Master of Science in Nursing Informatics

Master of Science in Nursing Informatics

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Integrate Nursing Science with Information Management When You Earn a MS in Nursing Informatics

If you are a registered nurse who wants to improve the health of people and communities and improve patient safety by using information technology, computer science, and nursing science, the fully online Master of Science in Nursing Informatics will equip you with the knowledge and skills you need to make an impact in this area.

Online courses, practical experiences, and a robust curriculum prepare you to know how to use data and information to respond to health care problems, improve client care and organizational operations, and make and communicate information-based decisions in a variety of health organizations.

The dynamic and challenging curriculum provides a flexible means for registered nurses to earn a master’s degree and preparation for roles as a nurse informaticist. This program requires outstanding critical thinking skills and nursing judgment as well as commitment to academic rigor.

Are you interested in our dual degree RN to MS in Nursing Informatics program? Learn more.

Fast Facts:

Nursing informaticists frequently work in hospitals, health care facilities, consulting firms, universities, and corporations (Source: nursejournal.org)


Graduates of a nursing informatics program manage complex health information in many organizations, including hospitals, nursing homes, public health firms, research laboratories and insurance agencies (Source: nursejournal.org)


The average salary for a nursing informatics specialist is $85,714 (Source: payscale.com)


36

credit hours

Online MS in Nursing Informatics Program Details

Core Courses: 14 Credits

Transformational Nursing: Innovation, Inquiry, and Scholarship
This course explores how nursing may be transformed. The ways of knowing set a foundation for knowledge acquisition and competencies for master’s-prepared nurses. The need for nurses to be innovators, through the application of inquiry and scholarship, are discussed in relation to such topics as leadership, change, and power. Theory-based and scientific competencies are examined as they relate to specializations in nursing. A spirit of inquiry, combined with creativity, curiosity, and the translation of evidence, is explored through critical conversations that support interprofessional collaboration and professional nursing roles in a dynamic healthcare environment.

Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Practice
Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Practice focuses on the exploration of nursing knowledge development to include philosophy, theories, models, and concepts that have been designed to guide nursing practice. It provides approaches to analyze and critique a variety of theories in nursing and related fields.

Research and Evidence-Based Practice
Research and Evidenced-Based Practice focuses on the research process and the analysis and evaluation of research to integrate the best evidence into practice. Emphasis is on the identification of generic and discipline-specific health care issues, synthesis of client care and research initiatives to inform evidence, and translation of research to support and inform practice innovations.

Policy, Ethics, and Population Health
This course examines public policy, political ideology, and ethics as they shape health policy across populations. Political ideology, social and health policy are considered within the lens of population based health and reducing health disparities. The role of the master’s-prepared nurse is to lead and advocate within the public policy arena is explored and discussed. Contemporary issues in health policy viewed from the perspective of ethics and the social and material determinants of health are considered. A primary focus of the course is consideration and development of the knowledge and skills

Cognate Courses: 6 Credits

Epidemiology
The science of epidemiology is essential in planning disease prevention interventions, developing an understanding of disease etiology, identifying trends in morbidity and mortality, and providing a basis for the development of public health policy. This course will serve as an introduction to the core concepts and methods of epidemiology. Students will explore factors related to the etiology and distribution of illness in populations including exposure, transmission, and prevention. Methodologies used in surveillance techniques will also be introduced and explored.

Graduate Elective
To meet the required number of program credits, 3 graduate-level elective credits must be taken. These may be completed within the graduate program or transferred from other graduate programs if they are deemed eligible for credit.

The nursing informatics component consists of three online courses totaling 10 credits.

Data, Information, and Knowledge

The course focuses on the nature of data, the concepts of information and knowledge, and the principles of relational databases, systems operations, and information systems.

System Life Cycle

This course focuses on a structured approach to the selection and implementation of an information system. This structured approach is called the information system development life cycle and the course incorporates the five phases of the life cycle: planning, analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation.

