DOI: 05/21/2015. Patient is a 52-year-old male control operator who sustained an injury to his low back after lifting 42-pound rolls. Patient is diagnosed with lumbar isthmic spondylolisthesis, lumbar degenerative disc disease, lumbar foraminal stenosis, and lumbar radiculopathy. MRI of the lumbar spine dated 09/01/15 showed L5 to S1 pars defects with mild spondylolisthesis.
Moreover, several studies have been conducted to examine the effects of low nurse staffing on patients hospitalization experiences, as well as its effect on nurse careers in the long run. A recent study by Frith, Anderson, Tseng, and Fong (2012) to explore the relationship between nurse staffing and medication errors, demonstrated that medication errors were higher in a cardiac care unit and non-cardiac care unit when staffing levels were lower. In addition, Frith et al. (2012) pointed out that medication errors increase by 18% for every 20% decrease in nurse staffing below the average due to failure to follow medication administration protocol As mentioned earlier, nurses perform the last and the most important step of medication administration. Thus, having adequate time to assess each patient efficiently and following the medication rights is critical to provide safe patient care and prevent errors.
In its report on patient safety, The Joint Commission (2016) mandates that a minimum of two patient identifiers should be used when caring for patients, including but not limited to the administration of medication, collecting blood samples, performing medical treatments and procedures, etc. Patient names, birthdates, telephone number, assigned identification numbers, or other person-specific identifiers can be used to identify individuals for who care or treatment is to be provided. The rationale behind this policy is twofold: it identifies the person who the procedure or treatment is intended, and it matches the procedure, treatment, and/or service to a specific individual (The Joint Commission, 2016). Per The Joint Commission (2016), outcomes for the use of two patient identifiers will result in less patient errors during the course of diagnosis and treatment.
Before performing any procedure, I would explain what I am going to do and ask for their permission every time. 5. If you were planning the care of this patient write one priority nursing diagnosis, with a patient goal, and interventions, that would address the safety needs of
I will need to observe the medication administration record, Control drugs record, generic & brand names documents and risk assessment documents. This is important in order to avoid errors while dispensing a medication. Knowing all this beforehand will enable me know the type of medication written on the prescription and where to get them from (fridge, cupboard or the shelves). This knowledge will promote and help to maintain independence in the appropriate way to handle prescription.
Medication administration is one of the highest risks in health care. The problem with medication administration is that is is very easy to have medication errors occur. It is the role of the nurse to promote health, prevent illness, and achieve optimal recovery by administering medications; and it is this process that can also cause injuries and death to these patients from errors that could have been prevented. Medication errors occur at points of transition in care: admission to the hospital, transfer from department to another, and at discharge home or to another facility (Taylor, Lillis, & LeMone, 2015). While it may be difficult to completely eliminate medication errors, we can examine what causes these errors to occur and find solutions
Preventatives for Medication Errors Administration of medications has become more complex and the process more exacting. About 15% of adverse events occurring in hospitals are related to medication. An estimated 98,000 people die every year from medical errors in U.S. hospitals, and a significant number of those deaths are associated with medication errors (Tzeng, Yin & Schneider, 2013). About 700,000 emergency department visits and 120,000 hospitalizations are due to ADEs annually ("Medication safety basics," August ). These errors occur commonly when the nurse becomes easily distracted and loses focus on the task at hand.
Technology is a massive part of our society today and it is continuously changing. It can help solve issues and increase sufficiency. One safety issue that technology can help improve is medication administration errors that occur in hospitals and other health care settings. A medication administration error is defined as any preventable event that could possibly result in unsuitable medication use or harm to the patient while the health care professional is in control of the medication. The most common type of medical error is medication errors.
Universal patient identifiers can safely enhance efficiency to connect patients to their healthcare records. Although, many patients evade the anguish from adverse events due to a misidentification from the existing patient-matching technology, however misidentification in patients can have inflated financial ramifications to hospital systems. “Denied claims can become a huge waste of time and money for any practice manager; per a recent MGMA Connection article the average cost to rework a claim is $25. When you multiply that cost by dozens of denied claims, it quickly adds up”. (Taufen, A., MA., 2014).
A medication is considered a blessing when it is prescribed, dispensed and administered correctly, however medication errors are encountered everyday all over the world regardless of the best efforts (1). Medication error is a potential cause of morbidity and mortality of hospitalized patients as reported by the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP), which showed that approximately 0.1 million people die annually from medical errors that occur in hospitals and the resulting death toll/year due to medication errors is higher than that of work place injuries (2). Furthermore, it was estimated that hospitalized patients are subjected to expensive and sometimes harmful medication error during their
If we question what causes nursing homes medication errors? There are some common problem in the nursing homes. Paul & Perkins (2013), “in most nursing homes, medication is administered when a nurse or nursing staff member completes a “med pass.” A “med pass” is the common term used to describe the process of dispensing medicine to nursing home patients as ordered”. During a med pass, the nurse uses a cart to carry the medicines.
Medication Errors Kendra Jenkins 07/23/2015 Keiser University Florida Abstract With the medication errors of nurses, what they are planning to do means a whole lot. Plenty of times, the media shows the negative sides of nurses and them giving medications wrongfully but almost ignoring the great work that they do over many years. For the most part, nurses are there to help in any way they can.
It has been notice that medication error is a problem on our unit. By doing some research it was found out that between 48,000 to 98,000 hospitalized Americans die each year due to medical error. Of this number 7,000 deaths are attributed by medication error. These statistics only report hospitalized based and no other health care settings like ours. As a result of the increase medical error incidents the Florida Legislative passed law mandating all health care professionals to do continuous education courses per on year prevention of medical errors.
MEDICATION ERROR: "A medication error is any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer.(7) Medication errors are known, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which account for approximately 1,000,000 medical errors per year. Those of which, approximately 10% have been resulted a death. Medication Administration Errors (MAE's) is defined as 'any occurring deviation by the physician's medication order as written for patient's medication order chart' it has been broadened to 'mistakes associated with drugs and intravenous solutions which are made during prescribing it, transcription,
Evidence-based resources/books are available to prevent medication error, strategies to be used to ensure correct medication administration and high alert medication require extra caution when administering can improve the student nurse’s ability to think analytically and solve medication administration problems. The Nursing student must be taught math calculation for medication administration often. Adequate practice with real problem solving can effectively reinforce these skills and provide the
