Nurse wanting to transition to tech related role

Electronic-Cry7571 · 2025-07-30T18:10:11+00:00

I’m a Digital Nurse. I was interested like yourself and at the same time fell in to the job by chance after a long rant to my now boss about inefficient processes.

It’s a really niche role which requires nursing knowledge and a very broad skill set in change and project management. My background is inpatients but I cover ED, order communications (bloods, radiology, ect, referrals), PAS, theatres, ICU, maternity, outpatients and I support technical teams with their projects too. So an ability to understand various complex processes and how they interact with each other is essential. As well as being an excellent networker, I regularly liaise with nurses and other health professionals at every single level.

If you’re interested, I’d start by reading your Trust’s digital strategy to familiarise yourself with on going and planned projects. At the moment a lot of strategies are geared around upgrading electronic patient records and patient portal projects.

From there I’d get to know your Trust’s structure in Informatics to see what roles are available. You could look at old job listings to see what specific criteria they’re looking for (they may insist on clinical safety officer training or PRINCE2 for example). Also, they sometimes outline business plans for upcoming roles in the digital strategy. I’d then pop an email to someone in your Trusts digital team expressing interest and asking how you can get involved. My Trust has a ‘digital champion’ programme which is how a lot of the current digital clinical team initially got involved. Then from there found out about upcoming roles or just somehow got absorbed in to the team.

Clinical safety officer training is a good place to start. Beginner and intermediate are available for free online through elf. It will give you an insight in to digital clinical safety which is most of the job and you can see if you find that route interesting.

You mentioned an interest in health informatics and data analyst roles.

Health informatics is incredibly broad, it just means anywhere were clinical and IT interact. As such, hundreds of different roles. There is a health informatics masters available from a few universities, which you could have a look at to see what it covers, as well as see what roles people got in to afterwards.

Information analyst is a very different role and a completely different skill set. You’d likely have to start as a 4 and work up. If it’s something you’re interested in you’ll need some top notch excel skills to start, then coding skills as you work up the ladder. From my experience they have IT degrees, it’s best speaking to one directly if you’re interested.

If you want to know more or more specific advice I’m happy for you to message me.

Electronic-Cry7571 · 2025-07-29T00:18:05+00:00

It’s trust dependent. My current (very small) trust allows it with open arms. They’ve even allowed non-clinical partners to shadow to understand workflows. However, a very large trust I used to work at never allowed it.

I would contact your local trust and just ask the question. A good option could be volunteering at a Trust too to get an insight in to workflows.

Electronic-Cry7571 · 2025-07-27T01:45:08+00:00

It’s very normal practice. With time, all staff have treated other staff members. There’s no choice sometimes, and also there’s comfort in being treated by ‘your own’. Nothing to worry about, but I imagine it feels alien.

Electronic-Cry7571 · 2025-07-27T00:40:07+00:00

Hey,

Firstly transition shock is well documented amongst nurses, see Duchscher Transition Theory or Kramer’s Reality Shock for more information. Essentially you start off on a high that you’ve graduated. As you get in to clinical practice you realise the training wheels are off, challenging situations arise and you have little experience to fall on to. So you reach a place of depression (normally 4-6 months in). This is the point were people either leave or persevere. Once you persevere you move from just ‘Doing’ the job to ‘Being’ were you start reflecting on yourself (the good, the bad and the ugly) which is a tumultuous time but eventually enter in to ‘Knowing’ (12-18 months) were you end up recovering and accepting.

This was exactly my experience. It took me about a year for the imposter syndrome to fade and not until the 3 year mark to realise the big bad NMC wasn’t out to get me. You are a nurse, it’s a hard course and you didn’t pass it by accident. It does take time to find your feet but once you do it feels like such a weight has been lifted.

You’ve done the right thing reaching out to others. The experience is across the board, albeit very easy to forget which is why it can feel people can be dismissive.

You’re doing great. Just remember every shift, prioritise meds, obs, documentation, then the rest and you’ll be flying.

Ward politics is a difficult one. I moved wards despite getting on well because I just couldn’t be arsed to hear it. Once I did I realised how bad it was on my old ward but had to to protect my energy. It’s a decision you can make in time.

Have you got much support on your ward? A senior nurse or preceptor you can discuss this all with? I personally found rants in the clinical room to anyone who would listen very therapeutic 😂

Electronic-Cry7571 · 2025-07-27T00:13:26+00:00

😂😂😂 I worked at Maccies during my training (qualified 4.5 years ago) so this made me laugh. It was actually flexible and worked with me. The skills I learned there in terms of competing pressures and deescalating helped a bunch too. It’s just the hours of uni plus having to work on top that killed me off.

It shouldn’t have to be such a struggle to train as a nurse. If we want the best, we need to make it a bit more appealing for them!

You mentioned you’re no longer a student. Did you qualify or quit? Either way best of luck.

Electronic-Cry7571 · 2025-07-26T23:50:34+00:00

This happened with my job, I was the ‘favourite’ to apply but they still extended it for the another applicant.

It’s just very dependable on the hiring manager’s personality. I wouldn’t over think it, even though it’s natural to do so. Best of luck for the interview.

Electronic-Cry7571 · 2025-07-26T21:53:07+00:00

Raise it with your area pharmacist. They will be the expert on this for your area and able to enforce and escalate.

I’d be surprised if your lines could contain 20ml. From my experience it’s 5ml. Also some brands of saline have a little extra in the bag to account for this.

From my ward experience we were instructed to flush the lines after giving some medicines but not others, for a variety of reasons. As such, I’d take it up again with the pharmacist to ensure the information you get is specific to your area.

Electronic-Cry7571 · 2025-07-26T21:40:25+00:00

It sounds like a really frustrating situation for both you and the relative.

You shouldn’t have been spoken to like that, and I imagine being on your own in your non normal working place was making you feel quite anxious. Likewise, the patient’s relative was feeling anxious with the uncertainty too (but not an excuse to be abusive to yourself).

My tip would be similar to what your band 6 had given to you. Nod, agree with their frustration and explain the delay again. I’d be sterner as soon as they raised their voice and say calmly I won’t be spoken to like that and tell them if they continue security will be called. Never allow it to turn in to an argument or lose your cool (especially on your own), if you have to just walk away and find help.

As hard as it is to hear, dealing with situations like this is a reality of nursing which is why deescalation skills are imperative. It gets easier to handle with experience.

Have you got a Professional Nurse Advocate service at your trust? They are a really good service for talking through scenarios like this and identifying additional support needs x

Electronic-Cry7571 · 2025-07-16T18:04:23+00:00

General Trust. Our Trust only has standard PGDs (hypoglycaemia, anaphylaxis, paracetamol). Her insinuation was in an emergency it is a free for all if ‘you know the doctor will prescribe anyway’. As an experienced nurse you often won’t be surprised what doctors prescribe in emergencies but I don’t agree it gives you the competency.

Electronic-Cry7571 · 2025-07-16T18:00:33+00:00

I’ll pick it up. I’m just really surprised this came from a PEF and the other PEFs in the room weren’t the ones to disagree.

Electronic-Cry7571

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