Minnesota Healthcare Informatics School - MN

By Jennifer Williams, XYZ Media contributing writer
Published:  March 7th, 2010

School and Accreditation

The accrediting organizations that recognize nursing curriculums are the CCNE, Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, and the NLNAC, the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. These groups are responsible for ensuring that school programs are relative, informative, and comprehensive in teaching nursing studies.

The reason that accreditation is so important is two-fold: (1) the ANCC and the HIMSS require accreditation before you can take their exams and (2) accreditation does stand out on a resume and will help you when you begin your job search. So, whichever school that you choose, always confirm that it is an accredited one.

Degree Options

Naturally, you will need some type of education before you can become a registered nurse or a nursing informaticist. The entry-level degree in this career field is the bachelor’s degree, a 4-year program. Continuity of patient care and diagnostics are very heavily weighted by this profession, so it is imperative that you grasp every bit of knowledge that you can from your education.

Minnesota nursing informatics programs also have a master’s degree option, which takes an additional 2 years of schooling to attain. While a master’s degree is certainly not needed, you should consider the benefits of such a degree. The greatest benefit here is that you will need it before you can advance to a higher level or any type of managerial level. The second benefit is the undoubted preference by employers.

After you have a college degree in nursing, you should purse a nursing informatics certificate program, which is a 1-year course. It is true that you could learn some things about informatics on the job, but the chances of getting hired without this course are slim to none.

Internships

Should you complete an internship? Well, theoretically, the college that you choose will probably have a requirement for it prior to graduation. However, if it does not, you should take the time to weigh out the options of an internship. There is no better place to gain more knowledge about nursing informatics than on the front line. An internship can give you the opportunity to apply your education and can also give you some visibility to possible employers.

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