NURSING INFORMATICS OPTION

The 39-credit Master of Science in Nursing with a concentration in Nursing Informatics is designed to prepare the nurse to assume leadership and education positions as an Informatics Nurse Specialist (INS) within health care organizations, facilities and agencies. In addition, graduates of this program are eligible to sit for national certification by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) in the specialty practice of Nursing Informatics. Core courses in critical thinking, politics and health policy, health promotion and evidence-based practice provide the student with a foundation on which to build the operational framework for nursing informatics practice.

Nursing informatics courses emphasize the application of cognitive, computer, information and nursing sciences to the INS domains of practice outlined in the American Nurses Association (ANA) Scope and Standards of Practice in Nursing Informatics (2008). Supervised nursing informatics course practicums provide the student with experience in operationalizing content areas within health care settings. A final capstone practicum and nursing informatics practicum affords the student the opportunity to synthesize INS role functions and demonstrate competencies associated with the INS scope of and standards of practice.