Management Information for Decision Support

This course focuses on the identification, acquisition, analysis, interpretation, and application of data, databases, and decision-making strategies for health care. It emphasizes decision support systems concepts, methodologies, and technologies, and includes content on model management, knowledge management, and strategies to consider when selecting decision-support systems.

The Nursing Informatics Capstone: 6 Credits

This culminating experience provides learners with an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they’ve acquired throughout the program of study, focusing on the competencies of the graduate-level nurse. This course consists of several integrated components: a 135-hour practice experience, discussion, reflective journal, scholarly paper, and project presentation.

  • Function as a leader and change agent to promote holistic patient-centered care and population health.
  • Translate evidence to develop health care practices in a culturally and ethnically diverse global society.
  • Synthesize theoretical and empirical knowledge from nursing and other disciplines that are essential for nursing judgment and practice.
  • Integrate specialty practice knowledge to enhance inter-professional collaboration, inform decisions, and improve outcomes.
  • Exemplify professional values and standards, best practices, and the commitment to lifelong learning in the role of the master’s-prepared nurse.
  • Implement the role of master’s-prepared nurse as part of the inter-professional team.
  • Integrate scholarship, a spirit of inquiry, and innovation to support nursing excellence.
  • Apply effective written communication methods to resolve complex problems and organizational issues.

Surveys are administered to our nursing program students upon graduation and at one year post-graduation. The survey results are available here.

View additional details about programs and courses:

Download the Nursing and Health Sciences Catalog

Common Careers with an
Online MS in Nursing Informatics

  • Chief Medical Information Officer
  • Clinical Informaticist
  • Clinical Systems Analyst
  • Data Scientist
  • Health IT Project Manager
  • Informatics Director

Explore Common Careers

Each time I went back for another degree the information was very relevant to what I was doing, and it was almost as though Excelsior was acting as my mentor/preceptor into the new role that I had stepped into. What I was learning in school, I was applying to day-to-day work and what I was learning in day-to-day work, I was applying in my degree program. You just can’t beat that.

Jennifer Gentry
Associate in Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing
2004, 2011, 2015

Recognitions & Accreditations

New York State Board of Regents – Recognized Programmatic Accreditation

Excelsior University’s associate-level nursing programs are programmatically accredited by the New York State (NYS) Board of Regents, State Education Department Office of the Professions (the Regents). The U.S. Department of Education has recognized the Regents as a state agency for the approval of nursing education programs since 1969. More information about the NYS Board of Regents’ Recognized Programmatic Accreditation may be helpful for students or graduates to present to a school they are attending or to an employer seeking more information about their Excelsior University nursing degree.

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing logo

ACEN Accreditation

The bachelor’s and master’s nursing programs at Excelsior University are accredited by the:

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)
3390 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1400
Atlanta, GA 30326
404-975-5000

These programs include Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing Leadership and Administration of Health Care Systems, Master of Science in Nursing Education, Master of Science in Nursing Informatics, RN to Master of Science in Nursing Leadership and Administration of Health Care Systems, RN to Master of Science in Nursing Education, and RN to Master of Science in Nursing Informatics.

The most recent accreditation decision made by the ACEN Board of Commissioners for the bachelor’s nursing program in March 2019 is Continuing Accreditation.

The most recent accreditation decision made by the ACEN Board of Commissioners for the master’s nursing programs in March 2019 is Continuing Accreditation.

View the public information disclosed by the ACEN regarding these programs at acenursing.us/accreditedprograms/programSearch.htm.

Middle States Commission on Higher Education logo

Institutional Accreditation

Excelsior University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 1007 North Orange Street, 4th Floor, MB #166, Wilmington, DE 19801 (267-284-5011) www.msche.org. The MSCHE is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

Phase: Accredited
Status: Accreditation Reaffirmed
Accreditation Granted: 1977
Last Reaffirmation: 2022
Next Self-Study Evaluation: 2029-2030

All of Excelsior University’s academic programs are registered (i.e., approved) by the New York State Education Department.