Data Abstraction Nurse Career Overview

Data abstraction nurses take the plethora of medical information stored in a patient’s chart and develop action steps their medical team can use to provide better, more efficient care. Nurses in this specialty rarely see patients in person. Instead, they spend their time combing through electronic records. Their hours are flexible, and many work from home. Although data abstraction nurses don’t... treat patients face-to-face, their work paves the way for better care.
Where

Do Data Abstraction Nurses Work?

Nurses who specialize in data abstraction can work in an office setting or from a home office, depending on their employer’s preferences. Data abstraction nurses can work for:
• Insurance companies
• Hospitals
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Government organizations
• Health technology companies
• Independent physician associations

Whichever type of employer data abstraction nurses choose, they will spend most of their time on a computer. With computerized charting now the standard in hospitals and private practices across the country, most medical records can be made available to any location. Even older paper chart records have been scanned into electronic systems, so data abstraction nurses should deal with very few paper charts.

Data abstraction nurses need to know their way around the most commonly used electronic medical record types, like:
• MEDITECH
• EPIC
• Praxis
• Cerner
• MEDHOST
• Clini Comp

Digging for data in these systems can get confusing, so the more experience a data abstraction nurse has with systems like these, the better.
What Does a Data Abstraction Nurse Do?

Data abstraction nurses carefully comb patient charts and identify important data that could have a bearing on their care plan. They stay in close contact with patients’ doctors and nurses, working to flag vital information and trends in anything from vital signs and labs to assessment results.

More than individual patient trends, data abs tractors also look for trends in care and outcomes for the entire patient population of the facility or organization. They can use this data to improve their company’s standard of care and identify recurring issues.

Abstracted data can be used for all kinds of patient care process improvements and is utilized by:
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for quality reporting measures
• National Quality Forum (NQF) for quality measure development
• The Joint Commission for quality reporting measures
• Patient registry (national data on quantity of diagnoses)
• Clinical documentation integrity (CDI) programs
How Do I Become a Data Abstraction Nurse?

To become a data abstraction nurse, candidates first have to graduate from an accredited nursing program with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) . A BSN typically takes four years to complete, however, some programs offer an accelerated option that can be finished in as little as a year. Some employers may hire nurses with an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) , which takes two years to complete.

After graduation, nurses may apply for most nursing jobs right away, and data abstraction nurses usually must get some experience in direct patient care before moving to abstraction. Many facilities hire graduate nurses (GNs) to train on their units under a nurse preceptor while they prepare to take their state licensing exam: the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN). After they pass the NCLEX, nurses can finish their facility’s orientation and then practice on their own as registered nurses (RNs).

Data abstraction nurses may also benefit from a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) for this role. An MSN that focuses on leadership and management in healthcare settings can prepare a data abstraction nurse for the “behind-the-scenes” administrative and business side of healthcare.

Nurses with any level of education may take the Data Abs tractor eLearning Course offered by the American Heart Association. Data abstraction nurses with some experience can apply for the designation of Certified Health Data Analyst (CHDA) . This certification is offered by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). To be eligible for this certification exam, nurses must:
• Hold a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) or Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) credential OR
• Have a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university

AHIMA highly recommends (but does not require) nurses to have the following before applying:
• Minimum of 3 years of healthcare data experience
• Experience in data acquisition and governance

Oncology abstraction nurses may pursue the Certified Tumor Registrar (CTR) designation. To be eligible, the National Cancer Registrars Association asks for a combination of requirements that can be found on their website .
How Much Does a Data Abstraction Nurse Make Per Year?

Registered nurses make an average of $81,220 per year as of 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). According to Zip Recruiter , however, data abstraction nurses may earn closerCheck More Jobs

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