How To Become Informatics Nurse

To become an informatics nurse, you will need to first earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing from an accredited college or university. After that, you can apply to an informatics program at a hospital or other organization that offers it.

What Is Informatics?

Informatics is the study of data management and analysis in healthcare. It combines the skills of a computer scientist with those of a medical professional, so you can use both your knowledge of computers and your understanding of medicine to help improve patient care.

How Does Informatics Differ From Other Nursing Careers?

Informatics nurses are often referred to as “nurses who code,” because they often work with computer programs and algorithms to gather information about patients. This type of nursing requires an advanced knowledge of technology, but it also makes you more qualified for jobs in other fields like data analytics.

How To Become Informatics Nurse

Technology has impacted health care in the form of digital records, data management and data analysis for care. The charts that hung on patients’ beds for decades now live in computers. Vital signs, medicines administered, and updates on a patient’s condition can all be entered into a hospital’s computer. And at an administration level, technology streamlines such things as analyzing staffing needs or gathering a patient’s insurance information.

Steps to Become an Informatics Nurse

If you’re interested in a career where nursing and technology intersect, becoming an informatics nurse may be right for you. Below are some common steps to consider:

1. Earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing from a nationally accredited program. 

Earning your Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is likely the minimum required to pursue a career in nursing informatics. Clinicals are part of your nursing instruction, where student nurses are supervised in rotating settings at a hospital as part of their education. If you’re studying online, most universities are set up to help you coordinate your clinicals locally.

2. Take your licensing exam. 

To practice as a licensed registered nurse, you will be required to take and pass the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX-RN) to pursue licensure by your state.

3. Consider pursuing a master’s degree in health informatics. 

While some entry-level positions don’t require a master’s degree, the specialization and expertise you learn in a master’s in health informatics program may expand your skills and knowledge in the field. Coursework may include health information systems, data management, health law and ethics (such as privacy laws), and more.

4. Pass the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) certification exam. 

This gives you the RN-BC Informatics Nurse Certification that may be required in some positions.  Requirements for this certification include 1,000-2,000 hours of informatics nursing experience, 30 hours of continued education in informatics within the last three years, two years of full-time RN experience, and a bachelor’s degree.

5. Keep up with your continuing education. 

All nurses complete a certain number of hours of continuing professional education to keep their licenses current. Each state will have different requirements for RN licensure. Check with your state board of nursing.

Pathways to Become an Informatics Nurse

There are different pathways to become an informatics nurse, depending on what level of education you’ve completed:

  • Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing (BSN): A BSN is required for certification by the ANCC. BSN programs help prepare you to earn RN licensure, which may be required to practice in your state.
  • RN to BSN:  If you are an RN now and want to earn your BSN, there are RN-to-BSN bridge programs offered by universities for practicing nurses that may take less time than traditional programs.
  • Master’s Degree in Nursing (MSN): With a master’s degree in nursing, you may apply to take the ANCC informatics certification exam as long as you have 200 hours of faculty-supervised practicum work. An MSN degree may also prepare you to become an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) in your state.
  • RN to MSN:  If you’re an RN who wants to pursue a master’s degree, you can earn your MSN through an RN-to-MSN bridge program in two to three years; clinical hours may add to that total. 
  • Post-Master’s Certificate:  If you already have a master’s degree in nursing but want to become more advanced in informatics, consider a nursing informatics certificate. 
  • Online Nursing DegreesMany of these pathways can be completed online through reputable nursing schools. Online learning programs, such as an online MSN program, may be preferred for those who want to work while they study or who prefer a more self-paced program.

Should I Become an Informatics Nurse?

It’s an important question, and it’s all about you. If you’re already a nurse or you’ve decided to become one, you’ve made the decision that you want to help people during some of the most important times of their lives. If you are also a person who appreciates technology and its contributions to society, if you understand how data-driven analysis and decision-making work, and if you are a patient, results-oriented person, being an informatics nurse might suit you.

With jobs for registered nurses projected to increase 7% from 2019-2029, roles for informatics nurses and other RN positions are expected to grow. Median pay for registered nurses was $73,330 per year in 2020. 

In the 2020 Nursing Informatics Workforce Survey, administered by HIMSS every three years:

  • 63% of the 1,359 respondents said they earned a base annual salary of $61,000 to $115,000
  • 49% said they earned more than $100,000
  • More than 80% said they were highly satisfied with their career choice
  • 10% said they were not satisfied with their position
  • Less than 5% said they were not satisfied with informatics as a career choice

Salary is also where the higher levels of education benefit an informatics nurse. In the $61,000-$85,000 range, more nurses had ADN/LPN or BSN degrees, but at every level higher than that, the majority had a master’s degree or higher. And 56% of nurses with certification in informatics earned more than $100,000, compared with 39% who were pursuing certification and 40% who were not pursuing certification.

Roles and Responsibilities 

The overarching responsibility for an informatics nurse is to improve the quality of patient care through technology by managing and analyzing data. Informatics nurses duties include:

  • Assessing, planning, implementing, evaluating, and optimizing nursing informatics in the facility
  • Communicating and collaborating with other team members
  • Helping design and implement data-driven quality-improvement practices for patient care
  • Helping assess information and technology needs
  • Coordinating orientation and training when new programs are implemented
  • Helping patient-care managers interpret data to use in patient care
  • Writing policies on when and how to use new technology

Skills

Nurses have an inherent set of skills: patience, detail-orientation, interpersonal communication, leadership, and the ability to learn and retain large amounts of clinical information. All those skills can apply to informatics nurses as well, but they may also have detailed knowledge of technology and excel at  problem-solving, management, communication, teaching, leadership, and analytical and innovative thinking. Many of these skills may also benefit informatics nurses elsewhere in their careers through networking, mentoring and training.

Informatics Nurse Certifications

The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) administers many nursing certification exams, including the Informatics Nursing Certification (RN-BC) exams.

Informatics Nursing Certification (RN-BC)

Eligibility requirements

  • Active nursing license at an RN level at minimum
  • Bachelor’s degree or higher in nursing or a related field
  • Minimum of two years’ full-time practice as a registered nurse
  • Completion of 30 hours of informatics nursing continuing education in the past three years
  • 2,000 hours of informatics nursing practice in the last three years, or 1,000 hours of informatics nursing practice in the last three years and completion of at least 12 semester credit hours in a graduate informatics nursing program, or completion of a graduate program in informatics nursing with at least 200 faculty-supervised hours in informatics nursing

Fees:

  • American Nurses Association members: $295
  • American Nursing Informatics Association members: $340 
  • Non-members: $395
  • Renewal: Certifications are renewed every five years.

Renewal Fees:

  • American Nurses Association members: $250
  • American Nursing Informatics Association members: $295
  • Non-members: $350

Leave a Reply