a calculator for nurses thinking about leaving bedside —

See exactly how to leave bedside
without going broke.

A free calculator built by a physician and an RN. Plug in your numbers to get your runway, your bridge plan, and the minimum-viable version of your next move. No signup to use it.

You've already decided to leave. What you don't have is a number.

Not for you if you love bedside — it's for nurses who've quietly already decided.

built by a physician & RN · independent · Los Angeles, CA
the gapa plan, not a pitch
ii.How it works

Five steps, start to plan.

A thirty-second look at the real thing. Free, no login, and your line-item numbers never leave your browser.

i.Why this exists

The wall isn't the job market.

The #1 reason nurses don't leave bedside isn't the job market. It's not knowing if they can afford to. In Nurse.org's 2026 State of Nursing survey, 41% of nurses said financial necessity is what keeps them at the bedside — more than schedule, more than calling. This is what it sounds like out loud.

What's stopping me is the pay decrease. I'd need to keep PRN until I cleared a hundred K.

r/HealthInformatics, 2025

I walked into work today, into the lobby, and physically and mentally could not get on the elevator. So I turned around and left.

r/nursing · 1,523 upvotes

I keep applying to utilization review jobs but I have no experience so keep getting rejections.

r/nursing · 80 upvotes

Three quotes from 180+ we read while building this. The calculator below answers the first one.

iv.The Ledger

Pay-cut anxiety, quantified gently.

A free calculator. No signup.

Numbers from BLS, Glassdoor & live job postings · built by a physician & RN · estimates, not advice

The number-one reason nurses don't leave bedside is not knowing if they can. Slide the numbers and watch your runway — how long your savings last — hold, fall short, or come down to a single PRN shift.

1Pick your role

Pick the role you're curious about. Each one reads against the savings runway you build below.

pay & timeline sources: BLS · Glassdoor · real postings · nurse-reported outcomes

pay vs. now compares each role to your current bedside pay — about $8,640/mo before tax by default. Set your own in step 2 below.

pathto 1st paycheckpay vs. nowreading

2Your money

rent or mortgage$2,200
insurance, monthly$350
childcare$0
debt minimums$400
groceries$700
other essentials$250
liquid savings$13,000
— what you make now —

These start at a common bedside default. Drag them to your own pay. That makes $8,640/mo, and every role's pay vs. now below is measured against it.

$ per bedside shift$720
shifts / month12
— bridge income, if you want it —
prn shifts kept / month2
$ per prn shift$720
part-time, hours / week0
3Your reading — for Nursing Informatics / Epic Analyst
5.3 mo.

A bridged runway of 5.3 mo against 5.0 mo to first paycheck. One more PRN shift, or a little more savings, closes the gap.

monthly expenses$3,900
how long your savings last, no other incomeyour “runway”3.3 mo
income while you make the switchyour “bridge”$1,440/mo
how long you last with that incomerunway, bridged5.3 mo
— estimates only. not financial advice.

4The minimal move

The smallest changes that make Nursing Informatics / Epic Analyst safe. Pick whichever fits your life — any one of these closes the gap.

save more first
  • $2,990 more saved
bridge with side income
  • $460/mo bridge income4.2 hrs/week
a blend of both
  • $1,495 more saved
  • $230/mo bridge income2.1 hrs/week
pay change vs. now — Nursing Informatics / Epic Analyst−$640 / mo
Where these numbers come from:pay and timeline figures are drawn from public salary data (BLS, Glassdoor, current job postings) and nurse-reported outcomes, reviewed and updated periodically. They're honest estimates for planning, not guarantees. Your real number varies by region and experience. Built by a physician and an RN, not a coaching upsell.

5get your 90-day plan for nursing informatics / epic analyst

Enter your email and we'll send a step-by-step 90-day plan for nursing informatics / epic analyst: what to do in your first 30, 60, and 90 days, the credential that actually matters, where these roles are really posted, and how to reframe your bedside experience. Your full reading comes with it. We don't store the line-item numbers you entered, only the summary.

iii.The Atlas

A preview of the map we're building.

A few of the off-bedside roles you can sort through. Pay ranges are estimates from BLS + Glassdoor; the full atlas — with certifications worth doing, hiring stories, and first-year pay by region — is part of the app we're building next. The calculator above already covers these and more.

i.

Clinical Informatics

remote · technology-adjacent
$98 — 135K

EHR builds, workflow design, governance. Pairs clinical fluency with product-thinking.

ii.

Utilization Review

remote · phone & chart
$82 — 110K

Review medical necessity for insurers. Predictable hours, computer work.

iii.

Telehealth Triage

remote · shift work
$75 — 95K

Phone-based triage. Bedside skills carry directly.

iv.

Care Management

remote · payer-side caseload
$80 — 105K

Coordinate care for high-risk members. Heavy phone + EHR.

v.

Medical Writing

remote · freelance possible
$70 — 115K

Patient education, CME, regulatory docs. Strong writers thrive.

vi.

Quality Abstractor

remote · per-chart pay
$65 — 85K

Chart abstraction for HEDIS, trauma registries. Per-case structure.

iv.Marginalia

The questions worth answering up front.

Four honest questions, answered the way we'd answer them across a kitchen table. The shorter the list, the truer it stays.

“Will any of this really apply to me?”

It's the question under all the others. We try, here, to be honest about what we know and what we don't. Where the answer is “it depends,” we tell you what it depends on. The calculator is the start of that.

i.

A physician and an RN, in Los Angeles. The calculator is the first tool we've shipped. The bigger app it points toward is being built behind it. We don't take placement commissions, we don't have an employer-side product, and we're not selling a coaching package. It's a planning tool.

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You don't have to figure this out
at three in the morning, on shift.

Run the ledger. Get your runway, your bridge plan, and the minimum-viable version of your move — then, if you want it, a step-by-step 90-day plan for your chosen path, sent to your inbox. Free, and yours in five minutes.

— with affection, the editors ✶