Every two years, HIMSS releases a new report on the results of their Nursing Informatics Workforce Survey. The last report was for 2020 and I was excited to see that the 2022 report is now out! 

At the start of the HIMSS report, acknowledgement is made that "nurse informaticists are a critical human component to broadly enhancing healthcare. They are the driving force behind health innovation and technology to realize the full health potential of every human everywhere." As the healthcare industry continues to become more technologically dependent, such roles continue to be critical. 

A total of 1,118 informatics nurses responded to the survey (with 5% of respondents from outside of the U.S.) and contributed their thoughts on questions relating to nursing informatics in general, workplace locations, compensation, education and experience, job details, organizational structure, and more. 

Over 35% of informatics nurses reported that the number of informatics nurse...

A few weeks ago, I was speaking to someone about health IT and nursing informatics as a career pathway following direct nursing care. 

The transition from direct nursing care to an IT role in healthcare informatics can be significant. The obvious change is stepping away from providing patient care in the sense that we tend to think of it. 

Instead of being assigned the care of one to many patients (the number varying depending on your clinical area), nurses transitioning into a health IT role will be working as part of a team on digital health projects and IT optimization. 

Such efforts require significant collaborative time working with clinical users, leaders, and translating decisions made during such design meetings into health IT build changes for future implementation. When not in meetings, your activities will require independent work on your laptop to configure and document the design decisions and manage communications. 

The person I was speaking to was...

Happy April! 

I went on a trip recently and the day before I left I had a thought, "what if my luggage does not make it to the destination?" I have that thought every trip but this time I started to think about how to be prepared for such an event. 

I thought of the Apple AirTags that I had seen in videos on the internet. I am an Apple user and appreciate the integration of the devices. With the 'Find My....' app, you can identify where all of your devices are (as long as they are synced with the app). 

So, while I did not purchase the AirTag in time for the trip, (thankfully my bag made it with me :) ), I did purchase one as soon as I returned home. 

I linked it up to the Find My... app and it is now part of the suite of products I have organized. 

So, how does this relate to healthcare and informatics? 

Well, in this instance I had the problem I was looking to solve where I could have more data and information about where my luggage...

Good afternoon all!

Today is March 19th and it is Certified Nurses Day! 

Certified Nurses Day is a celebratory day for all of the nurses who are seeking to advance in the profession and contribute as a specialized leader in nursing. Certified Nurses Day occurs on the 19th of March in celebration of Dr. Margretta "Gretta" Madden Styles EdD, RN, FAAN. Dr. Styles was a pioneer in advancing nursing through standards, credentials and governing bodies to support advancement through certification in nursing. 

There are 18 nursing certifications currently available on the ANCC website. Informatics Nursing is one of those certifications. The first certification exam for Informatics Nursing was offered in 1995, nearly 30 years ago!

The most recent data shows that there are 3132 board certified informatics nurses as of 2021. Perhaps you are one of those, perhaps you are on your way to become the next board certified nurse, or perhaps it is a goal of yours in the short or long...

Good evening all, 

I was walking down the street this evening with my AirPods in my ear, and music playing from my phone's Music app that is connected via Bluetooth. All of these technologies supported my preference to listen to a few songs while I ran some errands. When I returned home, I took the AirPods out of my ears, put them in the case, turned the Music app off and put the phone on the counter. The technology is there to use but I opted not to do so for what I wanted to do next (get dinner ready, write this blog post, and more). 

I share this as a simple every day example of how technology is there to support our needs and preferences. Those needs and preferences come from people first in the context of workflows or processes. 

If I did not want or like to listen to music while out, the AirPods and Music app would have limited relevance for me in how I use them. 

In relation to nursing and healthcare, the same concept applies to the technologies that...

Happy Sunday!

Before writing these posts, I reflect on areas were I've had interactions related to informatics in my day to day life that catch my attention. 

You may have noticed that I titled this reflection Genetics & Informatics. This is an areas we discuss during the Nursing Informatics Certification Exam Review (NICER) Program and it typically comes with some questions. How is genetics related to informatics? 

Well, I have experienced this myself through professional informatics consulting with a large genetics company, and also personally, with my own health visits. 

The professional informatics consulting involved working with a clinical information system to support the design and testing of their product before deployed to clients. The product provided cancer screening tools for genetic counselors to use when working with referred patients to determine their cancer risk. I worked to test the software in the same way that I would for any other clinical...

Just a few weeks ago, I remember hearing of ChatGPT across several industries and thought leaders. Similar to other anticipated tech trends, ChatGPT began to bring discussions of promise and risk. As with any new technology, there will be benefits and disadvantages (e.g., often referred to as unintended consequences). 

As I heard this term used over and over again, I wanted to find out what it was and why it was gaining so much attention almost immediately after being introduced. 

ChatGPT is a new artificial intelligence (AI) technology that initially launched by OpenAI at the end of November 2022. The GPT in ChatGPT stands for, "generative pre-trained transformer". 

Yet, how exactly does it work? Well, the best way to explore this new technology is to test it out for yourself. You can sign up for an account here for free and try for yourself: https://chat.openai.com/. 

I signed up for an account and am also attending a workshop in a few weeks to better...

Here we are in February already, can you believe it?

I am writing this today on what is the coldest day of the year in Boston. It was bound to get cold up here in the Northeast. We've had a relatively mild winter but without fail, those chilly temps find their way to us. 

Well, I entitled this post, Demystifying Nursing Informatics for a reason. 

In my nearly 20 years within the speciality practice of Nursing Informatics, I continue to get asked by nurses (and non-nurses), "what exactly IS nursing informatics?

In fact one time, I was traveling to Duke University where I was teaching the Intro course to Nursing Informatics. I was trying to get to my hotel and there was a roadblock. I told the person that I was there to teach nursing informatics and his response was, "Info-what?!".

I laughed (and have never forgotten :)). 

Well, for some time now, I have wanted to develop a program to help demystify this specialty practice that has brought me so many exciting...

Happy New Year!

Well, another year is upon us... 2023 here we go!
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As you set your intentions and goals for the new year, aim high. Even if it seems like it might be a 'reach', reach for it. You may be surprised at what you can do and work toward in a year.
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If you are interested in informatics but do not know where to start, consider our newest program, How to Influence Change in the EHR and/or health IT systems.
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If you are interested in exploring new career opportunities, it may be time for a resume revamp. Highlight your achievements and areas where you may not have realized can be highlighted through our Revamp your Resume program.
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We also know many of you are interested in board certification in informatics. Our NICER program has a first time pass rate of over 90% on the first try with informatics nurses from across the country having participated.
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We have more on our end coming to you soon working to bring you more to support your educational and business needs.
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Best wishes to...

Wishing each of you a happy holiday season! 

As 2022 nearly comes to an end, it is natural to think about the future while also reflecting on the accomplishments of the past year. 

At iCare, we saw so many of you reach your goals and share your successes with us! Those are exciting moments for us and we appreciate you sharing your accomplishments with us!

We also heard from you of areas where you'd like to see more from us in the year to come and beyond. (More to come in 2023...)

We upgraded our website and moved to a new platform for more ease of use and the opportunity to expand our offerings in a more seamless way. 

We also added on some new programs with one more coming *hopefully* before the end of 2022!

Revamp your Resume was added to support your professional  resume development. We often hear from nurses who are not in formal informatics roles but wish to do so, how they can showcase their informatics and health IT expertise. While this program was...