Nursing Informatics | An Inside Look

Brian K Fung
27 Oct 201821:26

Summary

TLDRIn this enlightening video, Lex Wilkinson, an informatics nurse specialist, shares insights into her unique role, which blends nursing with technology to improve patient care. Wilkinson discusses her educational journey, the dynamic nature of her job, and the skills required for success in the field. She also offers advice for aspiring informatics nurses and touches on the career's potential for growth and impact, providing a valuable perspective for those considering this innovative nursing specialty.

Takeaways

  • πŸ˜€ Lex Wilkinson is an informatics nurse specialist with a doctorate of Nursing Practice degree.
  • πŸŽ“ Lex initially worked as a floor nurse before pursuing a graduate degree in nursing informatics.
  • πŸ₯ Lex's informatics career began during grad school, allowing her to apply academic learnings to her job and vice versa.
  • πŸ’‘ Lex was introduced to nursing informatics by a clinical professor who thought it would be a good fit for her.
  • 🌟 Informatics nurses can impact patient care on a larger scale compared to direct patient care roles.
  • πŸ“ˆ Lex enjoys problem-solving in informatics, which involves untangling complex healthcare processes.
  • πŸ“§ The informatics nurse role involves a variety of tasks including meetings, emails, and data analysis.
  • 🚧 Currently, Lex is involved in the implementation of a new electronic health record, which is a temporary but significant part of her job.
  • πŸ’Ό A typical career path to nursing informatics often starts with practical nursing experience followed by further education.
  • πŸ’Ό Lex recommends at least two years of nursing practice before pursuing informatics to gain a solid understanding of the field.
  • πŸ“ˆ Informatics nurses can expect a wide salary range based on experience and education, with potential to reach over $100,000 annually for specialists.

Q & A

  • What is Lex Wilkinson's profession and educational background?

    -Lex Wilkinson is an informatics nurse specialist with a doctorate of Nursing Practice degree. She obtained her undergraduate degree at Brigham Young University and then worked as a floor nurse on a neurosurgery unit before pursuing her graduate degree in nursing informatics.

  • How did Lex Wilkinson become interested in nursing informatics?

    -Lex's interest in nursing informatics was sparked by a clinical professor during her undergraduate studies. She further explored the field through a class presentation and an interview with the nursing informatics manager at her workplace, which led her to pursue a graduate degree in the field.

  • What is the impact of being an informatics nurse according to Lex Wilkinson?

    -As an informatics nurse, Lex Wilkinson believes that instead of helping a few patients each shift, she can impact every patient in the hospital by improving nursing workflows and hospital operations, thus contributing to better healthcare on a larger scale.

  • What does a typical day for Lex Wilkinson involve?

    -A typical day for Lex Wilkinson can vary widely depending on the project she is working on. It may include meetings, answering emails, looking at spreadsheets, and providing support during system implementations. Currently, she is involved in the implementation of a new electronic health record, which involves command center support and issue resolution.

  • What are the most and least enjoyable aspects of Lex's job?

    -The most enjoyable aspect for Lex is solving complex healthcare problems and improving workflows, while the least enjoyable is dealing with technical or governance roadblocks that prevent her from achieving the desired outcomes.

  • What is the typical career pathway into nursing informatics according to Lex Wilkinson?

    -A typical pathway into nursing informatics often involves starting as a nurse, gaining clinical experience, and then pursuing further education in nursing informatics. Lex recommends at least two years of nursing practice before returning to school for informatics.

  • What skills are important for someone in nursing informatics?

    -Skills important for nursing informatics include a strong foundation in nursing, proficiency with data analysis tools like Excel, and good communication skills for creating presentations and facilitating meetings. Lex also emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and the ability to analyze and improve workflows.

  • Are there any certifications recommended for nursing informatics?

    -The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) offers a board certification for informatics nurses, and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) offers a Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems (CPHIMS) certification.

  • What is the salary range for an informatics nurse specialist?

    -The salary for an informatics nurse specialist can vary widely depending on factors like education level, years of experience, and location. It can range from $80,000 to over $130,000 per year, with higher positions like Chief Nursing Information Officer (CNIO) potentially earning more.

  • What advice does Lex Wilkinson have for those interested in nursing informatics?

