Transitioning into Tech: A Handbook for Nurses Seeking a Career Change
In the rapidly evolving world of healthcare, nurses are not only providing patient care but also making a significant impact in the tech sector. With the healthcare IT market projected to grow by 29% by 2030, according to Grandview Research, there is a growing demand for nurses with technical skills.
Nurses who want to leave patient care completely and transition into tech have several promising career paths, leveraging their clinical expertise alongside new technical skills. Here are five common tech career paths for nurses:
1. Health Informatics Specialist / Health Data Analyst
Nurses can apply their understanding of healthcare settings to manage, analyse, and optimise healthcare data systems. With additional training in data analysis and informatics, they can help improve clinical workflows, electronic health records, and patient outcomes through data-driven solutions.
2. Healthcare Product Manager / Health Tech Development
Nurses are well-positioned to work as product managers or developers for health technology companies, especially in biotech and pharmaceuticals. Their firsthand patient care experience informs the creation and improvement of healthcare software and medical devices, ensuring these tools meet clinical needs effectively.
3. Digital Nurse Training & Simulation Development
Some nurses transition into designing or programming immersive digital training platforms and simulations for nursing education, often using technologies like AI and game development engines (e.g., Unity). This combines nursing knowledge with software development to advance nurse training methodologies.
4. Telehealth Technology Roles
While telehealth nursing still involves patient care, it is heavily reliant on digital tools and platforms. Nurses moving more fully into tech might support telehealth platform development, implementation, or management, focusing on technology rather than direct clinical care.
5. Clinical Governance and Quality Assurance Tech Roles
Experienced nurses can pivot into roles related to clinical governance, quality assurance, or healthcare service management that are more tech-centric, often involving health informatics and technology systems that ensure compliance and improve care standards.
These paths typically require additional training or certification in areas like software development, data analytics, health informatics, or technology project management to complement nursing expertise. Companies highly value nurses’ clinical insight to create impactful, practical health tech solutions, making this transition increasingly common and rewarding.
Former nurses like Emily Rose Gama and Karina Gashchenkowasn have successfully transitioned into tech roles. Emily Rose Gama, enrolling in a three-month immersive Data Science program, is now working as a Nurse Informatician at HEALTH[at]SCALE Technologies. Karina Gashchenkowasn, facing staffing issues, supply issues, and the influx of sick people with COVID-19, transitioned to UX/UI Design.
The tech sector is growing rapidly, with healthcare technology being a significant part of this growth. As more nurses consider a career change, the opportunities for nurses to leverage their unique skills and make an impact in the tech industry continue to expand.
- A nurse aspiring to leave patient care and pursue a career in the tech sector could consider a role as a Health Informatics Specialist or Health Data Analyst, utilizing their healthcare expertise to manage, analyze, and optimize healthcare data systems, and additionally train in data analysis and informatics to improve clinical workflows and patient outcomes.
- Nurses with a desire to work in product management or development for health technology companies can leverage their firsthand patient care experience to inform the creation and improvement of healthcare software and medical devices, making a considerable impact in the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors.
