E-News Exclusive

Informatics as a Career Option for Nurses

By Ramona Yehle, PhD, MS, RN

Nurses strive to deliver high-quality and safe patient care. In light of the technology boom, they are increasingly using IT to enhance patient care delivery. Consequently, nursing informatics is a viable option for nurses who understand the importance of technology and have an interest in integrating informatics into a nursing career.

Health informatics in general is commonly understood as the use of computers in the sharing of health care information that is frequently represented as text and data format. Moreover, nursing informatics is defined as the “practice of using nursing science and technology to enhance the pathway that data take to become knowledge to improve patient care.”1

Due to the passage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, informatics is considered to be a driving force behind the changing health care environment. This law contains requirements set forth by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), most notably those pertaining to meaningful use. As a result, electronic health technology is being utilized to improve patient prevention measures, information delivery, and clinical outcomes.

According to CMS, three stages are involved in the implementation of meaningful use. Stage 1 involves data capture and sharing, while Stage 2 is concerned with the continuous quality improvement at the point of care and the exchange of health information in a structured format between and among health care agencies. (Numerous health care facilities are currently completing stage 2.) Stage 3 adds to the process of improving patient safety so positive patient care outcomes will increase while health care costs are maintained and regulated.

Hospitals and health care agencies are required to meet certain meaningful use deadlines established in 2011. Nurses, by collecting pertinent patient health care data, are in an excellent position to help these deadlines be met. In this light, it is increasingly desirable to obtain nursing informatics certification or a graduate degree in nursing informatics.

Technology changes are increasing the demand for registered nurses with an informatics specialization; this has made for a popular career path. According to indeed.com, as of this writing, there are more than 1,600 positions open nationwide for nurse informaticists. The positions advertised include the following: nurse informatics, informatics nurse specialist, clinical informaticist, nurse analyst, clinical informatics analyst, clinical documentation specialist, senior clinical informatics manager, and nurse informatician IT.

Computer programs and computer systems in health care facilities are frequently designed by technicians who are not completely familiar with health care delivery and terminology. Thus, adverse comments about IT have been reported among bedside nurses, including “lack of training, resistance from nurses, and the perception that the time spent recording data does not decrease.”2 Furthermore, nurses are often concerned that an exorbitant amount of time is spent checking boxes on the computer screen instead of caring for the patient.

However, as more nurses become involved with technology, it is possible that the EHR can be “structured from a basic data summary in order to create systems that are based on the best evidence and that support clinical decision[s],” thus becoming compatible with streamlined workflows.2

Clearly, opportunities abound nationally and worldwide for those registered nurses with a nursing informatics degree and certification. According to Nurse Journal, the average salary ranges from $49,000 to $87,000; informatics experience, certification, and an informatics degree are the main variables. A graduate degree in informatics and/or experience with informatics, such as EHR programs and data analysis, commands higher salaries. A nurse with an advanced degree in informatics and experience can expect a salary around $100,000, according to the HIMSS 2014 Nursing Informatics Workforce Survey.

Computers are increasingly a critical component of health care delivery. As a result, nurses can anticipate growing support for nursing care delivery and additional demand for professionals with nursing informatics degrees.

— Ramona Yehle, PhD, MS, RN, is an associate professor in nursing at American Sentinel University.

References
1. McGonigle D, Hunter K, Sipes C, Hebda T. Why nurses need to understand nursing informatics. AORN J. 2014;100(3):324-327.

2. Matsuda LM, Évora YDM, Higarashi IH, Gabriel CS, Inoue KC. Nursing informatics: unveiling the computer use by nurses. Text Context Nursing. 2015;24(1):178-186.