NurseWeek: TechStat: So you want to be a know-it-all nurse? TECHSTAT

So you want to be a know-it-all nurse?

By Curtis Pond
October 16, 2000


	You've read the article. Now tell us what you think. Related Sites NYU Nursing Informatics Regents College Nursing Informatics St. Louis University Nursing Informatics University of Arizona Nursing Informatics University of Iowa Nursing Informatics University of Maryland Nursing Informatics Previous TechStat columns What's new in nursing technologies? What are the best ways to implement new technologies in the workplace? Privacy is King Online classes are interactive, but can leave you feeling unplugged

In the early years of informatics, many nurses fell into the field as they created or accepted projects that synthesized huge amounts of health care data.

Since then, nursing informatics has become a fine-tuned specialty.

One of the hottest areas right now in nursing informatics is integration.

"Integrators are a big role of informatics. They are responsible for updating old systems with new applications and making them work together," says Jim Lassier, RN, a graduate of the University of Utah's nursing informatics program. "Integration will continue. We [hospitals] are still a few years away from having the latest technology. Technology is fast, but hospitals are not fast."

Other types of nursing informatics positions include: clinical information systems coordinator, clinical information systems associate, information systems clinical project leader, clinical informatics analyst and clinical informatics manager. (Click here for a description of these and other informatics positions) Salaries vary depending on level of experience and expertise (Click here to read the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society 1999/2000 Compensation Survey), but the qualifications to specialize in nursing informatics are the same across the board.

"The biggest thing to remember is to make sure you have a clinical background. Don't go straight from an RN into an informatics degree program. It's very important to understand what happens in a hospital," Lassier says.

Kathleen Williams, MSN, RN, who has been involved in nursing informatics for more than 20 years, agrees. "You need to have a firm five-year clinical background in any area. It doesn't matter what specialty, as long as you are
comfortable in nursing, which is a foundation for informatics," she says.

According to the American Nurses Association, "in order to be eligible to take the nursing informatics certification examination, applicants are required to have a baccalaureate or higher degree in nursing, maintain licensure, and have two years of active experience as a registered nurse. In addition, each candidate must have a minimum of 2,000 hours of experience in the field of nursing informatics in the five years prior to taking the examination."

Joanne Harper-Tam, RN, who began her informatics career as a "Web nurse" after she helped begin an intranet for Kaiser Permanente, advises nurses who want to pursue a career in nursing informatics to learn and experiment.

"Click that computer keyboard and push the envelope. As the saying goes, 'Have no fear.' Computers are a great tool, but they are only a tool. It's the people that make things happen," she says.

"My recommendation to people getting into the field is to feel comfortable with the system you are working on. Know your application inside and out," Williams says.

"Read up about it," says Diane Skiba, Ph.D., interim associate dean for informatics at the University of Colorado. "They should immerse themselves in the area they are interested in because it broadens what they can do. Take courses. There are continuing education courses being offered for informatics."

More nurses are being forced to "do" technology and learn the systems that drive the health care environment, says Angelique Weathersby, MBA, RN, president of the American Nursing Informatics Association.

"Find out who does what and how it works," she says. "Start out reading and searching the Web. Take someone [who is in informatics] out to lunch and pick their brain. A good meeting is needed to get the essentials."

During those meetings, ask about the future of nursing informatics. What is here today will be stuffed into a database tomorrow, so it's good to know what information trends to follow.

Three things, Weathersby says, are shaping the future of nursing informatics: the use of application service providers (the hospital's relationship with software vendors), data mining and storage (how to store and retrieve valuable data), and the digital divide (who has access to technology and the education needed to understand it).