Informatics Nursing Job Description
Informatics Nurses assists in the design, development, and modification of computerized health care systems. The profession involves improving information management and communications in the Nursing field in order to maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and further enhance the quality of care for the patients.
Informatics Nursing is a growing field, since it is now a federal mandate that all healthcare facilities begin using electronic healthcare records by 2014. Due to the newness of the field, it is still constantly growing. Each Informatics Nurse may be asked to do something different, which adds to the complexity and excitement of being an Informatics Nurse. The field is less hands-on in terms of directly helping and assisting the patients, and is more focused on creating the proper methods used to help patients.
Many of an Informatics Nurses typical duties include the following:
- Develop and evaluate health information technologies
- Resolve clinical or health care administrative problems
- Collect, record, and analyze information that is relevant to the care of patients
- Design new informatics solutions
- Analyze information technologies and apply them to Nursing practice
- Apply knowledge and research of computer or information science to Nursing practice
- Develop training programs
- Provide consultation to other Nurses concerning software or hardware information
- Repair or troubleshoot all technology applications when needed
Prospective Nurses who happen to be more interested in computer science should consider a career in Informatics Nursing. Nurses typically acquire a degree in Nursing, followed by experience working with electronic healthcare records. Many employers prefer that Nurses obtain a Masters degree in health Informatics, quality management, or healthcare management.