    -Lex advises having a mindset of analyzing how well things are working and how they can be improved. She emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and the ability to view problems from both detailed and broad perspectives as key skills for success in informatics.

Outlines

00:00

πŸŽ“ Introduction to Lex Wilkinson: An Informatics Nurse Specialist

The video introduces Lex Wilkinson, an informatics nurse specialist, who shares her educational background and journey into the field of nursing informatics. Lex obtained her undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and worked as a floor nurse on a neurosurgery unit. She then pursued a doctorate of Nursing Practice degree with a focus on informatics. Lex discusses her experience working in informatics while still in school, which allowed her to apply her learnings directly to her job, enhancing her understanding and performance in both academia and her professional role.

05:00

πŸ’‘ Discovering Nursing Informatics: A Serendipitous Encounter

Lex recounts how she was introduced to nursing informatics during her clinical rounds in school. A professor suggested she explore the field, which led her to present on the topic for a class assignment. This introduction sparked her interest, and after interviewing with a nursing informatics manager, she was inspired by the broader impact she could have on patient care and hospital operations. Lex emphasizes the appeal of moving from caring for a few patients to potentially improving care for an entire hospital through informatics.

10:01

πŸ“… The Varied and Engaging Life of an Informatics Nurse

Lex describes the dynamic nature of her work as an informatics nurse, highlighting the lack of a 'typical day.' Her responsibilities include attending meetings, answering emails, and examining spreadsheets, but the context and purpose of these tasks can vary widely. Currently involved in implementing a new electronic health record, Lex is part of a command center providing support and troubleshooting. However, she notes that this is a temporary phase, and her role often involves understanding workflows and integrating technical solutions to streamline processes and meet documentation requirements.

15:04

πŸš€ Embracing Challenges and Overcoming Obstacles in Informatics

Lex shares what she enjoys most about her role: tackling problems and challenges by dissecting them to understand how all the pieces fit together. She likens healthcare to a complex ball of yarn that needs to be untangled to find the best solutions. Conversely, she discusses the least enjoyable aspect of her job, which is dealing with technical or governance roadblocks that prevent progress, even when the solution seems clear. Lex emphasizes the importance of navigating such challenges to ensure improvements in healthcare delivery.

20:05

πŸ›€οΈ Pathways to Nursing Informatics: Education and Experience

Discussing the pathways to a career in nursing informatics, Lex explains that there is no single route, as the field is relatively new. She suggests that individuals interested in informatics should first graduate as nurses and gain practical experience, ideally for at least two to five years, to develop a comprehensive understanding of healthcare workflows. Lex also mentions various educational options, including traditional, online, and hybrid programs, as well as the possibility of obtaining a certificate in informatics for those with an advanced degree.

πŸ› οΈ Skills and Certifications for Nursing Informatics

Lex identifies essential skills for nursing informatics, such as proficiency in Excel for data analysis, and competency in word processing and presentation software for effective communication. She notes that programming skills can be beneficial but are not a requirement. Lex also touches on certifications, mentioning the ANCC board certification and the CPHIMS certification from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), as valuable credentials in the field.

πŸ’Ό Career Prospects and Salaries in Nursing Informatics

Lex provides insights into the salary expectations for those in nursing informatics, noting that it varies based on education level and experience. Entry-level positions may offer salaries comparable to staff nurses, with benefits. As experience and advanced degrees are obtained, salaries can range from eighty to one hundred and thirty thousand dollars per year. She also mentions higher-end positions such as Chief Nursing Information Officer (CNIO) and opportunities in industry or as consultants, which can command even higher salaries.

πŸ’Ž Final Thoughts: Critical Thinking as the Key to Success in Informatics

In conclusion, Lex imparts valuable advice for those considering a career in informatics: cultivate a mindset of critical analysis and constant evaluation. She emphasizes the importance of understanding how interventions work and creating metrics to measure their effectiveness. Lex suggests that this analytical approach, along with the ability to see problems from both a detailed and broad perspective, is what makes a good informatics professional, regardless of the specific field within healthcare.

Mindmap

Keywords

πŸ’‘Informatics Nurse

An informatics nurse is a healthcare professional who specializes in the intersection of nursing and information technology. They use their knowledge of patient care and healthcare systems to improve the way health information is managed and used. In the video, Lex Wilkinson identifies as an informatics nurse specialist, highlighting the role's importance in enhancing patient care through technology.

