Cerner or Epic - Which do you prefer?

[LewisDanielUSA]

I currently work at a hospital that uses Cerner EHR and am doing great with it. I want to work at a larger hospital and will have more options available if I am willing to switch to Epic (which I have never used). As a nurse, what do you think of using Epic? For nurses who have used both Cerner and Epic, which system do you prefer?

[verene, MSN]

One thing to remember is that hospitals can customize both Epic and Cerner for their hospitals and for individual units, so it can be hard to compare them directly, as the program may look slightly different unit to unit even with in the same hospital.

I've used both and I don't find them hugely different from one another. Both are worlds better than other EHRs I've used.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I've used both, and prefer Epic quite a bit, but as verene stated, so much of it depends on how your individual facility has customized it (or, if you're using someone else's platform, how THEY have customized it).

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

LOVE Epic. Changed my nursing. I, for some reason, had an natural affinity for Epic and I am much more efficient.

[/username, BSN, RN]

It could be allscripts or meditech...

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

Agree with the customization comment. While I've not worked with Cerner, I've worked at three different facilities that use Epic and there are some differences in the way the lay out and functionalities are customized based on the facility's preference and budget. All in all, I prefer the Epic customization at the large academic medical center I currently work full time for but that's likely just because I've used it longer than the others.

[Swellz]

I prefer Epic, but have seen it so heavily customized that it's not as useful at some health systems than others. Cerner is good too; I've only used it in one health system, and it really wants to be intuitive but it's not quite there. That could just be the way this health system uses it though, as I can't compare it. If you can get used to one of them you can easily get used to the other.

Edit: It also depends on the purpose though. I don't mind using either for certain things (inpatient assessment charting, for example), but when I give chemo, I find the set up with Epic is far superior to what Cerner has to offer.