The healthcare industry is always in need of highly-qualified candidates. In fact, nursing and healthcare providers are currently experiencing an employee shortage. It is projected that by 2020 the need for nurses will increase by four million, however, the need for qualified candidates is not expected to meet that demand, meaning that by the year 2025 there could be a shortage of approximately 260,000 nurses. The need for health care workers is real. That is why today we will be highlighting four career options that combine big data and health care. Each one of these jobs enjoy very real opportunities for career growth.
Healthcare Information Technician
The job of the Health Information Technician is to manage data to ensure that it is accurate, accessible, and secure both in its physical and digital forms. This is accomplished through the use of various classification systems that are designed to categorize patient records. The Health Information Technician may work from an office or from their home, and the job requires spending many hours in front of the computer. This position generally requires that candidates are certified and have a post-secondary certificate. The need for this position is expected to increase by 13% over the next ten years. The median annual wage for this position is $38,000.
Forensic Nurse
As former Vice President Joe Biden once said, the position of the Forensic Nurse is a marriage between law and medicine. Indeed, the duties of the Forensic Nurse would be very much at home on the set of a CSI show. Forensic Nurses are responsible for investigating things such as sexual assaults, deaths, arsons, and much, much more. These duties will take the forensic nurse to hospitals, correctional facilities, coroner’s offices, psychiatric hospitals, and crisis centers. They may even be called on to testify in a court room setting. The forensic nurse uses their medical expertise to recover evidence from crime scenes, treat victims of violent crime, treat patients, and potentially testify in court. In order to be considered for this position candidates must be registered nurses, and become certified in the area of expertise that they wish to practice in. Ideally, the candidate for the career of forensic nurse will be a compassionate person that is comfortable interacting with people during very difficult moments in their life. They must also be able to deal regularly with death and dying. The current median salary for a regular nurse is $67,000. However, the current median salary for the position of a forensic nurse is $81,000 with the top 10% of salaries coming in at around $140,000 annually.
Computer and Information Systems Manager
Technically, the duties of the computer and information systems manager are not exclusive to the broader field of healthcare. Since the computer and information systems manager implements computer systems that respond directly to the information technology goals of an organization, their skills can be utilized by most businesses. However, the healthcare industry utilizes a lot of computer and information systems, and are therefore certainly able to benefit from the services of a Computer and Information Systems Manager. The duties of this position are going to be very relative to the needs of the business or organization that they are working with. However, by overseeing the digital information services of a healthcare provider, the Computer and Information Systems Manager will be able to help them to not fall victim to the growing number of cyberattacks. The threat of these cyberattacks is very real. In the year 2014 alone security researchers uncovered that hackers had taken control of over 300,000 routers in European homes and businesses. Given the amount of sensitive information that healthcare providers deal with, they are in significant need of these services, with job projections expected to reach 6 million openings by 2019.
Epidemiologist
The job of the epidemiologist is to collect data on and research patterns of illness and injury amongst members of a community. The goal is to reduce and mitigate health concerns to increase the overall well-being of the population. Members of this profession will work in both offices and laboratories that are associated with businesses, universities, and even the government. A Master’s degree in public health is required for this position though many go on to get their Ph.D as well. The need for epidemiologists is expected to grow by 9% in the next ten years. The median salary for this position is $70,000.