πŸ’‘Doctorate of Nursing Practice

The Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) is the highest level of academic degree in nursing. It prepares nurses for leadership roles and the application of evidence-based practice. Lex mentions obtaining her DNP, which signifies her advanced education and specialization in nursing informatics.

πŸ’‘Nursing Informatics

Nursing informatics is a specialty that integrates nursing science with information technology to manage and communicate healthcare information. It is central to the video's theme, as Lex discusses her career in nursing informatics and its impact on improving healthcare delivery.

πŸ’‘Electronic Health Record (EHR)

An electronic health record is a digital version of a patient's paper chart. It contains all of the important information about a patient's medical history, diagnoses, medications, treatments, and more. In the script, Lex talks about her involvement in the implementation of a new EHR system, emphasizing the role of informatics in healthcare technology.

πŸ’‘Clinical Decision Support

Clinical decision support refers to the use of information technology to enhance clinical decision-making by healthcare providers. Lex mentions working with clinical decision support, indicating her role in facilitating better health outcomes through informed decision-making.

πŸ’‘Project Management

Project management is the process of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals. Lex discusses her involvement in project management, particularly in the context of implementing new healthcare technologies.

πŸ’‘Healthcare Technology

Healthcare technology encompasses the use of technology to improve patient care, streamline processes, and enhance health outcomes. The video's theme revolves around the application of healthcare technology in nursing informatics, as Lex shares her experiences in this field.

πŸ’‘Nursing Process

The nursing process is a systematic method of providing nursing care that includes assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Lex relates the nursing process to informatics, showing how foundational nursing principles apply to her work.

πŸ’‘System Development Lifecycle

The system development lifecycle (SDLC) is a process used by developers to plan, create, test, and deploy an information system. Lex uses the SDLC as an analogy to describe the structured approach in informatics to solving healthcare challenges.

πŸ’‘Certifications

Certifications in the context of the video refer to professional credentials that validate an individual's skills and knowledge in a specific area. Lex discusses certifications such as the ANCC board certification and CPHIMS, which are relevant for informatics nurses.

πŸ’‘Salary Range

The salary range refers to the possible earnings for a professional in a specific field. Lex provides insights into the salary expectations for informatics nurses, which can vary based on education, experience, and the job market.

Highlights

Introduction of Lex Wilkinson, an informatics nurse specialist with a doctorate in Nursing Practice.

Wilkinson's educational background includes an undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and a doctorate in Nursing Practice from Minnesota.

Wilkinson's initial work experience as a floor nurse on a neurosurgery unit for two and a half years before pursuing a graduate degree.

The decision to specialize in nursing informatics was influenced by a clinical professor and further exploration during grad school.

Nursing informatics offers the opportunity to impact patient care at a hospital-wide scale rather than on an individual basis.

Wilkinson's role involves a variety of tasks including meetings, emails, and spreadsheet analysis with a focus on project implementation.

The non-typical nature of a nursing informatics role, with daily tasks that can vary widely depending on the project at hand.

Current involvement in the implementation of a new electronic health record system and the dynamic nature of support required.

The importance of communication and translation between clinical work and technical aspects in nursing informatics.

Wilkinson's enjoyment in problem-solving and the challenge of integrating technical solutions into clinical workflows.

The least enjoyable aspect for Wilkinson is dealing with technical or governance roadblocks that hinder progress.

A typical pathway into nursing informatics often involves initial nursing practice followed by specialization through further education.

The recommendation for potential nursing informatics professionals to gain substantial nursing experience before pursuing further education in the field.

The skills required for nursing informatics, including proficiency in Excel, project management, and the ability to facilitate meetings.

The availability of certifications such as the ANCC board certification and the CPHIMS for nursing informatics professionals.

Salary expectations for nursing informatics roles, ranging from entry-level comparable to staff nurses to higher salaries for specialists and management.

High-level advice for those interested in nursing informatics: the importance of critical thinking, analysis, and a metrics-driven mindset.

Closing thoughts and a call to action for viewers to subscribe and engage with the content for future videos.

