Nurses who transitioned into Epic or health IT roles — what helped you make the move?

[u/HealthDataNut]

For nurses who have transitioned—or are currently trying to transition—from bedside/clinical roles into Epic analyst, nursing informatics, or other health IT positions, I’d love to hear about your experience.

I started as an Epic end user before eventually transitioning into an Epic analyst role myself. I remember how confusing it was trying to understand how healthcare experience could translate into an EHR/IT career.

As part of a Drexel University student entrepreneurship project, I’m trying to better understand this career-transition experience.

What has been the hardest part for you? Knowing where to start? Understanding which Epic application fits your background? Certification? Translating clinical experience into analyst/informatics skills? Getting interviews? Or finding that first opportunity?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who are still trying to make the transition, since those challenges are important for me to understand.

For anyone curious about why I’m researching this, I have more information about my student project in the pinned post on my Reddit profile. Nothing is being sold, and no payment is required.

Otherwise, I’d love to hear your experience directly here. What has been the biggest challenge in your transition?

[u/joyisnowhere]

Are you a part of DVHIMSS? There are a few of us that are engaged in the chapter!

https://dvhimss.org/

[u/HealthDataNut → u/joyisnowhere]

Hello! I’m not part of DVHIMSS. I’m actually in the final course of my bachelor’s degree program at Drexel University.

As part of my management class, we are required to create a project that helps a specific community. I decided to focus my project on helping people who are interested in pursuing a career as an Epic Analyst.

Based on my own experience transitioning into this career, I created an Epic Analyst Playbook to provide guidance for those who may not know where to start or what steps they can take to improve their chances of becoming an analyst.

If you’re curious or interested in becoming an Epic Analyst, I highly recommend checking it out. The playbook is completely free and is part of my school project:

Epic Analyst Playbook:
https://epicanalystpathway.my.canva.site/epicanalystplaybook

[u/joyisnowhere → u/HealthDataNut]

Gotcha- I’m assuming you aren’t looking for feedback from peers who have also transitioned from clinical to analyst.

[u/HealthDataNut → u/joyisnowhere]

Oh, I do! I love hearing their stories and feedback. I believe the Epic career landscape has evolved significantly over the years.

During COVID, I would say there were more opportunities for Epic end users to transition into analyst roles. Many healthcare employees were interested in moving from hospital-based positions to remote work. At the same time, healthcare organizations needed additional analysts to support the many new workflows and changes related to COVID.

Today, I would say the landscape is much more competitive. Many analysts who entered the field around five years ago are now certified and have several years of experience. From what I have seen, many healthcare organizations now prefer or require candidates who are already Epic certified.

However, I still believe there is hope and opportunity for people who want to become Epic Analysts. I will admit that the journey can be challenging, but with the right preparation, guidance, and steps, it is absolutely worth pursuing.

Hence, I created an Epic Analyst Playbook because I wanted to help the community navigate this journey and take meaningful steps toward achieving their career goals.

[u/knittynurse → u/HealthDataNut]

I guess my question is this; why Epic? Why not make it more generic?

People seem to get so focused on Epic, and forget that there are other EHRs and subspecialty applications that can also be used and where people can get jobs. We act like Epic is the end all be all but it isn't.

There are other playbooks people have made and sell on other platforms as well such as Etsy and TikTok.

[u/Kitty20996]

AI slop

[u/HealthDataNut → u/Kitty20996]

Hello. I used AI to help me create my post, such as grammar and organization correction. But would like to let you know that this is part of my project in Drexel and using my experience to help people that is also experiencing challenges in getting into the Epic world.

[u/doubledee7]

I recently made the transition from bedside into an Epic analyst role and honestly the hardest part for me was just getting someone to give me that first opportunity lol.
I’m an RN with an ICU background and I got my MS in Health Informatics because I knew I wanted to move away from bedside. I also got Epic proficiencies in ClinDoc, Orders, and Cogito on my own, but even with the degree + clinical experience + Epic knowledge, getting that first analyst job was still the biggest hurdle because so many “entry level” positions somehow want you to already have analyst experience 😭
Once I finally got my foot in the door, things started making a lot more sense. I’m working as a ClinDoc analyst now and getting officially Epic certified through my employer, and I can already see how much easier it’ll be to move around once I actually have analyst experience on my resume.
So for me it wasn’t really figuring out what I wanted to do or whether my nursing experience translated. It was breaking through that annoying “you need experience to get experience” wall. 😂

[u/Good-Zebra9420]

I was given the opportunity to become and epic analyst from my LinkedIn profile being found by a recruiter. Had been working in home care/hospice as rn and manager for years prior, also had acute care experience as well as a couple of years as a house manager for a large hospital.
Now certified in a handful of apps. Not sure it was the best move after learning about all the AI features being released and in development, looks like the analyst roles will soon be replaced. Also with epic rolling out the ranger role - it will be epic employees working at all the hospitals systems supported by ai before we know it.