A medication error is a failure in the treatment process that leads to, or has the potential to lead to, harm to

the patient (Aronson, 2009). The quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) initiative has established a

set of competencies for nursing informatics including safety, evidence, quality, and team involvement (Gann,

2015, pg. 60-66). A recent study has found that the likelihood of error occurrence was decreased by forty-

eight percent when an order was processed by computerized provider order entry (CPOE) (World Health

Organization, 2016). Nursing informaticists at the local community hospital analyze orders that are entered

for safety and completeness. One specific area that is monitored very closely is the use of free text

communication orders that involve medications, Reports are set up to run daily that gives the informaticists

information regarding the inappropriate use of communication orders for them to personally address with

physicians. The goal at the local community hospital for barcode scanning is ninety-eight percent for

armbands and medications and the informaticists research incidences in which bypasses were utilized and

safety was compromised due to the lack of following policy. Informaticists have a important role in ensuring

safety during medication administration and it all starts with CPOE and ensuring policies are followed.

It is also imperative for healthcare organizations to utilize informaticists to decrease electronic security

threats. Electronic health records have a tremendous benefit but they also can easily compromise one’s

confidentiality. The key to preserving confidentiality is to allow only authorized individuals to have access to

information (Ozair, 2015, pg. 73-76). Access is granted and restricted to employees by informaticists as they

are administrators in this role. The users should have enough information to carry out their responsibilities

and should be educated on the appropriate use of the electronic health record (Ozair, 2015, pg.73-76). In

order for digital health information to achieve better health outcomes, providers and individuals alike must

trust that an individual’s health information is private and secure (The Office of the National Coordinator for

Health Information, 2015). Without trust in the confidentiality, patients may not want to disclose pertinent

health information and could lead to life threatening consequences (The Office of the National Coordinator for

Health Information, 2015). So as one can see, nursing informaticists have a paramount responsibility for

safeguarding patient safety and also ensuring patient’s health information remains confidential and is used

appropriately.
 References

Aronson, J. (2009, May 20). Medication errors: what they are, how they happen, and how to avoid them. An
International Journal of Medicine, 102(8), pg. 513-521. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcp052

Gann, M. (2015, March). How informatics nurses use bar code technology to reduce medication errors.
Nursing 2015, 45(3), pg. 60-66. Retrieved from doi: 10.1097/01.NURSE.0000458923.18468.37

World Health Organization. (2016). Medication Errors. Retrieved from

http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/252274/9789241511643-
eng.pdf;jsessionid=27D062961655C05276E9DD5EEA81FABD?sequence=1

Ozair, F., Jamshedpur, N., Aggarwal, P. (2015, April). Ethical issues in electronic health records: A general
overview. Perspectives in Clinical Research, 6(2), pg. 73-76. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4394583/

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. (2015, April). Guide to Privacy and
Security of Electronic Health Information. Retrieved from
https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/privacy/privacy-and-security-guide.pdf