What Is Nursing Informatics?

Nursing informatics is a specialized nursing field that blends the power of advanced technology with clinical knowledge and empathetic care. As data continues to play a pivotal role in shaping healthcare policies and procedures, there is expected to be continued demand for qualified and intuitive informatics nurses. In this blog, we’ll be exploring the question of “What is nursing informatics?” in addition to the key skills and education needed for an informatics nurse, and much more.

What Skills and Education Are Required for an Informatics Nurse?

The American Nurses Association defines nursing informatics as a specialized field in healthcare that combines the science of nursing with computer science and information technology. In many cases, informatics nurses bridge the vast gap between the data available and the nurses who are working to care for patients at their bedside. Informatics nurses can access the most relevant data, analyze it, translate it, and provide actionable insights to healthcare leaders and nurse managers that can improve overall operational efficiency.

Those who are interested in pursuing nursing informatics jobs should be aware of the education and training requirements in place for this specialized field. All informatics nurses are required to be licensed registered nurses, with most employers preferring informatics nurses to have a BSN degree. However, depending on the position, you may be required to earn a Master of Science in Nursing with a specialization in informatics, as employers are placing an increased value on advanced degree programs that focus on this niche area.

What Are the Common Applications of Nursing Informatics?

As the field of nursing informatics continues to expand, there will be an increasing number of applications in the healthcare industry. The most common applications of nursing informatics today are:

• Electronic Health Records (EHRs) — Electronic health records are used almost exclusively today by healthcare providers, as they include a detailed digital record of a patient's medical history. By offering healthcare providers immediate access to the patient's entire medical record, they can improve patient care overall.
• Clinical Decision Support Systems — Clinical decision support systems, or CDSSs, are software applications that allow providers to analyze patient data to make the best possible decision for the individual patient. These software applications have the power to assess vital signs, diagnostics and clinical observations to deliver instant, personalized support to providers.
• Telehealth — Defined as any healthcare service that relies on digital technology to provide patients with care, telehealth has become increasingly common in recent years. Today, many patients work directly with informatics nurses over the phone or via videoconferencing to receive personalized support and guidance for their healthcare needs.
• Wearable Technology — The most advanced wearable medical technology allows healthcare providers to capture real-time data from patients to monitor their progress and adjust their treatment plans as necessary. Examples of wearable technology include glucose monitoring systems or heart monitors.

What Does an Informatics Nurse Do? 

A nurse informatics specialist is a registered nurse with clinical experience who understands how to best leverage the healthcare technology available. They are often responsible for capturing and harvesting relevant patient healthcare data, and analyzing the results to provide healthcare administrators and nurse managers with actionable insights. They actively work to bridge the gap between the data-driven world of technology and the empathetic and compassionate field of nursing, allowing nurses to make better clinical decisions for their patients.

Informatics nurses are often responsible for the following:

Information Management

Healthcare organizations collect vast amounts of data from their patients, and informatics nurses are responsible for managing that data in a way that is safe, secure and cohesive. They are often charged with analyzing available data to extract actionable insights, ultimately allowing providers to make improved decisions in real time.

Improve Patient Safety and Outcomes

Informatics nurses can take the raw data available and use their clinical expertise to generate meaningful insights that can positively impact the healthcare organization. The goal of nursing informatics is to leverage the power of data to enhance the patient experience, improve safety at the facility, and increase the rate of positive outcomes among patients. Nursing informatics specialists have the opportunity to play a powerful role in identifying areas for improvement and developing policies that will drive results.

Communication and Training

In a sense, informatics nurses are translators. They must be able to take the technical data available and provide nurses who are caring for patients with real and relatable information about that data. Informatics nurses are often responsible for communicating data-based information to providers in an understandable way, and they often direct training programs to help all nurses familiarize themselves with the most advanced healthcare technology.

Data Validation and Reporting

Given that informatics nurses often have improved access to healthcare databases within an organization or facility, it's not surprising that they are often responsible for validating the data available. Their advanced skills in healthcare technology allow them to evaluate and analyze the data available, confirming that it accurately reflects the patient population.

Once data has been validated and confirmed, informatics nurses must generate relevant reports that explain the data's results in a relatable and understandable way. Raw data can be overwhelming for those who are not informatics specialists, requiring informatics nurses to effectively communicate the insights that they have extracted from the data.

Nursing Informatics Career Opportunities

Some of the nursing informatics jobs that may be available include:

• Nursing Informatics Officer— In this role, a nurse may be responsible for overseeing the implementation of information technology solutions within a healthcare facility. In addition to developing and implementing those solutions, a nurse informatics officer also would likely be responsible for training nurses on new technology.
• Clinical Informatics Nurse — This informatics nursing position focuses on optimizing the use of electronic health records and clinical decision support systems. They are responsible for leveraging technology to optimize operational efficiency and improve patient care.

The Future of Nursing Informatics

The future trends nursing informatics indicate that data-driven decision-making will play a critical role in the healthcare industry in the years to come. As the industry as a whole strives to overcome challenges associated with staffing shortages and manage the increasingly complex needs of patients, nursing informatics will play a pivotal role in the evolution of modern healthcare.

What Does an Informatics Nurse Do? Learn More At Nebraska Methodist College

As healthcare systems continue to prioritize data-driven decision-making and evidence-based care, it's clear that there will be continued demand for informatics nurses. At Nebraska Methodist College (NMC), we offer a Master of Science in Nursing program with an Informatics track, allowing nurses to develop the advanced, specialized skills required to pursue nursing informatics jobs.

As the only degree program of its kind in the region, this MSN provides students with a unique opportunity to learn how to extract data-driven insights and transform them into actionable healthcare policies designed to improve operational efficiency as well as patient outcomes.

Request more information about our nursing degree programs today.