Nursing informatics is an emerging concept in India and an important field that blends patient care and technology. Learn about the role, salary, educational requirements, and more.
Data has become an important part of many industries, including healthcare. Nursing informatics is part of that development. It's a nursing specialty that combines patient care with data and technology to improve the quality of care and outcomes.
As many sectors—including healthcare institutions like hospitals and clinics—move to an electronic health records (EHR) system or an electronic medical records (EMR) system, nursing informatics professionals can make a big impact on the healthcare industry. As such, they're in demand. According to the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Nursing Informatics Special Interest Group, health informatics is still in its infancy, and nursing informatics remains an emerging field [1]. This means this field has the potential to grow even larger.
Discover what it's like to work in nursing informatics, the education and experience needed to get started in these roles, and the types of jobs you can explore.
Nursing informatics describes the practice of using data and technology to improve patient experiences and outcomes, among other goals. Nursing informatics specialists work with electronic health records (EHR) and electronic medical records (EMR) systems in various ways, including maintaining, optimising, collecting, and analysing.
This role often requires individuals with a nursing background, computer literacy, an interest in working with technology, an ability to manage information, and specific workplace skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication.
Technology continues to shift the healthcare industry. While India has been slower than many other countries to implement an EHR system, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and other government entities, the Indian Nursing Council (INC), educational institutions, and various professional organisations have come together over the last decade to encourage the use of nursing informatics in the healthcare sector.
Working with information and computer technology has become an expectation for many nursing professions.
Nursing informatics combines information technology, data analysis, and healthcare to provide evidence-based approaches to nursing and healthcare. It's crucial for a few reasons:
It ensures the proper maintenance and optimisation of electronic healthcare systems
It allows specialists to collect and analyse relevant patient data
With that data, specialists can build important reports that they share with other clinicians to improve patient care
Patient care can be subjective in many ways. Still, nursing informatics uses data-driven approaches to improve patient care meaningfully and enhance the clinical experience for providers and patients.
Nursing informatics specialists regularly work with EHR and EMR systems in several ways, including managing data and information. The 2023 HIMSS Nursing Informatics Workforce Survey found that the top three responsibilities of nursing informatics are systems implementation (41 percent), utilisation and optimisation (35 percent), and project management (30 percent) [2].
As a nursing informatics specialist, you will implement data-related processes you monitor and manage. For example, you might decide how to enter data into an organisation's EHR system correctly.
You may also be responsible for finding ways to optimise current processes using a clinic's EHR system and troubleshooting any issues that arise when nurses and other providers use it.
As a nursing informatics analyst, you will communicate processes to different teams and often educate clinical staff members on the importance of these processes. Given the knowledge of healthcare and technology required for this position, you will be uniquely situated to make sure other providers understand different processes and how to go about them.
Like putting together the puzzle pieces, an essential part of a nursing informatics role is assessing the validity of available data and making something of it. The profession often requires someone with a clinical background since they need to interpret the data being collected in a useful, meaningful way.
Once interpreted, nursing informatics specialists often communicate those findings to other providers and clinicians.
Working in nursing informatics typically requires starting as a registered nurse (RN). This involves earning a diploma in nursing or a degree, such as a Bachelor of Science in Nursing or a Master of Science in Nursing, and passing the INC entrance examinations. You'll also need to register with a state nursing council and apply for a mandatory licence from the INC. Additional training in informatics will help you gain the necessary technical skills that the role requires.
In nursing informatics, experience is crucial. Given the clinical data that nursing informatics specialists work with—and have to interpret—some nursing experience or experience in a healthcare setting is typically necessary.
You might receive informatics training as part of your formal education. The INC incorporates computer and nursing informatics classes into undergraduate and postgraduate nursing programs.
Alternatively, private hospitals may offer in-house training to their nurses. The INC also asked state nursing councils to create online continuous education for current nurses to gain knowledge and credentials. Some institutions also offer specialised programs on general health informatics, which may help you find a role as a nursing informatics specialist.
The average annual salary for an informatics nurse in India is ₹10,00,248, according to October 2024 data [3]. Your years of experience, level of education, and the employer could increase your annual earnings.
Nursing informatics offers a broad scope and promising opportunities as India embraces digitisation. If you've been working in nursing informatics and want to strengthen your leadership and training skills, consider enrolling in the University of Minnesota's Nursing Informatics Training and Education, offered on Coursera. The course covers choosing the best resources and major leadership skills, amongst other topics.
International Medical Informatics Association. "International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Nursing Informatics Special Interest Group, https://www.bcs.org/media/9013/nursing-newsletter-may22.pdf." Accessed 7 October 2024.
HIMSS. “HIMSS 2023 Nursing Informatics Workforce Survey Executive Summary, https://www.himss.org/sites/hde/files/media/file/2023/04/05/2022-nursing-informatics-workforce-survey.pdf.” Accessed 7 October 2024.
Salary Expert. "Nurse Informatics Salary in India, https://www.salaryexpert.com/salary/job/nurse-informatics/india." Accessed 7 October 2024.
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