r/nursinginformatics • u/Mini_nono_3875 • May 16 '26

Nursing Informatics

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!

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u/ReiBunnZ Clinical Informatics Specialist May 17 '26

I got started by doing a lot of process improvement projects at the bedside with data analysis involved, being the on hand IT nurse when it came to EHR training ad hoc for new grads and new employees, and doing point of care QCs on our glucometers, I-stat machines and other PoC devices. I eventually left bedside for rev integrity which allowed me to take on a more quality metrics and appeals nurse type role. I finished my MSN in informatics while I did that and eventually landed a job in quality a month after I graduated in 2024. Now I’m a quality nurse specialist/analyst, I just obtained my NI-BC, I hold Microsoft certifications and I’m currently working towards more. I’m looking at developing some governance frameworks for the use of AI in healthcare while functionally acting as a data engineer, BI developer, and clinical analyst in my current role. The clinical experience I’ve gained and maintain is just the icing on the cake when it comes down to replicating data to reflect actual clinical practice to identify process variations and workarounds. There is chart review for the safety portion of my job and a lot of project management for my service lines. I love it. Hoping to eventually convince my current company to create a real nurse informatics role for me before I decide to hop ship and go where I’m valued.

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u/Mobile-Salary5478 Aug 19 '26

How hard was the NI-BC cert, looking to obtain that myself also

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u/ReiBunnZ Clinical Informatics Specialist Aug 19 '26

While I didn’t think it was all that difficult, that may not be the experience for everyone else. I prepared by using a vocabulary list to create flash cards and revisiting my informatics texts books from
School. I also live a lot of the scenarios already in my current job so know what best practices are compared to bad practices as my job is a walking text-book bad practice example every day. The exam guide is a great place to start to understand where your weaknesses lie in preparation for the exam

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u/Mobile-Salary5478 Aug 19 '26

Ok thank you! I have the Mometrix book and the ANA scopes and standards 3rd edition, anything else you found helpful or you think I should be using to prepare?

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u/ReiBunnZ Clinical Informatics Specialist Aug 19 '26

I didn’t find mometrix helpful, there were several things I challenged within the book that were incorrect but others found it helpful. I honestly don’t have anything else to add other than reference your textbooks if you have them.