Module 2: The Role of the Informatics Specialist in Healthcare When a patient needed to receive two units of packed red blood cells (PRBC), the process in regards to the EMR were not exactly seamless. We transferred over to a record system known as Epic back in April and a few bumps have been encountered along the way. Recently, more and more patients have required blood transfusions which has uprooted problems within the new system. A patient required PRBC immediately however, problems with barcodes and their recognition have been inconsistent posing a patient safety issue. I realized this issue and brought my concerns to the lead educators. After much discussion with nurse executives and educators, a solution was brought to Epic representatives. Specific modifications are in the works in order to make the blood transfusion aspect of the software more user-friendly and efficient. For information/data to be accessible, timely, and accurate nursing informatics must play a role. Innovations within medical technology are improving daily and with this comes an increasing need for informatics. In order for informatics to make an impact, its accessibility to nurses is pivotal to provide optimal care for their patients (Macieria, Smith, Davis, Yao, Wilkie, Lopez, & Keenan, 2017). For example, the communication and time that it takes for a nurse to recognize the flaw and for that flaw to be fixed is a lengthy process that must become more efficient. According to Wang, Kung, and Byrd (2016), hiring individuals who have a firm background in information technology and analytical skills would allow the utilization of data outputs and would effectively equip managers and employees to make accurate interpretations of results.
