I recently came across a post in the nursing informatics section of the nursing forum allnurses.com where a nurse made this comment –
“I really think this is a great field RIGHT NoW. My fear is what will happen to the informatic nurse once the big transition to EHR occur and everyone is trained. Of course there will still be a demand for them, but it will not be nearly as big. I am currently in school for informatics and graduate in 2014 but I am starting to get nervous…..
All I could think was, is she really seriously thinking that way?
Do people think that once everyone is up and running on EHR that there is nothing else to do, that technology won’t continue to grow or change or won’t need to be upgraded or tweaked or we won’t come out with new software?
And what about the baby boom generation that is now reaching retirement age? This generation will be living longer and are smarter, will we not need to create innovative ways to care for them without the use of technology and nurses who know how to use this new technology?
I find it hard to believe that nursing informatics will die out and be gone in 10 years from now. If anything, nurses will be leading the way, developing the tools needed to care and keep our patients safe with the use of technology.
So what do you think the health IT and Informatics people are saying about this?
There not saying much because they’re busy educating nurses on this explosive nursing specialty.
Over at the nursing informatics online forum they’re busy compiling a list of 100 + nurse informatics jobs descriptions for their most asked question “What kind of job can I get in nursing informatics?”
Everything from Applications Analyst to Project Manager to Systems Director of Nursing Informatics to Clinical Informatics Specialist, they are all listed here.
I even saw a job description for a Clinical Informatics Coach. Hmmm….this could be a great nurse entrepreneur idea. If there are any Clinical Informatics Coaches out there, get in touch with me, would love to interview you.
Look through the list and use the job titles to search online for a Informatics nursing jobs because you won’t find them listed only as nursing informatics, they go by many titles (100 +)
You could also read the job descriptions and pick out what you have experience doing or what will you need to get experience in. I’m finding it to be a great resource.
In closing let me refer you to my favorite informatics nurse, Brittney Wilson. She just released a new book “The Nerdy Nurses Guide to Technology” (click the picture) She’ll educate you on the new norm, and how to use technology in today healthcare. It makes a great gift for the technology nurse in your life.
So what’s you’re opinion on this topic, do you think nurse informatics jobs will go away in 5 or 10 years from now? Leave a comment below or share with your friends, would love to hear your thoughts…..
Tina 🙂