatics degrees are not limiting and that it is an extendable skill, but how true is this? In your experiences, are the job markets more open for HEALTH informatics positions as opposed to NURSING informatics? What are the differences?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Oncology.
I think you are very perceptive hanginglimbs,

I would not limit my education, career or informatics practice to just one discipline. I think a degree in health, healthcare, public health, clinical (or even dare I say Medical) Informatics would give you a broader area to practice in.

Surf and read previous on this forum to learn the what the differences are between the disciplines within Informatics - Nursing, Medical, , Healthcare, Clincial Informatics are.

Good Luck!

Do you know the URLs or Post Titles of those posts?

I am currently a Web/Graphic Designer with 3 years of working experience and I am very curious about Nursing Informatics. Is there a resource I can go to for researching Nursing Informatics? i.e. What programming languages do I need to know? Who designs the GUI of medical software?

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Specializes in Oncology.

Re: hangingclimbs,

Please keep us posted on what you find out and what school is right for you! I work as a Web/Graphic Designer and I am very curious as to where you end up as I'm thinking about changing industries to Nursing/Healthcare. Best of Luck!

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Specializes in Informatics, Education, and Oncology.

This should get you started - Major healthcare information systems vendors include: Meditech, Cerner, Epic, McKesson. You'd only need to know about programming languages if you plan on working for these vendors as a programmer. Major programming languages run the gambit from

Visual Basic to C++ to Pearl (?sp)

Good Luck

Do you know the URLs or Post Titles of those posts?

I am currently a Web/Graphic Designer with 3 years of working experience and I am very curious about Nursing Informatics. Is there a resource I can go to for researching Nursing Informatics? i.e. What programming languages do I need to know? Who designs the GUI of medical software?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
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