Transcripts

play00:00

what is going on in one today have a

play00:01

very exciting video for you guys because

play00:03

it's not typical of my usual pharmacy

play00:05

videos and I'll actually be interviewing

play00:08

and informatics nurse so very excited

play00:11

for that and I hope you guys enjoy

play00:15

[Music]

play00:21

okay we're start off with some personal

play00:24

questions

play00:24

sure um kind of your name your title

play00:27

your background so kind of education

play00:29

where you did your schooling and

play00:31

training okay my name is Lex Wilkinson

play00:33

I'm an informatics nurse specialist and

play00:35

so that means I have a graduate degree

play00:38

or higher I got my undergraduate degree

play00:40

at Brigham Young University and then

play00:42

started working as a floor nurse right

play00:43

away worked for about two and a half

play00:45

years on a neurosurgery unit my plan

play00:47

leaving Gretchen our undergraduate was

play00:49

to get an advanced degree in nursing and

play00:52

so after about two and a half years I

play00:54

felt the time was right went into grad

play00:56

school I looked between family nurse

play00:59

practitioner or in nursing informatics

play01:01

and luckily in Minnesota where I was

play01:05

working already had a nursing

play01:07

informatics track and so that's where I

play01:08

got my doctorate of Nursing Practice

play01:10

degree and I've been working as an

play01:13

informatics nurse specialist I started

play01:16

working informatics while I was in

play01:17

school which was awesome because what I

play01:20

was doing at work helped me understand

play01:22

better when I was learning at school and

play01:24

what I was learning at school helps me

play01:25

be better at my job and not a lot of

play01:27

people get that opportunity

play01:28

absolutely so I got my degree and I've

play01:30

been working as an implements nurse

play01:32

specialist for about a year now so

play01:35

nursing informatics in pharmacy

play01:39

you know we typically don't actually

play01:40

care about informatics that often you

play01:42

know what what sparked your interest in

play01:44

from

play01:45

and how did you even find out about

play01:47

nursing informatics so when I was in

play01:52

school in one of my clinical rounds and

play01:56

I think was just med surg around and I I

play01:57

don't know what what made my teacher

play02:00

think about it

play02:01

but my my clinical professor said hey

play02:03

you should check out nursing informatics

play02:05

seems like that may might be a good fit

play02:06

for you and see that semester the next

play02:09

semester we had to do a presentation for

play02:12

another class about some aspect of

play02:14

Nursing to try to you know give people

play02:15

an idea of what all the opportunities in

play02:19

nursing were and so I reached out to

play02:22

that professor said hey you mentioned

play02:23

nursing informatics can you give me a

play02:25

contact and so we did I can share that

play02:28

with all the other nursing students and

play02:29

so that's that's how I got introduced

play02:31

and what got me thinking about it and

play02:35

then again I knew I want to go back to

play02:36

school and I wasn't sure which track and

play02:38

when I was deciding which direction to

play02:42

go with school

play02:44

I interviewed or I tried to interview

play02:45

and there's a nurse practitioner where I

play02:48

was working and that kind of fell

play02:50

through I did an interview with the

play02:52

school and it didn't seem like it was a

play02:53

good fit for me so I interviewed the

play02:55

nursing informatics manager where I was

play02:58

working and it was a great interview she

play03:00

explained the projects that she was

play03:02

working on the kinds of things that she

play03:03

did day in and day out

play03:05

and I just I guess what sparked me at

play03:09

that point was as a nurse I was helping

play03:12

you know three to five patients each

play03:16

shift get better improve get healthy as

play03:20

best they could but as an informatics

play03:22

nurse you're spending your day helping

play03:24

every patient at that Hospital in some

play03:27

way helping on the nurses do their job

play03:29

better and scale for the whole Hospital

play03:32

and and that seems like a really

play03:34

interesting thing to me to be able to

play03:36

make an impact not just on the person

play03:38

that I was working with that day or the

play03:39

patients but with all the patients and

play03:41

so that was something that really

play03:42

appealed to me and especially the way

play03:45

things are moving in general the United

play03:47

States the better technology we have and

play03:49

the better way to use it to help

play03:51

patients

play03:52

is gonna improve the healthcare of the

play03:54

nation in the world and so that's been

play03:56

