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It would definitely be difficult to find a job that requires a BSN/MSN, but your experience is valuable and there are health informatics jobs out there that do not require those degrees. Earning potential would be a little less and it could be harder to find.

Yes, nurses with bedside experience are super valuable as informaticists. I will say, from my experience on both sides - bedside and IT, it’s actually really difficult to optimize an EMR. It’s not always that the people designing it are clueless, but sometimes it’s politics, technological, and/or financial limitations.

Exactly! You can speak from experience and feel the clinicians’ pain.

Yeah that would be a lot. You could always contribute to informatics at your organization as a consultant on the provider side. Would be a nice side gig.

Thank you for watching!

They have similarities and differences. Check out my part 2 video - I go into more detail about it there. :)

I am planning to make an update video soon! I did not use an online college, I used one in my area. But the program was fully online. It was through Jacksonville University.

Thank you for watching!

I went to a local private college in my state. There are lots of options out there. I recommend reading reviews and asking about employment rate post-program.

Yes, I sit almost all day. But since I have a “normal” schedule now I can exercise before or after work, walk on my lunch break, and spend more time on my hobbies. Very different than bedside, but 100x better for me personally.

Sorry for a late response. I think it’s highly variable. Most informatics jobs are salaried so you won’t get shift diff/overtime. However, a lot of healthcare IT jobs pay very well. I personally make more than at the bedside now, but I do have my masters.

You can definitely get into an informatics role with an ADN or other types of healthcare degrees. However, some job opportunities may be restricted without a BSN. If you get a job with a larger hospital system, they may have tuition reimbursement programs available.

@@carolinec826 Thank you!

Hi! I think you could be successful in this field even if you haven’t been in clinical practice for a while. You mainly need to be able to ask the right questions of clinicians and learn how they work. Having clinical knowledge and experience will help you, even if you haven’t been practicing lately.

No I didn’t. I got the job first.

@@carolinec826Hi do you have a nursing informatics degree now?

@@pretty_wingz I got my masters in health informatics (so no, not a nursing degree). My part 2 video goes into this in more detail. :)

How has it been? I'm in lab work and contemplating web design/development or medical technologist.

Me too oh my gosh I'm glad I'm not alone

Hi Tala, that would depend if you want to be a nurse or not. If you don’t want to be a nurse, but you want to work in informatics, there’s no need for a nursing degree. You can work in health informatics with other backgrounds (healthcare or otherwise) or no background at all. Keep in mind that your earning potential might be higher if you are a nurse who then becomes a nurse informaticist versus someone with no healthcare license who goes into informatics (not always true - some healthcare IT jobs pay well regardless of license). I definitely would not recommend going to nursing school solely for the sake of getting into informatics.

@@carolinec826 that’s what I was thinking to, why go into nursing if the goal is informatics. I’m an undergrad student now majoring in health science but was either considering switching to nursing or health informatics. Do you think the pay would be good if I got a health informatics degree or would the pay be higher for nurse informatics?

I don’t think I can say, because I don’t want to give you an incorrect answer. I don’t know all of the jobs out there or how much they pay. I will say that in my opinion you should not put time, money, and effort into nursing school if you are not passionate about being a nurse. And I recommend to anyone considering nursing that they become a nursing assistant or tech first.

@@carolinec826 thank you! Sorry I keep asking many questions but do you possibly think if I were a nursing assitant I could get into nursing informatics (with technology experience) since I would probably know how some systems work or do you need to be a nurse first? I’m in between 2 choices lol I’m most likely gonna do prereqs for both fields and see what happens. And what did you mean by tech? Like a sonographer ?

@@tala8482 to be a nurse informaticist you’d have to have to be an RN in most cases (as far as I know). You can work in health informatics without having a nursing license but you wouldn’t be in nursing informatics technically. By tech I just mean like a patient care tech.

Yes, if you want it to be. I think it exposes you to the corporate world and the IT world, which makes transitioning to a different career a little easier.

