sbleggs

I concur the the above post... Sure there are (or were) ideal milestones in the nursing career path but if you already have an idea if what kind of nurse you want to be then by all means- go for it! I graduated in 12/2011 and for our class our first jobs were dictated by the position offered. Offers were so scarce that it did not matter what kind of nurse we wanted to be. We took a nursing job and were quite happy to be employed. Experience is what you really need- learn what you can and maneuver to where you want to be. Good luck!

It's not necessary to be a certified coder but it does help to understand coding very well. Some CDS come from the floor, others have case management or utilization management experience. Check out the Association for Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialist http://www.acdis.com they offer the Certified Clinical Documentation Specialist credential. There you should find a ton of info regarding the ins and outs of the role. Also check out the American Health Information Management Association or AHIMA they also certify CDS.

For what it's worth I believe you made an excellent choice. I'm an RN that works in HIM and the clinical knowledge that you would bring to the profession will be invaluable. It's not really a question of either or... you can do both, or apply both knowledge sets. So finish the nursing piece and migrate on over when you're done. Oh, pay extra close attention to documentation while you are in school... provider documentation especially but it all matters, RNs, wound care, dietitians, consults, ancillary therapist and so on... Good luck!