Introduction

Introduction

I am a registered nurse working on an acute care hospital medical surgical floor. I used to be a home health nurse, long-term care wound care nurse, staff nurse, and clinical supervisor. I am familiar with the interface of acute care, long-term care, and home health EHR systems. I participated in PointClickCare and MatrixCare EHR implementation in long-term care facilities and developed an in-depth understanding of information systems policies, procedures, and technologies that comply with applicable laws and regulations.

 Experience in bedside nursing care and using electronic healthcare record systems highlighted the importance of information technology in healthcare organizations. First, technology plays an important role in promoting healthcare outcomes. Second, optimizing nursing user interface screens benefits nursing prioritization and clinical efficiency. Third, optimizing the EHR data flow and workflow is advantageous in improving risk management, promoting patient safety, and preventing legal liability.  Therefore, I decided to switch my career from bedside nursing to healthcare informatics so that I would be able to facilitate improving overall healthcare outcomes. To reach my career goal, I enrolled in the Master of Science in Informatics degree program at San José State University.

The purpose of the Master of Science in Informatics degree program at the San José State University is to prepare graduate students for future careers in analyzing and managing data in the healthcare or cybersecurity field. I have successfully completed the required 30 units for this master’s degree during the past 20 months. Reflecting on what I learned throughout the whole program, I do believe that many efforts that I put in to complete those courses are paying off, because they enabled me to think of healthcare informatics in terms of spotting issues in an EHR system, having a desire to figure out solutions, designing user-centered website page, and analyzing healthcare big data. A graduate degree also helps me to boost my career because it provides me with the opportunity of gaining specialized knowledge and skills which will ensure me to be eligible for more career opportunities. Besides the expertise and credibility, the master’s degree program gave me better skills in facilitating better decision-making regarding medication treatment and administration.

To prove that the courses that I took successfully prepared me to be a qualified health informaticist soon, I accomplished a series of competency statements, and the evidence is displayed within the following e-Portfolio. 

The content of the e-Portfolio includes Introduction, Core Competencies A to F, Conclusion, and Affirmation.