Anyone with experience in Nursing Informatics?

Well, I know two people with two different paths.

#1- a BS in Nursing and got a Masters in Medical Informatics. (Director of Clinical Analytics) She makes 130k!!

#2 - a BS in Health Information Management and did an Accelerated BSNprogram in one year. (Informatics Registered Nurse) She makes 108k a year!!

(yeah, I did ask the salary provided because I did it as a research project in college for Freshman Seminar.)

Recently, I was trying convince my friend who has gotten rejected from the Nursing program thrice to get a BS degree in CS/IS/CIS or something highly tech related then do the Accelerated BSN program in one year. The nursing programs at the regular pace are HIGHLY competitive. The Accelerated BSNprograms are still competitive but not as competitive as the regular paced ones. Moreover, the sole focus is on nursing and gaining clinical experience. Not the college campus experience.

I, too am considering an Accelerated BSN program. I am finishing my degree in Computer Science soon and I am interested in Nursing Informatics.

Two things stood out to me as important when talking to these people:

1 Clinical Experience.

2. IT knowledge and Skills Sets (Programming ability in SQL, Java, Python, etc.. and Data Analytics)

On 10/9/2018 at 10:16 AM, Aliens05 said:

Hello, I am an ADN considering going back for RN - MSN. The college near me has 3 choices of RN to MSN. They are Executive, Educator, and Informatics.

I don't feel like I would be interested in the first two, but informatics sounded somewhat interesting after doing some reserach on it. However, even after reading through several websites and forums I am still a little bit confused about what exactly your day to day job is, and pay seems all the board.

Does anyone with experience in this have any advice or recommendations, or some more specifics pertaining to this degree?

Is it CUNY SPS?

CUNY SPS is a public university in NYC. However, they are legit online and on campus degrees that looked upon favorably by employers. It's affordable and they have connections to many employers here in the City. http://sps.cuny.edu/

I started college later in life like you. I didn't have a background in computers or programming. Just a strong interest. It's not easy and never came easy but I didn't give up. I would recommend a degree in Computer Information Systems, Information Science, Management of Information Systems or any applied tech degree. Computer Science is very theoretical and is very math heavy. I don't think it would be needed in the NI workforce but Data Science would be!! But, if you like it go for it! I would learn a programming language used in the NI industry.

University of Nebraska, Omaha has Management of Information Systems and other applied tech degrees.

If you have AND and are looking for an BSN. I would go to reputable school with the lowest cost possible. Unless, the program is not a fit for your schedule.

University of Nebraska Medical Center has an RN to BSN. That is legit. It would be a good pick since it is from a medical university.

https://www.unmc.edu/nursing/programs/bachelors-bsn/rn-to-bsn-program1/index.html

https://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-information-science-and-technology/academics/management-information-systems.php

https://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-information-science-and-technology/information-systems-and-quantitative-analysis/about/index.php

If you do research on what the job entails, Informatics-RNs are a liaison between the clinical(nurses on the front lines) and technical (programmers, developers, report writers) domains in healthcare. That typically manifests in the form of meetings (to identify issues, solutions, build needed, timelines, etc), build/test (where either the liaison or dedicated builders would build & test into the actual system), and a lot of emails that can range from general questions about the system, future enhancements, broken things in the system, etc.

If I was in your shoes, I would finish the BSN and then go for a Masters in Management Information Systems that has a focus on Data Analytics. The reason why is because Nursing Informatics can be limiting and since it is a new field, it is changing as it grows in demand. Having a well-rounded background in Tech makes a RN more prepared for the field than just a narrow focus in NI. Watch the videos below.

9:03 video mark - He defines Nursing Informatics as "the gathering of data and statistics." This is why I said, MIS with a focus on Data Analytics.

13:00 video mark- He speaks about skills that are different than Nursing practice skills. He mentions the system development cycle, project management, computer applications such as Excel and Powerpoint, which are usually taught in MIS, CIS, IS programs or provided for free as workshops in College. This is why I said, MIS with a focus on Data Analytics.

He says at the 15:23 video mark, that programming skills aren't needed but are HELPFUL. I disagree, as the NI field develops, programming skills are going to be needed more as time passes. Having these programming skills will allow you to liaise seamlessly between the clinical and technical domains. Especially, when working on a project with very tight time constraints. Also, data visualisation, data mining and other data analytical tools are becoming the norm and are slowly making Excel alone obsolete. These tools require programming skills in SQL, Python and R. Technology is shaping the nursing industry in ways we have yet to see and the best way to prepare for those advancements is by observing the changes in tech and merging them into the RN field. Those who adapt will be most valuable to the organization.

Just my two cents and a half. I hope this helps and provides clarity.

I don't usually post on the internet. but.......

Working in the Nursing field since 2004, Nursing Informatics specialty since 2008. Back in the days, there wasn't much demand in the field for RNIs as it was relatively a new speciality in the field. I wanted a challange from being on floor all the time.... Back then you were trained from within, gave your clinical expertise and was put on teams with the MIS dept. to find technical solutions to issues within the dept. It is like being on a committee. I did not have a MS degree in Nursing Informatics.... I don't think it even existed tbh... I got my BSN/MSN though. After awhile there, I was advised by a good friend in the MIS dept that I should pursue a masters in technology.... Me?! Yes, I did eventually. ? & Never. Have. I. Ever. Regretted. IT. It was a truly a good investment on my part. I learned on the job, but my MS allowed me to put into practice alot of stuff that was not taught on the job but still was useful. For example, we were working on a optimization project to make our system more user-friendly...& everything I learned from Systems Analysis & Design, Data Mining & Data Warehousing and many other grad courses allowed me to give so much more of myself as clinical professional because of the technical knowledge from grad school. Not too knowledgable on Nursing Informatics programs. But, I will say that Information Systems is a good major if you want to do Informatics in Nursing or Healthcare. I love my line of work and working with different depts. on different projects. I am very proud to be apart of these things and say I worked on improving that application!

