Though New Jersey might be overshadowed by its more populous neighbor, New York, it still offers plentiful opportunities to learn and work. There are nearly six dozen institutions of higher learning in New Jersey, some of which have top-notch nursing programs.
What’s more, some of New Jersey’s best colleges and universities have nursing informatics programs. These programs teach you how to utilize your knowledge about nursing and patient care and combine it with new skills related to healthcare information to improve patient outcomes.
This guide identifies four schools in New Jersey with nursing informatics programs to consider. The schools outlined below are among the most popular.
Nursing Informatics Programs New Jersey
Listed below are some of the popular schools offering nursing informatics programs in New Jersey:
- Rutgers University
- Thomas Edison State University
- New Jersey Institute of Technology
- New Jersey City University
- Wake Forest University
- Grand Canyon University
Rutgers University
Rutgers University was founded in 1766. Not only is Rutgers the state university of New Jersey, but it’s also one of the oldest universities in the nation. It’s also one of the largest universities in the country – there are almost 70,000 students who attend Rutgers at its main campus or one of the satellite campuses throughout the state.
As such a large school, Rutgers has many amenities that most colleges and universities don’t offer. For example, Rutgers offers 25,000 different courses each year. More than 150 bachelor’s degree programs and over 400 graduate programs are available. If you study on campus, you can access more than 300 research centers and institutes and 26 different libraries.
Nursing Informatics Program Information
The Master of Science in Nursing – Nursing Informatics from Rutgers is a two-year program that consists of 12 online courses. These courses focus on using existing and emerging technologies to improve patient care. In all, you will complete 37 credits toward your degree, including studies in:
- Clinical Inquiry for Evidence-Based Practice
- Information Technology for Evidence-Based Practice
- Nursing Databases Design, Development, and Applications
- Consumers Healthcare Informatics
- Informatics Project and Change Management
Additionally, you must have 225 clinical hours. These hours must be done at an approved site where you can gain in-person experience utilizing the nursing informatics skills you develop throughout the program. Once you complete the coursework and clinical hours, you are eligible to graduate and sit for national board certification.
You can apply for this program online, provided you have a bachelor’s degree from a nationally-accredited program and a 3.2 GPA or higher. You must also have a current RN license in New Jersey.
Furthermore, you must submit the following with your application:
- A completed application for admission and the application fee
- A personal statement
- A resume
- Proof of RN licensure
- Official transcripts from each school you’ve attended
- Two scholarly papers for which you are the primary author
- Two letters of recommendation, one of which must be from a nurse educator
Thomas Edison State University
Thomas Edison State University was founded in 1972, making it a relatively newer institution of higher learning. The school was chartered as a senior public institution, meaning it was designed specifically for adult learners. In fact, TESU is one of the oldest such institutions in the United States. Today, there are nearly 14,000 students at the school.
In the years since its founding, TESU has grown to include more than 100 degrees and programs. You can pursue an undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral degree, or you can enroll in a certificate program to advance your current occupational skill set. This includes the nursing informatics certificate discussed below.
The university is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, and the school’s nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Nursing Informatics Program Information
Thomas Edison State University offers a Graduate Certificate in Nursing Informatics for experienced RNs with a master’s degree. Though you don’t have to have a Master of Science in Nursing, you need a graduate degree in a nursing specialty at the very least.
Since this is a certificate, it’s a short program – there are just 18 credits required to complete the certificate. This includes four theory courses and two practicum experiences. The theory courses include:
- Nursing Informatics: Concepts and Issues
- Nursing Informatics: Systems Life Cycle
- Nursing Informatics: Databases and Knowledge Management
- Nursing Informatics: Consumer Informatics and Communications Technologies
The two practicum experiences build off the knowledge and skills you gain in the courses outlined above. These practica take place in a healthcare setting of your choice. You also get to choose the preceptor for the practicum experiences.
Each practicum includes 100 hours of in-person work, and both experiences occur at the same facility and with the same preceptor.
To apply, you must submit official transcripts showing that you have graduated with an MSN and done so with a minimum 3.0 GPA. If you don’t meet this GPA requirement, you must also submit the following:
- A resume
- Contact information for at least one professional or academic reference
- A 500-word statement of your background and goals
New Jersey Institute of Technology
The New Jersey Institute of Technology was founded in 1881 to support the growing need for training in emerging industries. Today, NJIT is the state’s polytechnic university and is one of the leading universities of this type in the country.
Though the school offers a multidisciplinary curriculum, its focus on computing, technology know-how, leadership development, and business acumen make it a top choice if you want to prepare for a technology-rich career.