Correct, my masters degree is not a nursing degree. It’s a Masters in Health Informatics. So I am a bachelors-prepared registered nurse with a MSHI. Those nurses with a Master of Science in Nursing with a focus on Informatics (MSN-I) have a graduate degree in nursing but the focus is different from the clinical masters/doctorates you mention. The MSN-I is still more clinical/nursing-focused than my MSHI degree.

I see what you’re saying, I used the wrong words. Thanks for pointing that out!

Good luck with making the switch! I personally don’t think the name or price of school matters as much as the quality of the education. If you can communicate what you’ve learned and show your skills in a job interview, I believe that will take you much further than a big school name.

@@carolinec826 Hi Caroline, Thank you for your time for replying my questions that really helped me understand better. After doing some research, I also decided to go for MS in Health Informatics instead of MS in Nursing Informatics. Healthcare Informatics seemed to cover broader areas as opposed to just being focused on nursing side. Since I already have clinical nursing experience and BSN degree, I thought I could still use my background/experience in Nursing side and apply that knowledge with my Health Informatics as needed. I went through the course curriculum for Health Informatics and also had a meeting with an advisor. From my perspective, I found those courses to be more on technical side (nothing about clinical), which I kind of liked it. My hubby is in IT field and he told me that those courses looked really interesting and lot of those courses are similar to the ones for Computer Information System degree's. Based on his feedback, it sounds like the skills/knowledge obtained from these Healthcare Informatics degree could also be applied in other areas in future such as Business Analyst kind of function. Any thoughts on this? Thanks again!

@@mayabk5287 those were exactly my thoughts when choosing MSHI! I think the program has helped me prepare to potentially transition to a more technical/data-focused role. I think it’s the right move if you are not really set on continuing along a nursing career pathway.

@@carolinec826 Yeah I agree with that too. Also, what was your experience like when taking those technical courses like database concepts , systems analysis & design etc. Did you find it difficult ? especially when coming from a nursing background? just wanted to know your personal experience. Thanks again.

@@mayabk5287 for me some of the classes were totally new concepts, but I made it fine. If you can do nursing school, you can do MSHI. It just takes practice and studying. I did have a bit of an advantage on things like the SDLC because I worked in informatics before doing my MSHI, but I had never done anything with databases before. You can do it! :)

Hi! Yes, it is. Some informatics jobs include rounding in the hospital, which would put you on your feet more.. but for the most part it is a “desk job.” I definitely go to the gym more than I did as a bedside nurse. :)

@@carolinec826 thanks. Do you know if there are jobs for informatics nurses in public health settings?

@@jamie5mauser I don’t know specifics but yes those exist for sure.

Agreeeeed!!! So much BS to put up with at the bedside. I think eventually the hospitals will increase nursing pay. They have to. I think Baby boomers make up a chunk of the nursing workforce and since they’re retiring… who’s going to replace them?

Hi! I have a part 2 video on my channel that explains the process I went through and gives some advice about actually making the change. Hope that helps!

This is so great thanks and if you have more info about if you’re able to work from home or not? And how the salary is -is it unionized? Would you ever go into tech or It

@@user-ym7xz9mx9s These are great questions! I plan to make a new video in the next few weeks when I have time, so I will include these in it! Thanks for watching :)

Hi! I’m sorry for the late reply. I personally think your clinical experience as a CNA and then your nursing degree provides you with enough background to work in informatics. However, some employers may feel differently. You’d have to apply to some jobs to find out, but I think you could emphasize in an interview all the ways that working as a CNA has taught you about using technology in healthcare.

Hi! Sorry for the late response. I think your current education would be a great background for informatics. That degree sounds transferable to an informatics job to me, and cybersecurity is so important in healthcare. You can definitely use that to your advantage when applying. Good luck!

Hi! Sorry for the late response. That is super frustrating. My best advice is to try to transfer within the organization where you currently work (if it’s a hospital or health system), ask your classmates from grad school how they got a job, ask a professor you liked from grad school for help, or just keep on applying online. You might have to take a lower paying job at first to get that experience, which I know isn’t an option for everyone. I hope you have found or find something very soon!