Oh yeah and consulting firms tend to pay MORE for RN~Informatics specialist than hospitals. ?

Cheers,

*~* Jes*~*

//BS/MS in Nursing from UC

//MS in Information Systems from UC

// Salary: 122k a yr. after almost 8 yrs on the job as an RN~Informatics Specialist & now a IT Nurse Leader & in the future Chief Nursing Information Officer.

JAG_RN10,

I have some questions.

Have you ever needed to use programming skills in your line of work?

What programming languages are usually used?

Why do consulting firms paying more than medical institutions and facilities for RNs with an informatics specialty?

Can you share with me a firm by name?

I am a Computer Science major and I am looking to pursue a one year BSN at CUNY Lehman College or CUNY Hunter. Columbia University has a Nursing Masters program for students with a non-nursing BS degrees that I am looking at too.

I would love your insight on my academic options and how they can help me break into the informatics field. Thank you.

Please message me on this site and I will gladly help you.

On 10/9/2018 at 7:16 AM, Aliens05 said:

Hello, I am an ADN considering going back for RN - MSN. The college near me has 3 choices of RN to MSN. They are Executive, Educator, and Informatics.

I don't feel like I would be interested in the first two, but informatics sounded somewhat interesting after doing some reserach on it. However, even after reading through several websites and forums I am still a little bit confused about what exactly your day to day job is, and pay seems all the board.

Does anyone with experience in this have any advice or recommendations, or some more specifics pertaining to this degree?

Hey Aliens05. Thought I'd share some info about Nursing Informatics from my perspective/experience... Here you go:

I’ve been in nursing/healthcare informatics since 2001 (RN since 1997). The cool thing is that there are so many subspecialties, projects, roles, and initiatives in healthcare informatics that you can explore and get involved in. In my case, I started as a software trainer and led the training department of a medical imaging software company. I traveled all over the US, Canada, and France as part of an implementation team. After about three years, I started a new job as a clinical/nursing informatics specialist. My main responsibilities there were basically around building the electronic health record’s (EHR) order entry module for multiple hospitals, end-user training, and system optimization. After about 7 years, I then worked as a clinical applications analyst, specifically investigating patient safety issues related to the organization’s EHR. My main job was to determine causes of issues in the EHR that could potentially cause patient harm, then make recommendations on how to resolve those issues. The issues I handled might be related to how the system is configured, misleading information, inaccurate calculations, ineffective workflow, and others related to the use of EHR that may be deemed unsafe. Now, I’m doing something different. My current position is to ensure that all of our hospitals (24 in the organization) meet the annual requirements for EHR-related regulatory programs. The government is basically giving incentives to hospitals and clinicians that can prove that they are using the EHR in a meaningful way. My main responsibility is to ensure that the EHR is appropriately configured to capture the complex requirements of various regulatory bodies. My job is never boring – I love it! Oh, and as a RN analyst, the pay isn’t bad at all. RN analysts in my area can make between around 100K to 195K, depending on your experience. I’m pretty sure the pay goes higher if you’re in management – if that’s where you want to take your career.

With regards to my education background, I graduated with a Nursing diploma in 1997, then my BSN in 2000. In 2001, I became interested in IT, so I completed an intensive diploma program in Applied Information Technology, where I learned about programming and databases. Then, I graduated with a MSN degree in 2007, with a capstone project on clinical information systems implementation in acute care settings. The school of nursing where I did my MSN didn’t really have an informatics specialty at that time, but I was permitted to take informatics courses outside the school and even outside the university – and all those courses counted towards my MSN of course. Over a decade after, I started my DNP with a specific focus on healthcare informatics; this is still in progress. I am also board-certified in Informatics Nursing.

The RN-MSN Informatics degree you mentioned sounds great. Having that degree would definitely help if you’re really interested in this field. Nowadays, having formal education in health/nursing informatics gives a candidate a better chance of landing a job in the field; not like before, nurses interested in computers could get into informatics because of their clinical experience and workflow knowledge… Anyway, there are lots of jobs in informatics. Compared to other specialties, informatics nursing is a relatively small specialty, but we’re special. Have you checked out WGU? They have an RN-MSN Informatics program online. It’s an accredited program and relatively affordable. I know of a nurse who did her BSN-MSN Informatics there a couple of years ago. But, if you want a more established school of nursing, University of Maryland, Duke, and Columbia have great informatics programs.

Hope this gives you some idea about healthcare/nursing informatics. Good luck!

I would not recommend WGU. It's reputation is viewed as a diploma mill with no connection.

(Look at the discussion on the boards.)

Nursing informatics study tracks are not going to set you apart in the applicant pool nor prepare you fully.

Tech is the future. You will see. MOST of these Nursing informatics track nurse will be prepared POORLY for the changes in tech and nursing. Information Systems/Robotics all these things are shaping nursing and these nurses can't code.