Nursing, Nursing & Health Care Informatics Program, M.S.N.

Associate Dean: Dr. Billie Madler

The complexity of health care is exponential and largely influenced by technology. Quality improvement and performance reporting are critical components of any functioning health organization. Both are dependent on data mining, cleansing, analysis, knowledge development, and knowledge translation. The field of health informatics has emerged as an essential element in health care organizational viability. This program educates students in the collection, interpretation and implementation of data relevant to nursing practice and research. Students earn a master’s degree in nursing informatics, which is required by many employers to enter this field and to be eligible for national certification. Registered nurses who are trained in informatics can go on to positions in health care which may include:

• Nursing informatics specialist
• Nursing informatics consultant
• Coordinator of nursing information systems
• Clinical informatics officer
• Project director for nursing information
• Nursing and Health Care Informatics Program

Outcomes

• Integrate the influence of professional nursing standards, the code of ethics, principles of servant leadership, moral courage, Benedictine values, nursing philosophy, and personal beliefs, on the professional informatics nurse’s practice.

• Value the input of collaboration with the patient, family, and healthcare team to improve quality and safety in patient outcomes when developing strategies, policies, or procedures for introducing, evaluating, or modifying information technology applied to nursing practice, administration, education, or research.

• Analyze and interpret patient, nursing, or information systems data to improve nursing services and to inform health policy and advocacy efforts.

• Translate nursing practice information and informatics technology between nurses, health care team members, administration, systems engineers, analysts, or designers.

• Develop or implement policies or practices that respect the dignity of the human person and ensure the integrity, privacy, confidentiality, and security of patient information.

• Apply knowledge of computer science, information science, nursing, and informatics theory to nursing practice, education, administration, in collaboration with other health informatics specialists with focus on patient safety, patient outcomes and population health.

• Design, develop, select, test, implement, and evaluate new or modified informatics solutions, data structures, and decisionsupport mechanisms to support patients, health care professionals, and their information management and human-computer and human-technology interactions within health care contexts.