Unique Career Path Options With A Master's In Nursing Informatics

Nursing informatics offers you the opportunity to affect quality of care and patient outcomes, using information as your tool. As health care has become more and more dependent on computers and information systems, the field of nursing informatics has opened wide, providing computer-savvy nurses the opportunity to combine an interest in technology with their first love, patient care.

Why Choose Nursing Informatics?
The advent of computerized charting, online medication reconciliation and electronic health records mean that informatics is here to stay. A masters degree specializing in informatics will allow you to stay “plugged in” to your workplace, colleagues and patients, while allowing you the opportunity to advance in an interesting new field that barely existed just a few years ago.

As a nursing informatics specialist, you will design new features and programs, analyze nursing and health care data, safeguard the privacy and security of patient data, manage new technology and potentially train your colleagues in the use of new technology and programs. In truth, that doesn’t even cover all the things you can get involved in with this type of a masters degree. You might, for example, get involved in implementing an electronic health records program in the emergency room. This could involve you in training nurses and doctors in the use of the new program and tracking meaningful data that emerges such as ER wait times, frequency of narcotic administration and staffing/patient ratios.

If you have an interest in research, this specialty can give you lots of chances to indulge it. Nurses with a masters in informatics often do research on issues in quality assurance and treatment. They are also highly sought after in the private sector, with potential employers in hospitals, private clinics, governmental agencies, businesses that design and sell health care information technology systems and others.

Some of the courses that are generally part of a master’s program in nursing informatics include:

• Statistics for Health Informatics
• Health Information Systems
• Networks for Health Informatics
• Research Methods
• Knowledge Management
• Project Management

What is Involved in Earning a Masters in Nursing Informatics?
Many informatics masters programs are available online, requiring 18 credit hours on average. Many schools also offer the opportunity to study on campus. Most programs have at least one practicum that must be completed successfully in order to graduate. As with most master’s programs, you generally need to have a bachelor’s degree to apply.

Degree or Certificate?
You should be aware that there is difference between a certificate and a masters degree in nursing informatics. Certification programs are shorter and are designed for professionals who want to increase their knowledge of healthcare informatics, but may not necessarily be planning to make informatics the main focus of their career. A masters in nursing informatics can allow you to take your career in a whole new direction without leaving nursing entirely behind. The degree can help put you in a position where you can continue to interact with colleagues make a difference in patients’ lives, but earn more money and leave nursing shiftwork behind.