NJIT is a relatively small school with just over 12,000 students. However, you can choose from more than 125 undergraduate and graduate programs to prepare for your future career. You will learn in a rich and challenging academic environment where you will work with highly-trained faculty – 99 percent of NJIT’s faculty have a doctorate or the highest degree in their field.
You will also benefit from small class sizes and a student-to-teacher ratio of just 15:1.
Nursing Informatics Program Information
The Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology – Medical Informatics Technology is a viable option for you if you don’t have an RN but want to begin your career in informatics. The program requires you to complete 120 credits to graduate, including core medical informatics courses like:
- Information Design Techniques
- Medical Informatics Technology
- Networks Applications for Computer Technology
- Electronic Medical Record Design
- Computer and Network Security
Additionally, you can learn about advanced medical information strategies pertaining to the security of medical records, PET scan data analysis, and MRI data analysis, among others.
Though this is not a nursing-specific program, you will learn how health-related data is collected, stored, analyzed, and communicated. Additionally, you will learn how to use health data in clinical decision-making and the administration of healthcare services. These are crucial skills if you continue your education and complete nursing school.
Likewise, this program prepares you for continuing your education in medical informatics in a graduate-level program.
You can apply to this program via the Common Application. To qualify for general admission, you must meet certain requirements, as outlined below:
- Complete at least 16 units of study in high school, including four years of English, four years of math, and two years of lab sciences.
- Pass the ACT or SAT with a satisfactory score (no scores are set, though the average ACT score for applicants is 26, and the average composite SAT score is 1285).
- This requirement is currently waived for incoming first-year students.
New Jersey City University
New Jersey City University was established in 1927. Back then, the school focused entirely on training teachers. Today, though, the university is much more broad-based, with four schools and colleges in the fields of Education, Business, Arts and Science, and Professional Studies. Within these divisions are dozens of bachelor’s programs. There are also nearly three dozen graduate programs offered.
NJCU is in Jersey City, a large metropolitan area across the river from New York City. The location means easy access to many amenities of the big city, including arts, entertainment, shopping, dining, and sporting events.
It also means that NJCU has a diverse campus with students from all corners of the United States and the world. The university is among the country’s most diverse, with U.S. News & World Report ranking it seventh for ethnic diversity.
Nursing Informatics Program Information
New Jersey City University’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing is an accelerated program that’s ideal if you already have a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing field, like healthcare informatics or medical informatics. Since it’s an accelerated program, you only need 12 months to complete the graduation requirements and earn your RN license.
Since you have to complete the equivalent of four years of nursing school in just 12 months, you will take courses in the spring, summer, and fall sessions. These courses include crucial nursing topics like:
- Pharmacology in Nursing Practice
- Nursing Care of Infants, Children, and Adolescents
- Nursing Care of Patients with Behavior Health Issues
- Quality and Safety
- Nursing Care of Populations in the Community
Additionally, you must complete required clinical experiences, which may take place in community settings, laboratories, or hospitals. Like the coursework in this program, the clinical experiences are accelerated with no breaks between sessions.
To qualify for admission, you must have an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution and have a 3.0 GPA or higher. You must also submit the following documentation:
- Official transcripts from the institution that granted your bachelor’s degree
- A current resume
- An admissions essay
- Two letters of recommendation
- Health Education Systems, Inc. standardized exam scores (80 percent or higher)
You must also take the following prerequisite courses if you haven’t already done so within the last ten years:
- Microbiology with lab
- Human Anatomy and Physiology I & II with lab
- Developmental psychology
- Statistics
Nursing Informatics Work Opportunities in New Jersey
The work opportunities for nurses and nursing informaticists in New Jersey and the surrounding region are excellent. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) notes that northern New Jersey, including Jersey City, ranks first in the nation for the number of RN jobs in metropolitan areas.
These jobs might not all be in New Jersey – New York City accounts for a large portion of them. However, with excellent mass transit, you can easily live in New Jersey and commute to New York City to work if you find your ideal position in the Big Apple.
There are many opportunities for working as a nursing informaticist in New Jersey, though. For example, some nurse informaticists work for New Jersey state agencies to examine healthcare information and use it to guide new guidelines for patient care.
Other nurse informaticists are employed by hospitals, HMOs, and health clinics to implement new policies that streamline healthcare procedures.
Of course, with enough experience, you can also work in nursing education. For example, with a master’s degree or higher in nursing informatics and several years of work experience in a healthcare setting, you might transition to teaching at a New Jersey college or university to train the next generation of nurse informaticists.
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