What is a nurse informatics?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

In the field of nursing today, advances in technology and information management have intersected with healthcare, creating a need for ways to optimize these processes and improve patient care.

That’s where nursing informatics comes in.

What is nursing informatics?

The American Nurses Association defines nursing informatics as a “specialty that integrates nursing science with multiple information and analytical sciences to identify, define, manage and communicate data, information, knowledge and wisdom in nursing practice.”

Jen Carroll, core faculty at the Capella School of Nursing and Health Sciences, elaborates on that definition. “A lot of people hear nursing informatics and think technology, and while it does involve technology, it’s also about the coordination of accessing data, integrating teams and formatting projects to drive outcomes based on that data.”

Nurses who specialize in informatics interpret and analyze medical data to help improve patient care and population health while also helping to reduce organizational costs. These nurses use the wide array of computer science and information technology available to figure out the best solutions for an enhanced delivery of patient care. One goal of the profession is to help increase efficiency while simultaneously improving patient care outcomes.

Why is nursing informatics important?

As both technology and information management systems become more complex, professionals in the nursing field – even if they haven’t specialized in nursing informatics – will need at least a basic understanding of how these technology and systems operate.

“The infusion of technology and the need to leverage data in daily nursing practice is going to be their reality,” Carroll says. “So a nurse informaticist is really going to be the person who helps coordinate that and educates other nurses on the best ways to use these tools and handle data in these systems.”

Professionals in the field of nursing informatics also stay up to date on new developments in how data is leveraged, changes to the Affordable Care Act and health insurance, the ways telehealth metrics are tracked and other changes that could impact organizational efficiency.

Why choose a nursing informatics specialization?

For those interested in expanding their nursing skill set, Carroll explains how someone might be drawn to the nursing informatics field over other specializations. “It’s not just about the technologies themselves. It really comes down to what you do with the information that’s collected by technologies and how you use that information and data to help drive meaningful improvements.”

Those improvements could relate to patient care, healthcare education, operational efficiency, regulatory issues, health record documentation and more.

What can you do with a degree in nursing informatics?

Here are some ideas and examples for a graduate with an MSN in Nursing Informatics.

Job titles to explore^*

• Clinical informaticist
• Clinical informatics analyst
• Clinical informatics manager
• Clinical informatics specialist
• Director of clinical informatics
• Informatics analyst
• Informatics nurse
• Nurse informaticist
• Nursing informatics analyst
• Nursing informatics specialist

Employment settings to explore^*

• Administration of public health programs
• Administration of veterans’ affairs
• Colleges, universities and professional schools
• Computer systems design services
• Direct health and medical insurance carriers
• General medical and surgical hospitals
• Insurance agencies and brokerages
• Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities)
• Offices of physicians (except mental health specialists)
• Software publishers

^*These are examples intended to serve as a general guide. Some positions may prefer or even require previous experience, licensure, certifications and/or other designations along with a degree. Because many factors determine what position an individual may attain, Capella cannot guarantee that a graduate will secure any specific job title, a promotion, salary increase or other career outcome. We encourage you to research requirements for your job target and career goals.

Learn more about the MSN in Nursing Informatics and RN-to-MSN in Nursing Informatics programs from Capella University.