Bridge Technology and Patient Care
Improve the outcome of patients by developing and delivering user-friendly and patient-centric systems that enhance clinical workflows, inform decision making, and improve patient care.
Why Nursing Informatics?
Nursing informatics is a dynamic, interdisciplinary healthcare specialty with no end to new opportunities and challenges as clinical and health IT systems evolve.
Nurse Informaticists practice wherever you find health information! Our graduates work for healthcare systems, public health, EHR/decision support vendors, software and analytic companies….
An MS (Nursing Informatics) prepares you with analytic skills and knowledge to improve systems that support clinical decision making, bridge technology and patient care, and move into leadership roles that influence systems of care.
Leads to a well-paying job. List of potential job titles/roles:
- Nurse informaticist
- Clinical system analyst
- Chief clinical informatics officer
- Any management role that requires informatics expertise
Program Information
The NI program offers both online and on-campus programs of study and a part-time option. The faculty are nationally-known nursing informatics leaders with practical and research experience at the University of Utah, Intermountain Healthcare, and the VA. The faculty will work with you to identify experiences to match your interests.
Curriculum
The NI curriculum is interdisciplinary and a mix of informatics and other courses to build your informatics and leadership skills and systems-level thinking. Informatics-related courses range from systems analysis, programming, clinical decision support, standards and terminology for interoperability, and more. Most of the informatics courses are co-offered with the Biomedical Informatics Department allowing you to build interdisciplinary skills and broaden your horizon.
Why Nursing Informatics at the U?
- One of the first Nursing Informatics programs in the United States, with a long history of informatics excellence.
- Faculty are nationally-known nursing informatics leaders with practical and research experience at the University of Utah, Intermountain Healthcare, and the VA.
- Opportunity to learn in clinical settings that are advanced in the informatics space – University of Utah Health and Intermountain are leaders in clinical informatics, clinical decision support and standards development.
The total program expense is less than $34,000 (total program cost is based off of number of credit hours taken per semester and is subject to change).
Residents of the following western US states may qualify for in-state tuition through the Western Regional Graduate Program: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wyoming, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or Guam. Click HERE for more information.
Students receive:
- Guidance from nationally-recognized faculty with a broad range of operational and research experience
- Interdisciplinary collaboration with Biomedical Informatics students and faculty
- A program of study that promotes collaboration and creativity useful in future work environments
- An interdisciplinary curriculum, with a mix of informatics and other courses to build your informatics and leadership skills and systems-level thinking
- Most of the informatics course are co-offered with the Department of Biomedical Informatics allowing you to build interdisciplinary skills and broaden your horizon!
Engage with informatics leaders in the community through:
- Faculty have informatics leadership roles at Intermountain and/or extensive experience in the NI role
- Seminars (e.g. biomedical informatics grand rounds, seminars, and other social events)
- Special events (e.g., Show & Tell with the telemedicine program at Intermountain Healthcare)
Practicum experiences and placements:
- We help students find practicum placements that meet their goals
- We have a strong partnership with the University of Utah Healthcare, Intermountain, Utah Department of Health, and the VA, all of which are potential sites for practicum experiences.
- Students have opportunities for practical experiences if they take optional credits.
Nursing Informatics Conference Engagement Scholarship
Through a generous alumni donation, a scholarship is available to support College of Nursing students’ engagement in the Informatics community and covers up to $1,000 for expenses to attend and present at a conference. To be eligible, applicants must be a currently enrolled nursing student (either full-time or part-time) with an informatics focus, including (but not limited to) students in the MS Nursing Informatics program, Informatics certificate program, or the PhD program. Other eligibility criteria and details about the scholarship are available here. For more information, please contact Chris Macintosh or Jia-Wen Guo.
Top-Ranked Program
The University of Utah College of Nursing's Master of Science in Nursing Informatics program is ranked #2 in the United States.