kind of a theme for me in and why I

play04:00

wanted to find traumatic Syngenta

play04:01

okay okay very nice xxx let's talk a

play04:05

little bit about typical job

play04:06

responsibilities and your your typical

play04:08

day what it's like I think a lot of

play04:11

individuals who are looking to get into

play04:12

this field mean I have an idea of what

play04:15

it looks like you know what you all make

play04:16

do so you know what are what is a

play04:20

typical day like for you and then kind

play04:22

of pride varies quite a bit but if you

play04:25

can pick any day you know what would

play04:26

that be like one thing that I really

play04:29

like about informatics and it's similar

play04:32

in a way to to nursing is it you you

play04:36

have some things that you can expect but

play04:39

in those things that you can expect

play04:40

there's a wide variety of what's gonna

play04:41

happen every day you can expect to have

play04:44

meetings answer emails look at

play04:46

spreadsheets but what you're doing and

play04:49

the purpose and who you're meeting with

play04:51

can vary widely also right now we're in

play04:55

the middle of an implementation of a new

play04:57

electronic health record and so that

play04:59

means that I'm in a command center I'm

play05:00

answering phone calls I'm doing support

play05:02

trying to fix issues but that's not

play05:05

typical you know that happens just for a

play05:07

short amount of time before that we're

play05:09

prepping for it

play05:10

after that we're trying to make things

play05:11

work even better and so a typical day is

play05:15

kind of a you can't say there's a

play05:17

typical day because it depends on what

play05:19

you're doing before I was on the project

play05:22

to implement the new electronic health

play05:24

record I worked with clinical decision

play05:26

support so that was a little bit more of

play05:29

a constant or a very similar pattern and

play05:33

it would be meeting with with nurses

play05:36

with other allied health understanding

play05:39

what their workflows are how they do

play05:41

their job what they're trying to

play05:42

accomplish and trying to see how we

play05:45

could fit and a like technical solution

play05:48

into that workflow to make it more

play05:50

streamlined to make it better for

play05:52

to meet national documentation

play05:55

requirements or things like that

play05:57

it's a lot of communication it's a lot

play05:59

of learning to translate between what

play06:02

the people who are doing clinical work

play06:04

and the technical side and making sure

play06:06

that they they understand each other so

play06:08

that when you get to the end it's it's

play06:10

they ask for a paperclip and got a piece

play06:12

of paper you want the paperclip in the

play06:14

paperclip yeah absolutely

play06:16

so you know you described quite a few

play06:19

things there you know typical day there

play06:21

is no typical day there's a lot of

play06:22

different things to do what are some of

play06:25

the or what is the most enjoyable part

play06:29

of your day and you know conversely what

play06:32

is the least little thing part of your

play06:34

day I think I probably various in person

play06:37

to person know what's their most

play06:39

enjoyable thing but for me I enjoy

play06:41

taking a problem or a challenge that

play06:45

that whatever group that I'm working

play06:48

with has and trying to figure out to

play06:51

pull all the pieces apart to see how it

play06:53

all fits together because in healthcare

play06:54

it's it's a big ball of yarn and you

play06:57

have to pull and tug and see where

play06:59

everything goes and how it's gonna fit

play07:00

best together so that's what I really

play07:03

enjoy is you know someone comes with a

play07:05

problem and says you know this has to

play07:07

work better or this isn't working what

play07:10

can we do and pulling the pieces seeing

play07:12

how it all fits together and then

play07:14

rearranging it or fixing it or whatever

play07:16

it takes to make it it worked the way

play07:19

they need it to that's what I really

play07:21

enjoy what I don't enjoy right now is

play07:25

mountains of email but that's again it's

play07:30

not every day yeah we're in the middle

play07:31

of a big implementation and so that's

play07:33

not something you have to deal with

play07:35

every day I think that for the most part

play07:38

I really like what I do because it

play07:40

varies a lot and because I get to see a

play07:43

difference that it makes in people and

play07:45

in their work and and for patients what

play07:49

I like the least is I guess you come

play07:51

against roblox for whatever reason where

play07:53

there's a technical roadblock or a

play07:55

governance roadblock that

play07:57

you can see the end and the fix right

play08:00

there and for whatever reason it doesn't

play08:02

get there and and that's part of the job

