On Advice for New Nurse Informaticists
Wherever you may be now, volunteer to become part of the
discussions with whoever presents changes to the system. Your
organization has an informatics council of some type. Somebody
discusses these changes to the system; there’s a meeting somewhere
or a council or committee. Volunteer to be a part of it. If you’re
still in school or just finishing up school, contact your informatics
department and ask them about potential employment. Let them
know that you’re interested and that you’ve finished or are finishing
your masters in informatics and you’re interested in getting into the
field. If they know you, and you’ve already been volunteering in
committees where you’ve helped make changes, it will get your
foot in the door. I always recommend that if you can have that
first informatics job – when you’re just learning the tech talk in
a comfortable environment where you can ask questions of tech
people – it’s a really nice transition. To me, it’s the optimal way to
get into the field