From Super User to Strategist: Building Informatics Career Paths for APPs
Many advanced practice providers (APPs) find that their first step into informatics is unintentional. It can start when an APP notices that the same alert, order, or documentation task keeps getting in the way of care. This often leads to fixing a template, rebuilding a dot phrase, or helping colleagues work through an awkward workflow.
As a psychiatric nurse practitioner working full time in a busy community clinic, I became frustrated by how often the EHR (electronic health record) intended to support me was pulling my attention away from the person in front of me. My first “informatics” project was simply modifying a dot phrase to work more like a form for FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) and accommodation documentation. One small fix led to another. Eventually, a leader recognized that I was not just customizing my own workflow; I was noticing patterns, redesigning processes, and thinking about how the system could work better.
Many APPs enter informatics this same way: informally.
These individuals become our super users, our subject matter experts, the “techy ones,” or the people everyone calls in when a workflow that just went live does not make sense. But what comes after that is often not clear. Though this pathway starts with natural competency, it can progress into shadow workforce of informal support , rather than elevating that expertise to where it can do the greatest good.
Perla Pena Ybarra, APRN, CNS, MSN, AGCNS-BC did not enter informatics through a single role change. Her path grew out of pursuing repeated opportunities to improve care: redesigning workflows, using data to understand variation, and partnering with informatics teams on solutions that could scale beyond one unit or site. Over time, she added skills in implementation science, change management, Power BI, and Power Platform, turning her clinical improvement work into a broader systems-level informatics practice.
Recognition of skill matters, but recognition alone does not create a career path.
The next step is intentional development. APPs do not need to earn another master’s degree before they can contribute meaningfully to informatics efforts. They need opportunities to build skills in workflow observation, usability, safety, governance, change leadership, and measurement. They need mentors who can help them understand how a frontline problem moves from observation to building a solution, as well as governance, implementation, and evaluation of that solution. How can we build apprenticeship models that pair clinicians with informatics mentors and analyst partners so they can learn by doing?
Caralee Anderson, MN-NP, BSN, CCN(C) entered informatics incrementally, first through workflow improvement and then through formal builder training, cross-environment education, ticket support, and one-on-one optimization. Each experience added another layer of technical and operational knowledge, turning informal problem-solving into a more deliberate informatics skill set.
That transition also requires something simple but essential: time.
Too much informatics work still happens between patients, after hours, or on top of a full clinical workload. Protected time turns informal contribution into real, accountable work. Even a modest allocation of 0.1 or 0.2 FTEs can give an emerging informaticist the space to build their skills, measure outcomes, and move beyond one-off fixes.
The next inflection point is governance.
Clinicians should not only be asked for feedback after a decision has been made. Meaningful APP participation involves helping to define the problem, shaping the solution, and sharing responsibility for the outcome. Governance around documentation, clinical decision support, workflow design, and optimization can become one of the most important learning environments for future informatics leaders.
For Dana Gentile, APRN, FNP-BC volunteering as an ambient documentation champion became her on-ramp. She began tracking adoption, reviewing charts, coaching providers, and independently learning about AI governance and implementation. That work led to becoming the first APP on her organization’s AI Governance Committee and AI Technology Workgroup. Michael Thorn, DNP, APRN, started his journey by noticing a recurring surgical-care problem causing bedside frustration and created a solution through invention disclosure, patenting, and a clinical trial. Along the way, he learned institutional governance and technology-transfer pathways, taught himself prototyping and AI tools, and eventually moved into formal APP innovation leadership roles.
The details of each journey may differ, but the pattern is consistent. An APP notices a problem. Someone gives them the opportunity to work on it. A mentor helps them understand their ability to impact the larger system. Protected time allows the work room to become intentional. Governance teaches them how enterprise priorities guide decisions. Over time, the person who simply fixed a template can become the person helping shape operational strategy.
The goal isn’t to turn every APP into an informaticist; it is to make sure the APP who already thinks like an informaticist has a path forward to realize that potential and make a difference.