Becoming an informatics nurse

If you’re looking to further your nursing education, the many paths and areas of study available to you might seem daunting at first glance. As you look at the possibilities, you also have to consider which areas will grant you the best job security depending on your education level and years of work experience. Will you be able to land a job in your current town, or will you have to move? Will you be able to live off the starting salary in your desired field? These are important questions to ponder as you delineate your goals.

Luckily, you likely have many peers in the same situation and bloggers, like Brittney of The Nerdy Nurse, to receive sage advice from. Deciding to go into the challenging field of informatics was the easier choice, but Brittney worried about how she would prepare to leave her hometown in order to snag her dream gig. Here, she shares her tips for preparation and how being a blogger actually helped her in the long run.

From the Nerdy Nurse blog:

• Updating my resume was key. I tailored my resume to focus on my IT strengths. A friend of mine convinced me to highlight the fact that I was a blogger. Up until that point I had always feared my employers knowing I was a nurse blogger. It was a hard decision that ended up being one of the best I’ve ever made. I was able to leverage the programming and technical skills I had gained from working with a database powered content management system to my favor. I was energetic and passionate in my interview and was finally given a chance to spread my nerdy nurse wings.
• Clinical informatics isn’t the only place that nurses are flaunting their technology skills. Nurses are going beyond the bedside and connecting online with other nurses, physicians and patients in an effort to promote better healthcare. There are many social networks where nurses are connecting online. However, there are some nurses who decide they need a bigger online footprint, and start a blog or website.
• Being a nurse blogger has given me an opportunity to have a digital soapbox and achieve a level of influence that I would not be able to attain in my local environment. It’s been incredibly empowering and has granted me the skills and confidence needed to secure a career in nursing informatics. By utilizing the web to share ideas, express opinions, and highlight information, nurse bloggers have the ability to be change catalysts.

Read the rest of her story on the Nerdy Nurse blog and let us know how you achieved your career goals in the comments below.