play08:04

is is figuring out how to move the

play08:07

roadblock or get around it in a way that

play08:09

works for everyone

play08:10

navigating politics yes yes okay

play08:13

certainly a challenge in any

play08:15

organization yes oh all right well you

play08:18

know my profession I have my background

play08:20

in pharmacy so I don't know many of the

play08:22

pathways to nursing informatics so if I

play08:26

was you know this someone who is in

play08:30

college interested in nursing

play08:32

informatics what what is a typical

play08:34

pathway towards nursing informatics and

play08:37

I'm sure there are many many different

play08:38

ones but what is a typical pathway and

play08:41

what's so in general nursing informatics

play08:46

is fairly new I mean pharmacy and

play08:50

nursing they go way back right and there

play08:52

are some roots of informatics that are

play08:55

embedded in in both I'm sure but it's

play08:58

not initially perceived as informatics

play09:00

it's just part of what you do

play09:02

Florence Nightingale made a difference

play09:04

in the Crimean War by doing statistics

play09:06

and gathering data and that's

play09:08

informatics but no one thinks of it that

play09:11

way as a profession or a subset of

play09:13

nursing or pharmacy it's fairly new and

play09:16

so I don't know that or I haven't metal

play09:20

you know people that say there's a

play09:21

typical path most of what I've seen is

play09:24

people have been in practice and get

play09:27

involved in some sort of project like

play09:29

implementing a new tool a new IV pump or

play09:33

a new electronic health record and they

play09:36

get involved in that process and love it

play09:39

and become indispensable and they're Pro

play09:41

their employer says go get it

play09:42

get a degree so you can do this and so

play09:45

I've seen a lot of that more so I think

play09:47

people are going to school to be to get

play09:50

into informatics you see people going to

play09:52

school practicing for a while and going

play09:54

back to school for informatics like I

play09:55

did I had one fellow students who

play09:58

graduated from his undergraduate and

play10:01

what

play10:01

into the graduate program so and that's

play10:04

not fairly typical I would recommend

play10:06

graduating as a nurse and working as a

play10:10

nurse for a few years part of that comes

play10:14

from a little bit of my own insecurities

play10:16

because a lot of the informatics nurses

play10:18

that I work with have 10 15 20 years of

play10:21

experience as a nurse in various roles

play10:24

and so they have a really well-rounded

play10:26

perspective on what nursing and other

play10:29

allied health and provider workflows

play10:32

look like in in various settings my

play10:35

experience is just in one but that

play10:38

limited amount of experience gives you a

play10:41

much stronger base to understand that

play10:45

where informatics can fit in and how it

play10:47

can make improvements and benefit

play10:51

everyone involved so I would say go to

play10:53

school practice for a few years and then

play10:56

go back to school and there's there's a

play10:58

variety of ways to go back to school

play10:59

there's many masters programs whether

play11:02

it's a brick and mortar school so to

play11:05

speak online schools are becoming more

play11:08

popular and more well accepted and

play11:10

recognized and then there's also kind of

play11:14

hybrids the school I went to is kind of

play11:16

a hybrid I went once a semester for a

play11:20

few days and then the rest is all online

play11:22

and there's other schools that you just

play11:25

go typical everyday the week kind of

play11:29

thing

play11:30

and there's also if you have an advanced

play11:33

degree you can also get certificates in

play11:36

informatics so that you learn the basic

play11:40

fundamentals of informatics and then you

play11:44

can start working there as well okay

play11:45

very interesting I think we have very

play11:48

similar perspectives on the pharmacy as

play11:50

well yeah just just if we can add like a

play11:53

concrete number two years of practice

play11:56

but what would be like David range like

play11:59

are we talking like one year in practice

play12:01

two years five years in practice like

play12:03

what would you recommend in terms of try

play12:06

to practice years generally speaking

play12:09

psychology says that to become an expert

play12:12

you have to have 10,000 hours in a thing

play12:13

somebody five years I don't have five

play12:15

years but I feel like the experience I

play12:17

had was good enough to understand at a

play12:20

general level nursing and and the

play12:23

healthcare experience from the provider

play12:26

side as opposed to patient side so I

play12:28

feel like that's a pretty good number

play12:29

two years you start to become an expert

