The NI-BC is the nursing informatics credential from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. It is the recognized certification for the specialty that sits between nursing practice and the systems that record and support it.
Eligibility
- A current, active registered nurse licence.
- A bachelor's degree or higher in nursing. This is a hard requirement and the one that most often forces a plan change. See RN to BSN programmes.
- Two years of full-time practice as a registered nurse.
- 30 hours of continuing education in informatics nursing within the last three years.
- One of three practice options.
The three practice options:
- A minimum of 2,000 hours in informatics nursing within the last three years; or
- A minimum of 1,000 hours in informatics nursing within the last three years, plus 12 semester hours of graduate-level informatics coursework; or
- Completion of a graduate informatics programme including at least 200 hours of faculty-supervised practicum.
The third route is what makes this credential reachable for a nurse who studies informatics formally without first holding an informatics job — a real problem in a specialty where most people arrive sideways.
Term: five years. The examination is 150 questions, 125 of them scored, over three hours.
Most people arrive by accident
The usual route into informatics is being the nurse on the unit who was good with the electronic record, getting pulled into a build or a go-live, and never going back.
That is worth knowing when planning the credential, because the informal version of the role often precedes the formal one. Superuser work, testing, documentation redesign, and training all count toward informatics practice hours in ways nurses frequently fail to record. See nursing informatics.
What it opens
Hospital informatics roles, where the credential is commonly preferred and increasingly listed as required for senior posts.
Vendor and consulting work, which is where a large share of experienced informatics nurses end up, usually for more money.
A route off the floor that pays comparably rather than less, which is unusual among the destinations for nurses leaving the bedside. See leaving the bedside.
Many informatics nurses also hold general health information management or project management credentials, which cover the technical and delivery side the nursing credential does not.
Related
Sources
- Informatics Nursing Certification — American Nurses Credentialing Center, on the NI-BC credential, the three practice options, the five-year term, and examination format. Accessed September 9, 2026.
- Promoting Interoperability Programs — Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, for the federal incentives that built the specialty's job market. Accessed September 9, 2026.