themathais

Thankyou Mariah from themathais, I visited the websites you mentioned. HIMSS is very informative. I was wondering if the "Online Certificate Program in Healthcare IT" that HIMSS offers is worth pursuing given that I would like to enter into Nurse Informatics? Or would it be just a waste of time(I noticed it is a non-credit certificate)?

Thanks Mariah for your input, To answer your question about why I want to do Nursing first is because the field of medicine interests me. Once I get some nursing exp I would like to start off as a computer liasion in some capacity and work between the Nursing and the IT side. I currently live an hour from Nashville so if you can direct me to any informatics groups in this area that will be good. Also I am curious about software dev positions that vendors are looking for in health info systems. Could you tell me where to locate these positions on the web. Thankyou for your insight!

Thankyou for responding to my question. I would specifically like to enter the Clincial Informatics field and not just general Health/Bio Informatics. I think it would be better to practice in a clinical setting first. Nursing was my choice since becoming a doctor or PA would take a LOT longer. From my previous experiences I've realized that to be successful in any area of IT you need to have a thorough knowledge of the product you work on. It is easy to be detached and just concentrate on the IT part but you cannot be as effective as you go further along. I also feel that practicing medicine in any capacity is emotionally rewarding. I did get in touch with ANIA(American Nurses Informatics Association) and got some valuable input form its chairperson Connie Delaney. I think this chat forum will give me a lot of info. I will follow your advice and get some input from informaticists in the local area. I've heard that Cerner and Meditech are products that widely used in the healthcare setting. Is there any way I can get a standalone downloadable version of one of them just to understand the basics? Thank you much Angela Libby

I currently have Master's in Computer Science and 7 years of Database Dev exp. within the telecommunication industry. I have a educational background in the physical sciences(Phy, Chem, Bio )and I want to make a career change into the healthcare field. I am enrolled in an R.N program and am thinking of getting into Nursing Informatics once I get a few years of patient care experience. Am I on the right track? I noticed that most of the Master's level programs for Informatics require a BSN. Do I need a Master's in Informatics to get into the field? Once I am a nurse( in a healthcare setting) what should I do to get opportunites at my work to get into the informatics field? I would appreciate it if you could respond..