New year, new job, new tech

It's not just the beginning of the school year for elementary and secondary students. It's also the start of a new year for me, as I'm going into my last full year as a master's student.

When I'm not going to school, I will be working as a telehealth nurse coordinator, to bring the benefits of telehealth technology to spinal cord injury/dysfunction patients throughout our service area. Telehealth is a global term which basically encompasses delivering health care via technology, whether it is via telephone, secure video conferencing or even text messaging.

Finally, this is a very exciting area of healthcare. I hope to learn more and pass it on.

Education

Right now, I'm contemplating several online master's degree programs, particularly an informatics degree. It can be a chore, since there are lots and lots of programs out there right now, called health care informatics, nursing informatics and medical informatics.

If you're a nurse and want to be board certified in informatics by the ANCC, you need the following:

• Hold a current, active RN license within a state or territory of the United States or the professional, legally recognized equivalent in another country
• Have practiced the equivalent of two years full time as a registered nurse
• Hold a baccalaureate or higher degree in nursing or a baccalaureate degree in a relevant field
• Have completed 30 hours of continuing education in informatics within the last three years and meet one of the following practice requirements:
• Have a practiced minimum of 2,000 hours in informatics nursing within the last three years
• Have practiced a minimum of 1,000 hours in informatics nursing in the last three years and completed a minimum of 12 semester hours of academic credit in informatics courses which are a part of a graduate level informatics nursing program
• Have completed a graduate program in nursing informatics containing a minimum of 200 hours of faculty supervised practicum in informatics

For more information on education in nursing informatics, check out ANIA's Education page (American Nursing Informatics Association).