In-Demand Career Spotlight
Amber Bray, Decatur Morgan Hospital Amber Bray, now in the information technology (IT) field at Decatur Morgan Hospital, started out as a Registered Nurse (RN) where she worked in pediatrics and long-term care. She said her nursing experience and clinical mindset helps her understand the clinical workflow to be successful in healthcare informatics. Amber is currently responsible for helping the hospital, its staff and physicians transfer to an electronic medical records system. Day-to-day she trains doctors and office staff on the IT system and sets people up to use the system. Once the system goes live, she will work to continually change the interface to make it as user friendly as possible. She loves the challenge of meeting peoples’ needs. “When I first got in it, I didn’t know if I would like it or not, but I really enjoy it. Some people think it is easy coming out of the clinical floor to sitting at a desk most of the time, but it is hard work having to learn the system, teach people and make sure that meetings and training are run correctly,” she says. Amber sees the field “exploding” in the next five to ten years and says that clinical minded people are going to be needed to run these complex IT systems. In addition, systems will always change so the field needs people who adapt to change and embrace it. In addition, she said that people need to be able to think intuitively about how systems can work best to meet workflow needs in a healthcare setting. She advised those that are interested in the field to shadow someone to see if it is something you would enjoy. An Associates Degree and RN license is an important component if you want to work in healthcare informatics. However in other areas of IT, understanding hardware, software and server set-up is a must. “Many people in the field are now pursuing a Masters level degree in Nursing Informatics, although that isn’t necessary to have success in the field,” she says. If you are in a clinical setting now, Amber advises volunteering to help with implementation of systems. “Seek out opportunities to learn and develop new skills and you will have more opportunities.” Interested in learning more about in-demand careers in www.careerpathway.info and like “Career Pathway” on Facebook.
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