Question about Nursing Informatics

Columnist · Mar 24, 2012

Moved to Nursing Informatics for more response.

ikarus01 · Mar 25, 2012

Please read rninformatics' article on the link below, which contains all the neccessary information about getting started in nursing informatics:

How Do I Get Started in Nursing Informatics? on ADVANCE for Nurses

But briefly, all nursing informatics position require a nursing degree because that's what's at the core of the position: nursing experience.

However, be aware that nursing informatics itself, falls under a more general branch of healthcare informatics.

This means that there are branches like clinical informatics, dentistry informatics, medical informatics, and many others, which do not require a nursing degree to work in an informatics position.

For example, somebody who works at a hospital registering patients could be using an electronic record to get this done. There is a person who configures this registration software, and most likely, this person doesn't have a nursing degree. Thus, their position could be considered to fall under clinical informatics.

rninformatics, DNP, RN · Mar 26, 2012

You don't have to have an advanced degree to work in the field of Clinical Informatics. If you wish to specialize in clinical informatics - specifically nursing informatics although not necessary it is preferable that you have a nursing clinical background and a nursing degree.

You wrote you have an associates in HIT, are you currently working at a hospital or in an MD office? What is your current job/role with that degree?

ThePrestige · Apr 2, 2012

I have a BS and LPN with 3 years clinical experience, but no IT experience. What kind of jobs should I look for to get into this field? I was also looking at an MS in medical informatics, but would like to gain some entry level experience before pursuing this, thanks.

rninformatics, DNP, RN · Apr 2, 2012

Greetings ThePrestige,

A lot of the information posted previous will apply to your question. I'd also suggest you search this forum for other previous posts on this same topic. Look for jobs that read: "No previous IT experience needed", etc. You also might try volunteering for super user type roles at your current hospital or healthcare organization.

Good Luck!

I have a BS and LPN with 3 years clinical experience, but no IT experience. What kind of jobs should I look for to get into this field? I was also looking at an MS in medical informatics, but would like to gain some entry level experience before pursuing this, thanks.

mariafh · Apr 10, 2012

Since you already have an associate degree in HIT, what aspects of the nusing informatics role are you interested in that are not available to you via the non-nursing HIT route? Are you more interesed in the clinical aspects or implementing clinical systems? There are many in healthcare IT that are not nurses, although less clinical. An informatics nurses is first and foremost a nurse. Obtaining a nursing degree of any type requires a lot of work (physical and mental), dedication, and a true love for the profession. I have worked with engineers in the past who saw what I did in my position and wanted to get a nursing degree. None of them applied to school after they realize the great effort to get that degree and that the education for that degree had minimal to do with HIT. But, if that path is what you want, then go for it. You could get an associate degree and go into nursing informatics. You could do very well. However, in the job market you will be competing with many informatics nurses who have advanced degrees. This is especially true as more and more nurses obtain the advanced degree. Those in the field without the advanced degree have many years of experience, in general, as an equivalent. You would be at disadvantage having minimal experience and no advanced degree. However, having the associate HIT degree would give you an edge over some of those other candidates. If you want to go into nursing, I would suggest looking into the bachelorette program and see if some of your associate degree program credits can be applied to the degree. It may take a little longer, but make you much more competitive in the nursing informatics job market. If you really just want more advanced HIT rather than nursing, then you may want to explore more of the healthcare HIT route via a more advanced HIT degree or other technical/business degree.