Minnesota Nurse Informatics Certification - MN

By Jennifer Williams, allied health world contributing writer
Published:  March 7th, 2010

So, you have been thinking about getting involved in nursing informatics, but you don’t know where to start. Well, there are several things that you should learn about this profession before you decide to take the plunge.

First and foremost, there is no state license for nursing informatics in Minnesota. This means there is not a specific Minnesota nursing informatics certification. With that being said, there still has to be some form of credibility in a field such as this, which is why there is the registered nurse requirement.

On your journey to getting registered as a nurse, the first thing that you have to do is take the NCLEX examination, which actually stands for National Council Licensure Examination. The NCLEX is administered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). This test is cumulative in testing you on what you learned in your nursing course, which we will discuss later, and a charge of $200 will be assessed before you can take it.

These are some things that you should know as you begin researching a career in nursing informatics:

• You are required to be a registered nurse. This means that you have to pass the NCLEX so that you can proceed with the ANCC test.
• You have the option of getting certified as a Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems (CPHIMS) by the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). This is not a required certification, but you should always go after every credential that is available to you.

The next step will be to take the ANCC exam, which gives you the title of RN-BC and means that you are qualified to perform as a registered nurse. The fee for this test is $390, and your certification must be renewed with the ANCC every 5 years. The renewal stipulations do change quite regularly, so it is best for you to contact the ANCC directly regarding that matter.

As a qualified professional, you should take full advantage of all of the credentials that you can get. The most important and recognized of credentials is the CPHIMS, which has an exam fee of $375. This type of certification is directed towards the IT field and is something that most nursing informaticists have. To renew this certificate, you have to complete no less than 45 credits for every 3 years, or you can elect to take the entrance exam again.