rayray718

i truly appreciate the info. take care, ray

as i have started research into this field of informatics, i find it becoming more and more appealing to me . I have a couple of questions hoping my career direction will be guided in the right way. I currently work in the admitting dept. of a hospital, and am familiar with the programs we use for patients I am currently a pre clinical nursing student going for my adn , and eventually bsn. Before my decision to pursue nursing, i was halfway done in an MIS program. I am very saavy with computers. I do not enjoy the aspect of looking at code all day, but i am proficient and enjoy everything else about computing. I understand that a degree in nursing will be beneficial to me, but how does the clinical aspect tie in to computers? 1.Is informatics for me? I understand projects differ and that everything needs programming/structure, i just want a vague answer on how the workforce in these dept's are broken down. 2. are most employees that work this occupation predominantly MIS/CS grads or Nursing grads? 3.If i decide to devote my education to informatics, will my direction in terms of classes be swayed away from nursing? Upon researching this particular forum i have gathered that i can do a couple things to get a feel of the field, including volunteering with projects etc.. I would like to ask a couple of questions in terms of approach. 1. How do i approach my hospital's IT dept. and ask to volunteer/participate in any projects? 2. Are there dept's besides IT that i should be approaching to volunteer at? 3. Let's say informatics and nursing are equally 50/50 as options for my career, and i am only willing to devote myself 1 career at a time, Should i pursue my RN first, then go for a degree in informatics? or the other way around Lastly, i would just like to rant on some things i came across . Every year my hospital/magnets funds a 2 week refresher training session, on various topics . One of the days was dedicated to refreshing employees on old and new techniques of doing things with our in patient/billing programs. I noticed that our instructor came from the company that provided us with the program. Is he an "nursing informatician"? I would greatly appreciate answers to any of my long tedious questions. lol Possibly a sticky, since i know i'm not the only one who wanted to ask these questions but never did. Ray

bunch of sadist's in here. lol j/k

i'm in the same boat as you. working full time going to night class.. if others can do it so can we... good luck to you.