@@carolinec826 Thank you for responding

@@stratfothave you found a job?

Hi Heather! Thanks for watching. It’s definitely uncomfortable at first when you switch into a new field. You have to learn so much. I hope you’re enjoying it and feeling more confident as time goes on. I agree about the work-life balance!

Hi Ken, so sorry for the late response. Yes I did and that was hard for me! My organization used an entirely different EMR for outpatient and I felt super overwhelmed at first. Others who use the same platform across inpatient and outpatient would likely have less of a learning curve. Either way, it can be done! :)

Hi there! Sorry for replying so late. That’s so awesome that you took initiative and taught yourself. I was required to return to bedside briefly during one of our surges. It was challenging for me, but in a way I appreciated the opportunity to use my skills during the pandemic (I was feeling a bit guilty about “not helping”). Luckily I’m back in informatics now full time. Hope you’re doing well!

Hi Kimberly thanks for watching. I have a Part 2 of this video that explains further. I am currently getting my masters but did not have it when I started in informatics. I think it’s good to have but not always required to get into the field.

Yes and no. You could get a job in informatics without working as a nurse, but it likely would not be a nursing informatics specialist position. Those typically require some bedside experience. There are lots of health informatics jobs that don’t require an RN license. I would recommend getting some experience as a nurse first and using your nursing degree before moving into informatics. That would set you up for nursing informatics positions that utilize your clinical knowledge and roles with higher pay. There might be other jobs out there that I don’t know about, but from what I’ve seen the nursing informatics specialist jobs like you to have some patient care experience.

@@carolinec826 Hi Would 1 year of med-surg experience be enough to work remotely in nurse informatics?

@@blaq2handle It would be a case-by-case basis depending on the job requirements. To be realistic, I think it would be difficult to find a remote informatics job that would hire you with no informatics experience and 1 year of bedside. I recommend looking internally in your hospital to try to get informatics experience. (See my part 2 video for more info on that.) However, it never hurts to apply!

Hi Breya, thanks for watching! You could do PRN or Per Diem at a facility to continue bedside nursing. However, it would have to be on weekends. My informatics job (and I think most other people’s) is a normal 9-5 40-hour workweek. I personally don’t want to work additional shifts, but I know someone who does pick up shifts in the ED on Saturdays.

@@carolinec826Do you have to work 5 days a week, and do you have to work in person? What about working remotely and less hours?

There are many health informatics jobs that do not require you to be a nurse, so yes you can do it without bedside experience. Examples would be EMR analyst or educator, EMR support specialist, data analytics for a hospital etc. So you can go into the field without bedside experience, but bedside (or any healthcare) experience is really valuable in informatics since you need to communicate with clinicians and understand content. Hope this helps!

​@@carolinec826

Good luck! Thanks for watching!!

Hi thanks for watching! There are opportunities for informatics work that is both in person and remote. Even more so now, with Covid, jobs are allowing remote work (or a hybrid) - but there were remote informatics jobs before Covid.

Nope! If you have worked as a bedside nurse, you have interacted with technology in healthcare. You’ve likely used an EMR, POCT glucose machines, vitals monitors, and IV pumps (plus more). Sometimes being an EMR super user or educator can help you get your foot in the door because it’s hard to get that first job in informatics sometimes. But as long as you are technologically inclined and willing to learn, you’re qualified.

Hi Jessica! Thanks for watching. My masters program accepted several of my BSN credits, so I was able to skip a few classes (like medical terminology and statistics). I think this would depend on your BSN content and the school you are going to for your masters. It’s definitely a growing field and I recommend it! Good luck to you

Sorry for the late reply. You can transition to healthcare informatics! There will be a learning curve, but you can do it. Your IT skills are valuable and you can learn the healthcare part of things as you go. I would recommend looking for a job with a large hospital system. It might be easiest to work for the IT department at first to learn how healthcare organizations function, and then transition into informatics. Good luck!

Thanks for watching!