PSA: WGU now has an MSN in Informatics...

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Specializes in Outpatient/Clinic, ClinDoc.

I'm considering it, but am on the fence. I work in HIS and would love a masters in a related field other than my MBA, but not sure I want to slog through all the clinical stuff.. Ah decisions..

Anyways, I am told the new degree is for new students only but I've seen a few people able to transfer.

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Specializes in Spinal Cord Injury.

I've been wanting to do IT degree but they didn't have it for Nursing only in healthcare. I finished my BSN in November and just started the MSN in Ed. I'm going to check that out.

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Specializes in Emergency, Case Management, Informatics.

Despite the fact that I have my MSN, I've never been a big fan of Master's-level nursing programs. There's just entirely too much fluff and not enough meat. It's even worse in NP programs, where you get a handful of clinical courses and a bunch of useless theory. Sadly, looking at WGU's offering for this new program, it's just more of the same. Lots of generic fluff and only a few informatics-specific courses.

Further, two big areas in HIT are on pace for rapid expasion -- information security and data analytics/reporting. I would think it would be more beneficial for someone interested in a career in HIT to pursue one of those areas, and WGU has a Master's for both. Additionally, you get some industry-recognized certifications that go with both of those. How truly useful they are, I don't know, but at least you get some extra glitter on your resume. You get nothing with the MSN in Informatics, not even a CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician.

Speaking as a WGU fan, twice over, I think this was a huge miss for WGU. Poorly planned and implemented, and looks like little more than a money grab.

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Specializes in Outpatient/Clinic, ClinDoc.

I really really want a non-nursing informatics degree. I'm torn on this one but if they had a non nursing one, I'd be all there.. :)

Data analytics sounds interesting, although not sure it would apply in my current area.. I work in HIS/Clinical Documentation.

Was tempted to get the MSML as it dovetails with the MBA but looked at the COS and it's all fluffy leadership theories, not useful for a non manager.

The MSN would be impressive at my job and MAY get me a new position eventually however as a non clinical person I'd love to skip the pharma/health assessment/etc stuff.. not an option tho. :p

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Specializes in Emergency, Case Management, Informatics.
The MSN would be impressive at my job and MAY get me a new position eventually however as a non clinical person I'd love to skip the pharma/health assessment/etc stuff.. not an option tho. :p

I don't even mind the 3P's as part of informatics curriculum. 1) Those courses just make one a better clinician, which is necessary for bridging the gap between IT and providers. 2) It opens the door for a post-Master's NP down the road if one wants to change paths.

But Professional Presence, Translational Research, Organizational Leadership, garbage garbage garbage. Even the policy course is unnecessary, because the knowledge will be outdated by the time one graduates. Wrap all of these up into one general professional practice course to touch on the high-level stuff.

If you're looking to move up into nursing leadership, I guess the MSN is valuable. I think you'll get more traction in the long run with your MBA. I think if you're looking at a CIO type position, the MS in IT Management paired with the MBA might be better as the CIO deals with a lot more moving parts outside of nursing informatics.

Don't get me wrong -- I don't think that the MSN in general is useless. I just think that, in many cases, the programs are poorly thought out. The focus should be, "How will the student actually be able to apply this information in the real world" and not "How many generic courses can we pack in to avoid building new courses".

The latter seems to be the case with this new program at WGU.

As an aside, I've been on several interviews this year for various leadership and management positions, both within and outside of my organization. I even took on an interim unit manager role over the summer before deciding that inpatient management was not for me. In every single one of those interviews, the interviewers were far more impressed that I had a WGU MBA than with the fact that I was pursuing an MSN in Executive Leadership at a well-known local university. Of course, that may have more to do with the fact that the MBA was complete at the time and the MSN was still in progress. I don't know.

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Specializes in Outpatient/Clinic, ClinDoc.

The MS in IT management certainly looks more fun, but the IT department is known to be a bit more picky about admissions. I work in HIS, but I doubt they would consider it IT. Decisions Decisions!! :p

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Specializes in Outpatient/Clinic, ClinDoc.

Just bumping this.. I did decide to do the MSN in Informatics - started March 1st and am now in Capstone. :) It's a great program so far, although being the first one through some classes means I get to enter tickets for bugs here and there. But the mentors are awesome and very helpful. Now I need to sit and wait for my hospital to allow me to do my capstone. :(

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Specializes in Progressive, Intermediate Care, and Stepdown.

I'm in the MSN of informatics as well. Started March 1st too. So far so good. I agree with the comments above. I guess we'll see if it helps me professionally.

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Just bumping this.. I did decide to do the MSN in Informatics - started March 1st and am now in Capstone. :) It's a great program so far, although being the first one through some classes means I get to enter tickets for bugs here and there. But the mentors are awesome and very helpful. Now I need to sit and wait for my hospital to allow me to do my capstone. :(

Hi FeatherzRN! I'm currently looking into the BSN-MSN Informatics program. I'm currently working fulltime overseas at a US Military Hospital fulltime m-f 0730-1630. I'm not sure what the field experience requires because my enrollment counselor told me that I do this after hours at work? I'm not sure the military base would let me work after hours with a mentor? Please advise. Thank you.

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Specializes in Outpatient/Clinic, ClinDoc.

Currently, the capstone/field experience does not really require you to do anything at your workplace other than evaluate an EMR and make a powerpoint about it. You'll need someone with a masters degree to sign off and possibly some sort of agreement with your workplace even if you don't actually 'do' anything there. I didn't need my preceptor at all and there are no clinical hours required.

I keep hearing rumors that will change at some point, but to this point it's still the same - and those rumors have been going around since I graduated last year.

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Thank you for the quick reply. I find out next week if I'm able to do the program due to my location. :)

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Specializes in RNC-OB, C-EFM; obstetrics, IT, Telehealth.

Thanks for this post. I'm trying to decide if I should, as an RN with an ADN and 30 years of experience (including one year as an Epic analyst, 2012-2013) - should I just do the BSN and then go on to a more specialized Masters, or should I do the RN to MSN. In other words, do the RN to BSN (WGU) right now, and then do a Masters in an IT related field, rather than do the RN to MSN in Informatics.

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