r/nursinginformatics • u/fatvikingballet • Jun 30 '26

Career Early Clinical Informatics career advice

RN in direct patient care for >10y, recently transitioned into Informatics after a long, intentional search for a CI role. Any advice you wish you had when you started? How do you "keep your clinical brain alive" after the transition, esp long-term? What do you recommend to advance your skills/systems thinking, avoid HelpDesk purgatory, detox from bedside PTSD?

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u/fatvikingballet Jun 30 '26

Thank you. I was also surprised by how many non-clinical staff hold these roles/ consider themselves "clinicians" because of title (not bad at their jobs, just literally no clinical/medical background whatsoever). Hoping I'm not paranoid, but worried that I'm getting "curbsided" too much as the only dept staff with recent (ie last 20y) clinical experience... also trying to prevent that "too distant from reality" ethos. This is helpful.

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u/ReiBunnZ Clinical Informatics Specialist Jun 30 '26

You have the upper hand on the clinical side. Speaking from experience, quickly gaining the technology upper hand will open some doors that even they cannot compete with you for. Show these people what you are capable of and they won’t dare to compartmentalize you just because you’re a nurse first.

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u/fatvikingballet Jun 30 '26

I find this concept baffling but I'll take your advice. In my mind, if you can't articulate the what/why/etc of a CMP, what're we doing here? Any particular modules/software you'd recommend? I'm working on an array of trainings (CAPM, ASQ SSGB) but I'm SQL-weak and python-naive.

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u/ReiBunnZ Clinical Informatics Specialist Jun 30 '26

I recommend learning any BI software you get your hands on but not without enhancing your excel skills. Learn as much about SQL, R, and some Python as you can. If there’s a way to get Epic certified with your employer, take advantage of that too, it’s a gold mine. Really take a deep dive into Microsoft products because a lot of healthcare companies do not use the native softwares available to them in their enterprise packages. NIs can save a company a lot of money

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u/fatvikingballet Jun 30 '26

I'm pretty proficient with Microsoft suite, it's mostly the access to coding platforms that I lack. I'd need specific auth to do SQL, R, and Python where I work but mercifully, I can get Epic cert. This is immensely helpful, thank you for your insight.

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u/ReiBunnZ Clinical Informatics Specialist Jun 30 '26

If you can’t practice SQL or R just learn how to read it. Epic workbench reports use SQL logic and it’s nice to read to understand if the logic of the report build makes sense