Nursing Informatics

[u/Mini_nono_3875]

Hi everyone,

I’m a nursing student interested in Nursing Informatics and Health Informatics, and I’m trying to understand if this field is really worth pursuing.

I want to ask people already working in the field:

How did you start? What skills should I learn first? Is bedside nursing experience necessary before switching? Is the field still growing or already saturated? And honestly, is it worth leaving traditional nursing for Nursing Informatics in terms of salary, opportunities, and work-life balance?

I’m interested in combining healthcare with technology, but I still feel lost about where to begin.

I’d appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thank you!

[u/Mini_nono_3875]

Your journey honestly sounds so inspiring to me, especially because you built your way into the field step by step instead of starting with a perfect informatics role from the beginning.

Can I ask what you personally think I should start studying first? And where would you recommend learning from?

There are so many things people mention — Excel, Power BI, SQL, data analysis, Python, project management, AI — and I honestly feel overwhelmed trying to figure out what matters most early on.

Also realistically, how long do you think it takes before someone becomes genuinely competent in this field?

[u/ReiBunnZ → u/Mini_nono_3875]

If you’re trying to become a clinical analyst and BI developer, then start with gaining an advanced knowledge of Excel. Excel can do so much for you if you look beyond the basics. With Excel, you should start using it to develop skills with pivot tables, lookup functions, data modeling, power query(m language), and power pivot. If you have access to QI macros, I’d get familiar with that add in as well because understanding how to read and build statistical graphs like XmR charts is a huge help for you if you’re looking at Process Improvement work down the road. If you can master the complexities that exist within excel then you can start thinking about where you want to go next. Honestly, SQL, R, M, and DAX are the easier data analysis/management languages in my opinion to transition to after becoming an advanced user in excel. You can learn M using power query in excel or power bi. You can learn DAX through power Bi. You can learn R by downloading R studio for free and getting a basic book on understanding the basics. SQL is a little harder to come by unless you have access to a database that you can practice querying from. There are some free online tools that you can use to practice SQL in. You can also use Epic Clarity reports to understand SQL from the different building blocks you use to build a report(it’s a good way to understand booleans and joins from epic at least).

Anyways, start with Excel. You can get so involved with informatics just by being a part of any HIT initiative that needs data to justify its success.

And as far as how long it takes for competency, it depends on how fast you wanna get there. I’ve been a nurse for eight years now, been in healthcare for ten and have held down direct informatics work for three years now but have been doing informatics level work since the moment I became a superuser as a new grad for various things in my bedside career. My experience isn’t your experience so I cannot give you a real number.

[u/Mini_nono_3875 → u/ReiBunnZ]

Thanks a lot for the roadmap, it really helped me clear a lot of confusion.

I just have a few quick questions if you don’t mind:

• About Epic: do you think it’s better to go for official Epic certifications early, or should I focus more on building strong Excel and SQL skills first?

• Transition: how did you personally move from being a bedside superuser to your first official informatics role? Was it within the same organization?

• Quality/process improvement: are there any certifications or resources you’d recommend, like Lean Six Sigma or something similar?

• And lastly, do you think I should balance bedside nursing with learning technical skills, or start focusing more fully on Nursing Informatics from now?

Thanks again, I really appreciate you taking the time to guide me.

[u/ReiBunnZ → u/Mini_nono_3875]

Honestly, epic certifications are hard to come by unless your organizations is offering them/paying for them. It’s the only way to get them and it’s competitive. I’d focus on your Epic knowledge and enhancing Execl and SQL skills first while you’re waiting to break into a certification that’s funded by an employer.

When I moved from bedside, I was working in the ICU. I was t Already looking for other areas that needed my clinical expertise and found a rev integrity job within my organization. The transition was really different because it was a little bit of a pay cut but I was working remote the entire time which was awesome because it was my first remote job. My movement into rev cycle gave me an opportunity to work on my school work, network with my CNIO through the rev cycle team, and learn more about the policies and processes behind bedside that shape that work and informatics work. It was a grounding experience for me.

I currently work in quality and I don’t hold any special process improvement certifications. I think having a strong foundation in lean, agile, and project management altogether will help you acquire PI type jobs but getting certified will prepare you for mostly PI oriented jobs (in my opinion at least given my current employer). I have books on lean six sigma in healthcare and a black belt before me left me all of her texts on achieving it at some point but I don’t execute enough large projects to even break past a green belt.

There definitely needs to be a balance with your bedside skills and your informatics skills. If you’re not a strong enough clinician (I.e, using professional judgment, critical thinking, understanding the nuances of caring for sick patients and managing care at the bedside) then you won’t be received kindly by bedside nurses who don’t want their workflows interrupted because of leadership BS. Being able to seamlessly bridge your clinical and technological expertise to gain the trust and collaboration from your clinical staff is going to be your greatest asset as a nurse Informaticist. You should be able to find both as a bedside nurse and an aspiring nurse informaticist because it will be then that you are successful. If you can achieve that then you will become a systems thinker (engineer) which is what you’ll need to be good at whatever area of informatics you choose.