Online Master’s in Nursing: Health Informatics Emphasis
Online Master’s in Nursing: Health Informatics Emphasis
Start your GCU
journey today.
journey today.
The Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) with an Emphasis in Health Informatics is designed for BSN-prepared nurses who want to develop graduate-level skills to better understand and apply healthcare data in a way that facilitates better decision-making and evidence-based nursing.
The nursing informatics curriculum is designed to teach you how to optimize the use of patient and health data to achieve better patient outcomes, reduce costs, and augment operational efficiency. You may be prepared to help organizations adapt to the integration of technology and the continuous changes in patient-care systems. You also have the opportunity to learn how to automate clinical care, build new operational data systems, train healthcare workers, and analyze data to improve patient care.
As a private Christian university, GCU offers degree programs rooted in a Christian worldview. There is an emphasis on professional ethics and servant leadership within the nursing health informatics subfield.
For greater flexibility, you can take your nursing informatics classes online.(See disclaimer 1) As an online student, you can access GCU’s interactive online learning platform from virtually anywhere while engaging in stimulating discussions with your fellow learners and instructors.
This degree teaches you how to prioritize better patient care and favorable patient outcomes while improving the efficiency and profitability of healthcare organizations. Prepare yourself to serve as a potential leader in your hospital as you examine healthcare data management, healthcare information systems and professional ethics throughout your classes.
Topics you will examine in the nursing informatics curriculum include:
The role of leadership, health informatics and organizational policy in supporting patient care
The critical evaluation of evidence from epidemiology, biopsychosocial and biostatistics
The application of information systems in healthcare settings
Healthcare information resources, including the use of relational database management software
Techniques used for extracting, evaluating and applying health data
The implementation of technology in rapidly changing healthcare environments
The nursing health informatics MSN culminates in a capstone course and a 16-week practicum. The final practicum integrates nursing knowledge, leadership and advanced critical thinking in the development of a comprehensive and professional project plan. In addition to the practicum project, you will take courses that will teach you to develop the skills necessary to improve patient care through the use of technology and data analysis.
This provides an opportunity for you to develop an evidence-based practice project in which you will:
As a graduate of the master’s degree in nursing with a health informatics emphasis, there are a number of nursing informatics careers you might choose to pursue.
These include:
These roles may include automating clinical care, building new operational data systems, training healthcare workers in the use of computer systems or collecting and analyzing data to improve patient care. No degree program can guarantee any particular career outcome, and some careers may require additional training or credentials.
As a future informatics nurse, you may choose to work in a variety of settings, including:
Hospital
Primary care facility
Doctor's office
Insurance company
Technology supplier
Consulting firm
Government agency
Before choosing a university at which to pursue a nursing health informatics MSN, it’s important to ensure the school is institutionally accredited. Accreditation is a reflection of the quality of the school. GCU is proud to be an institutionally accredited university that emphasizes quality, industry-aligned curriculum and instruction.
For more information on the institutional accreditation of nursing programs and other university approvals, please visit our University Accreditation and Regulations page.
Read through our frequently asked questions and answers to learn more about graduate-level opportunities in the field of nursing health informatics.
Are graduate-level nursing informatics classes worth it?
What does an informatics nurse do?
What skills does a nursing informatics student need to develop?
Why is nursing informatics important in the healthcare field?
What is the best way to get into nursing informatics careers?
Prepare to pursue various nursing informatics careers and help support the quality of patient care in your organization. Fill out the form to learn more about GCU’s online nursing informatics master’s degree.
Clinical, practicum and immersion hours completed locally.
Online: $600 per credit [More Info]
Up to 12 credits or 1/3 of the total program requirements in transfer (whichever is less)
Credits: Fill out the Lopes Eval to find out what will transfer
Admission requirements may differ based on degree level, program and modality or transfer status. Some programs of study may require a higher GPA and/or other qualifying criteria for admission.
Please review full admission and program requirements in the University Policy Handbook.
