Picture taken on May 1, 2025 at the Epic Systems Campus, Sci-Fi building, during XGM 2025.

MSN in Healthcare Informatics

The Masters degree in Nursing and Healthcare Informatics offered by the University of Mary. UMary is a private, Catholic, Benedictine university located near Bismarck, North Dakota, established in 1959. It emphasizes faith-based education, leadership rooted in service, and academic excellence.

Program of Study

Degree: MSN in Nursing and Health Care Informatics (BSN to MSN)
Program Format: Fully online, typically completed in approximately two years
Total Credit Hours Required: 38 credits
Total Clinical/Leadership Hours Required: 385 clinical (leadership) hours

Sample of Program Courses

Based on the sample Program of Study (broken into five semesters), here are the curriculum components:

SemesterCourses & CreditsLeadership (Clinical) Hours

Semester 1

NUR 510 Healthcare Across the Population (3)
NUR 551 Critique and Design of Nursing Research (3)
NUR 597 Professional Domain of Nursing Informatics (2) 15 hours

Semester 2

NUR 590 Principles of Informatics in Health Professions (3)
NUR 594 Ethics and Informatics (3)
NUR 614 Resilient Nursing Leadership (4) 80 hours

Semester 3

NUR 660 The Human Technology-Interface (3)
NUR 667 Applied Clinical Informatics in Patient-Centered Care (3) 50 hours

Semester 4

NUR 601 Evidence-Based Practice and Strategic Healthcare Decision Making (2)
NUR 679 Nursing Informatics Seminar I (3) 120 hours

Semester 5

NUR 612 Professional Roles in Advanced Nursing (3)
NUR 648 Healthcare Law and Policy (3)
NUR 686 Nursing Informatics Seminar II (3) 120 Hours
HUM 799 06 Graduate Student Assessment – Nursing (0)

Total Credits: 38
Total Clinical / Leadership Hours: 385

Unofficial Transcript

Summary of Graduate Leadership and Clinical Experiences

The program interweaves clinical/leadership experiences directly into specific courses, enabling practical application of informatics principles:

NUR 597 – Professional Domain of Nursing Informatics: Provided an introduction to nursing informatics through 15 leadership hours, helping me understand the field’s foundational roles and responsibilities.
NUR 614 – Resilient Nursing Leadership: Engaged in 80 leadership hours, developing leadership strategies, resilience, and practice in guiding informatics-related initiatives.
NUR 667 – Applied Clinical Informatics in Patient-Centered Care: Enabled hands-on work with 50 leadership hours applying informatics tools in clinical contexts focused on patient-centered outcomes.
NUR 696 – Leading Healthcare Innovation I: Involved 220 leadership hours, focusing on project planning, data analysis, and informatics implementation in healthcare delivery.
NUR 697 – Leading Healthcare Innovation II: Culminated with 200 leadership hours, integrating earlier learning into a comprehensive informatics-centered capstone or practicum experience, with the implementation phase.

Reflection on Professional & Leadership Growth

These embedded leadership experiences have shaped my development in meaningful ways:

Domain Fluency & Role Readiness: Through NUR 597, I gained clarity on my emerging identity as a nurse informaticist—understanding professional expectations within healthcare IT environments.
Adaptive Leadership & Resilience: In NUR 614, I honed leadership capacities to navigate complexity and change, skills essential for leading informatics projects in fast-paced clinical settings.
Applied Informatics in Patient Care: NUR 667 offered real-world opportunities to implement informatics solutions that directly impact patient-centered workflows and outcomes, strengthening my practical skill set.
Project Leadership & Scholarly Application: Leading Healthcare Innovation I (NUR 696) allowed me to connect theory to action, crafting projects that require research, data synthesis, and collaborative design.
Integration & Capstone Achievement: Leading Healthcare Innovation II (NUR 697) challenged me to consolidate coursework and clinical experiences into an advanced, possibly systems-level informatics initiative—an experience demonstrating my leadership readiness.

Program Outcomes and AACN Master’s Essentials

Program Outcomes

Graduates of the University of Mary MSN program are expected to:

Integrate advanced knowledge from nursing and related disciplines into practice.
Apply leadership principles to promote quality and safety in healthcare systems.
Utilize evidence-based practice and scholarship to guide decision-making.
Demonstrate ethical practice, cultural humility, and moral courage.
Advance nursing practice through effective communication and informatics.
Collaborate interprofessionally to improve health outcomes for individuals and populations.

AACN Master’s Essentials

The MSN program aligns with the AACN Master’s Essentials (2021 revision), including:

Essential I: Background for Practice from Sciences and Humanities
Essential II: Organizational and Systems Leadership
Essential III: Quality Improvement and Safety
Essential IV: Translating and Integrating Scholarship into Practice
Essential V: Informatics and Healthcare Technologies
Essential VI: Health Policy and Advocacy
Essential VII: Interprofessional Collaboration
Essential VIII: Clinical Prevention and Population Health
Essential IX: Master’s-Level Nursing Practice

Evidence of growth through assignments

1. Evidence-Based Practice Project (Advancing Medication Delivery Systems in Healthcare Organizations)

Related Outcomes/Essentials: Scholarship, Quality & Safety (Essentials III & IV).
Reflection: This project required me to identify a systems-based challenge and apply research evidence to create a practical, technology-enabled solution. It strengthened my ability to evaluate literature critically and translate findings into organizational practice.

2. Tools for Informaticist

Related Outcomes/Essentials: Informatics, Systems Leadership (Essentials II & V).
Reflection: By assessing workflow inefficiencies and proposing EHR enhancements, I grew in my capacity to integrate informatics with leadership, bridging the gap between clinical staff and technical teams.

3. Ethics in Informatics Paper (Algorithmic Bias in AI)

Related Outcomes/Essentials: Moral Courage, Policy and Advocacy (Essentials VI & IV).
Reflection: This assignment deepened my appreciation for the ethical complexities in nursing informatics and reinforced the importance of advocating for equity in digital health technologies.

4. Clinical Instructor Experience

Related Outcomes/Essentials: Communication, Professional Distinction (Essentials VII & IX).
Reflection: Working with students sharpened my leadership skills, reinforced the value of mentorship, and highlighted my ability to foster professional growth in others.

Clinical Hours Log

Self-Assessment of Competence

Overall, I feel I have achieved a high level of competence in program outcomes related to informatics, evidence-based practice, and leadership. I can confidently integrate research into practice, apply informatics to improve safety and quality, and serve as a leader within healthcare systems.

Personal Strengths:
- Strong integration of informatics and leadership.
- Commitment to evidence-based decision-making.
- Clear, professional communication and collaboration.
- Moral courage in advocating for safe and equitable care.
Areas of Emerging Competence:
- Health policy and advocacy—I have foundational knowledge, but limited direct engagement with legislative or policy work.
- Population health application—while familiar with data-driven approaches, I plan to broaden my experience with community-based initiatives.

Plan for Ongoing Professional Growth

My professional development will focus on:

Policy Engagement: Participating in nursing policy committees and contributing to rural health advocacy in North Dakota.
Population Health Informatics: Expanding my role in using data analytics to address rural health disparities.
Professional Certifications: Pursuing ANCC Informatics Nursing Certification (RN-BC) to validate my informatics expertise.
Continued Leadership Growth: Building experience as a clinical informaticist and emerging leader, with a long-term goal of influencing organizational strategy and healthcare technology adoption.