play12:33

maybe not a master but you know an

play12:35

expert and so I feel like at least two

play12:38

years but I don't know where you cap it

play12:41

off at the top okay okay and those are

play12:45

really good examples cuz that's probably

play12:48

very similar to pharmacy as well where

play12:51

we would like to see practice before

play12:55

certainly helps a lot for all the points

play12:58

and reasons you made okay so let's say

play13:01

folks are interested in getting into

play13:02

nursing informatics they go down this

play13:04

pathway in practice for a few years they

play13:07

do their graduate training there are a

play13:10

lot of different skill sets

play13:12

I'm sure nursing as there are in

play13:13

pharmacy that are needed and informatics

play13:17

that's different than in practice so you

play13:20

know you talk about meetings emails your

play13:23

your in the HR so things like project

play13:27

management or meeting facilitation like

play13:30

what what type of skills have you found

play13:32

or would you recommend that are I guess

play13:37

different than Nursing Practice skills

play13:39

it's an interesting question and I've

play13:41

thought about that as I was going to

play13:43

school and the nursing process that they

play13:48

grained into us in school they had an

play13:50

acronym for and I think it's changed

play13:52

over time but when I was in school as ad

play13:54

PI this is assess diagnose plan

play13:57

intervention and evaluation and I think

play14:02

that that lends itself very well to

play14:03

informatics informatics we use what's

play14:07

called the system development lifecycle

play14:08

which is very similar see what the

play14:10

problem is look for a solution implement

play14:13

the solution and evaluate the solution

play14:14

and potentially in the end sunset or you

play14:18

know finish choose something else and

play14:20

it's the similar things with project

play14:23

management where you're you're finding

play14:24

what the problem is and coming up with a

play14:28

solution and figure out what the project

play14:30

plan is and where it's going to start

play14:31

what needs to have an end so the

play14:34

foundation of nursing and that nursing

play14:36

process is a great strong foundation for

play14:39

informatics

play14:41

as far as skills go I would say the

play14:45

better you are with Excel you'll be able

play14:48

to understand the data and look at it

play14:50

and good skills with any kind of word

play14:54

processor or PowerPoint or something

play14:55

like that helps to create presentations

play14:59

that will get your point across

play15:00

when I started I did some some online

play15:04

courses for leading a meeting and

play15:06

general prime project management but I

play15:09

don't I think you get that in school I

play15:10

was starting in informatics as I was in

play15:13

school so I kind of had to catch myself

play15:15

up

play15:16

you don't need at least in nursing

play15:19

informatics in my experience you don't

play15:20

need any kind of programming okay it can

play15:22

certainly help you have it you know do

play15:25

certain things like analyzing data but

play15:28

yeah you don't need any kind of

play15:31

programming skills there is a

play15:34

certificate or not a certificate a

play15:37

nationally recognized certification by

play15:40

the ancc which is a informatics in our

play15:45

sport certified but you don't need an

play15:48

advanced degree for that either you can

play15:51

be a registered nurse and get that is so

play15:55

you know maybe in terms of

play15:57

certifications what are the most

play16:00

recognizable certifications or are there

play16:02

a lot or was just that one you just

play16:04

mentioned

play16:05

and what what are the types of

play16:07

certifications out there are there any

play16:09

you would recommend for nursing

play16:11

informatics there aren't really a lot

play16:13

there's the a NCC board certification

play16:15

which is I think really the only one

play16:18

that nursing would recognize or this

play16:21

specific for nursing the National

play16:25

Organization hims has the certified

play16:28

professional informatics CP hims and

play16:31

that's one that you can get it's not

play16:33

required at least not where I work but

play16:35

it's a good thing to have

play16:37

it helps round out your skills and

play16:41

that's about it for nursing informatics

play16:43

okay that's sometimes it's good to not

play16:46

have too many choices yeah I think I

play16:49

think that the American Medical

play16:51

Informatics Association

play16:52

amia their education workgroup is

play16:55

looking at some some sort of non MD but

play17:02

on that same level of certification

play17:03

because there is an a Mia MD

play17:05

certification and I think they're

play17:07

looking at something like that but it's

play17:08

not gonna be happening for years so okay

play17:11

okay so that's something to be able to

play17:12

look out for them yeah okay alright so

play17:16

kind of changing topics here um you know

play17:19

everyone that looks into different

play17:21

career paths s I have a passion man to

play17:23

also make a living right

play17:25

so for those who are interested in

play17:27

nursing informatics well look what can

play17:30

one expect in terms of like an

play17:32

entry-level salary like what would one

play17:35

expected range so that depends on a

play17:40

couple of things depends on your

play17:42

education level and years of experience

play17:47

so as I mentioned before you can get the

play17:50

board certification as a registered

play17:52

nurse know advanced degree necessary and

play17:57

the salary for that will be basically

play18:00

comparable to what a staff nurse is

play18:02

making that varies very much by state

play18:04

and so I would I would see that that

play18:06

entry-level salary would be basically

play18:08

what the nurse is making although you do

play18:10

get the benefits usually if working 8:00

play18:12

to 5:00 no weekends and holidays which

play18:14

is very different from

play18:15

inpatient hospital nursing but as you

play18:19

start to get more experience and also

play18:21

advanced degrees registered nurse level

play18:23

informatics would be an informatics

play18:24

nurse and then when you get an advanced

play18:26

degree you get in the specialist

play18:28

attacked on the an so informatics nurse

play18:30

specialist and for that again it varies

play18:32

very much by state and by the local

play18:34

market but that could be from what I've

play18:38

heard and seen anywhere from eighty to a

play18:41

hundred and thirty thousand a year okay

play18:45

if you get management up to this the

play18:48

CNIL

play18:49

or chief nursing for maddox officer it's

play18:52

kind of the peak that you can get in a

play18:53

health system and that can obviously be

play18:56

more since your senior management but in

play18:59

working in industry or with vendors

play19:02

informatics nurses they can work as

play19:04

consultants or educators a whole variety

play19:07

of things there it just goes up from

play19:09

there okay okay

play19:11

very nice so very it's a very lucrative

play19:13

if anything good paying career you can

play19:16

be alright so for all of the you know

play19:20

folks out there that you know prior

play19:21

students or practicing nurses right now

play19:24

what is one of high-level tip piece of

play19:29

nugget of advice that you might have for

play19:32

those I think one thing that my

play19:34

professors told me in I guess it was the

play19:37

Dean of our College when I was

play19:38

graduating for my undergraduate degree

play19:40

where I was going to school was a pretty

play19:42

research heavy faculty and what they

play19:46

were saying I think

play19:49

it would their their perspective was

play19:51

looking at research but I think it goes

play19:52

very well into informatics as well and

play19:54

what they were saying was basically

play19:56

count to everything and the idea was you

play20:01

know see how many times this

play20:02

intervention works count how well it

play20:04

worked you know try to create a metric

play20:07

for how well it's working and I think

play20:10

that that kind of mindset not

play20:12

necessarily doing that thing but having

play20:14

that mindset of trying to analyze how

play20:16

well things are working and how things

play20:18

can improve is is the skill that you

play20:22

need to be in a good implementation you

play20:27

don't have to have certification you'll

play20:29

need to know a lot of things but be able

play20:32

to critically think and understand how

play20:36

to look at a problem from detailed as

play20:38

well as a wide perspective is what makes

play20:41

a good informatics person in general

play20:44

whether it's nursing pharmacy medical

play20:46

whatever it is okay that's awesome

play20:50

well that's all the time we have and it

play20:52

was a pretty good interview thanks Lex

play20:55

for for being on here and yeah you're

play20:58

welcome

play20:59

okay hey guys thanks for tuning in and

play21:02

watching the video if you like the

play21:04

content definitely hit the impro rx

play21:06

button over to your left to subscribe

play21:08

and definitely check out more videos

play21:10

over here to your right now as always if

play21:15

you have questions comments and you know

play21:17

better

play21:18

for future videos definitely let me know

play21:20

the comments below otherwise until next

play21:24

time guys

play21:24

[Music]

Rate This
β˜…
β˜…
β˜…
β˜…
β˜…

5.0 / 5 (0 votes)

Related Tags
Nursing InformaticsCareer InterviewHealthcare TechEducation PathClinical ExpertiseTechnology ImpactJob ResponsibilitiesProfessional AdviceSkill DevelopmentHealthcare Innovation