Overview According to the Food and Drug Administration, medication error is a failure in the treatment process that occurs very often and posts a threat to patients. It is clearly frequent and is often avoidable but puts risk to patients. As stated in a report of the Institute of Medicine, there is a 1.5 million cases of occurrence of medication error in the United States every year (Westbrook, J.I., Woods, A., Rob, M.I., Dunsmuir, W.T., Day, R.O. (2010). ). This high incidence of medication error should be our primary focus because medication administration has a very big role and is an important part of the nurse’s role. Studies have also shown that interruptions to nurses during administration of medications have been a big factor to an …show more content…
First will be to do the person approach in which the errors and lapses are being made by the individual doing the procedure. The second approach is the system approach, where-in environment and the conditions in which a person works in plays a factor in it. For we cannot change the condition where human plays a big role, we will be needing to work in the system approach where we will prevent or at the least minimize the disturbances in the surroundings of the caregiver doing the procedure. Studies have shown that this disruptions and interruptions doesn’t solely affect the chance of having an medication error but it also increases the time of completion of the task. With this, researchers tried to examine the effect on the rates of procedural failures. Several studies have shown a result of increase in the risk of medication error from 2.3% which has no interruptions to 4.7% with interruptions. The data gathered imply that although errors can occur without interruptions, you will most likely decrease the chance of error if you reduce interruptions during the procedure. ( cited in Susan M. Hohenhaus, MA, RN, FAEN and Stephen M. Powell, MS (2008 ) …show more content…
This figure is reported from several small studies and compared to the report of the U.S Pharmacopeia which relied on the data provided to that institution for 1999. Also, according to Landmark 2006 report “ Preventing Medication Errors “ these errors injure 1.5 million Americans each year and losts 3.5 billion in wages and additional medical expenses. As for the Philippines, there is no actual number on the number of cases because of the lack of statistical data from studies conducted here, this study utilized studies from the US to further explain the case. Considering the large number of incidence due to this issue in the US, we can say that there will be more cases of which in the Philippines because of the technological difference and the lag in the nursing care system in the Philippines. This numbers brought awareness to me that we nurses as researchers need to find ways to reduce the rate of incidence of medication errors which greatly affects the safety of our clients. The nurses main role is to promote safety and healing of the patient. Florence Nightingale stated in her book entitled “Notes on Hospitals published in 1859, “ the very first requirement in a hospital is that sit should do the sick no harm”. The sterile cockpit technique is now being integrated to the field of medicine for it can greatly reduce the number of errors present in our current situation by eliminating interruptions
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Show MoreFisher Week Three Response to McConnelly Yvonne, your post was extremely intriguing to me as a community health department is not an environment I have had the privilege of experiencing. Interestingly, the utilization of computerized order entry does not prevent the prescriber from ordering an incorrect medication dose or the wrong drug (Lapane, Waring, Dube’, & Schneider, 2011). Do the facility employ process to assure nurses are checking the medication in order to avoid the administration of an incorrect drug or dosage? Distractions have been linked to medication errors, consequently, and the ability to care for a solitary patient at one time clearly minimizes the distractions and interruptions that a nurse may experience during medication
Strategies are methods or plans that solves a problem; strategies are essential to resolve issues to be able to prevent them from happening again and it helps to do a better job. Computerized physician’s order, electronic medication administration record with a barcode and reviewing the practice standards from CNO such as medication and documentation are the suggested strategies to inhibit the incidents and the breached ethical values from occurring again. Moreover, using information technology is the first strategy to impede medication error in the long-term care facility where an ethical value such as commitment to client was breached.
ADEs associated with medication discrepancies can prolong hospital stays and, in the post-discharge period, may lead to emergency room visits, hospital readmissions, and utilization of other health care resources. Preventable adverse drug events (PADE) are associated with 1 of 5 injuries or deaths and a result of poorly designed systems, which often lack independent redundancies. Preventable ADEs at transition points of care account for 46-56% of all medication errors. One strategy to reduce PADEs and ADEs is to reconcile the medication orders between the two transition points. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) defines medication reconciliation as a formal process to compile a list of all the medications a patient is taking before admission, and comparing it with the doctor’s admission, transfer and discharge orders.
Six months after the introduction of medication aides, error rates were as follows: RN (2.75%), LPN (7.25%) and medication aides (6.06%) with a mean error rate of 6.6%” Randolph & Scott-Calwiezell (2010) as cited in Budden (2011). While errors remain, the objective of reducing inaccuracies among primary nursing staff was achieved by
Medication errors can be very dangerous for the ones taking the wrong medicines or doses; therefore, safety measures must be in place. Administering them must be done with an understanding and focus. One missed check could have a staff member giving a resident the wrong set of pills. Some interventions to help prevent the medication error from occurring is to first report errors. When errors are reported, the main cause is to try and never let the error occur again.
Reporting medication errors is beneficial to improve the learning process for nurses. The factors of workload, ineffective communication, and distraction all contribute to medication errors (Sears et al., 2013). Nurses often excuse the behavior of colleagues when a medication error occurs, or nurses will pass the buck to a senior nurse to report the medication error (Haw, Stubbs and Dickens, 2014). Implementing a no blame policy for reporting medication errors, and providing nurses with the knowledge and training to report medication errors will result in an increase of medication errors reported. References Haw, C., Stubbs, J. and Dickens, G. (2014).
In the world today registered nurses are expected to know about the drugs they administer, their indications, contradictions and adverse effects and correct doses. Any RN can rattle off the correct procedure for safe drug administration. Although, despite this knowledge the incidence of drug errors remain high (Tindale, 2007). A common drug error that occurs is between Amphetamine, which is a CNS stimulant and Propranolol, which is a beta blocker.
Medication Errors and Environmental Conditions Introduction: A medication error is defined as 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 ("National Coordinating Counsel for Medical Error and Prevention," 2015, p. 1). Medication errors, when pertaining to nursing, are typically caused by either active failures or latent conditions. Active failures often display themselves as a form of incorrect drug calculations, lack of individual knowledge, and failure to follow established work place protocol. Latent conditions refer to time pressures, fatigue, understaffing (patient- nurse ratio increase), inexperience, and inadequate equipment (Carlton & Blegen, 2006).
Medication errors are a major preventable health issue in hospitals, extended care facilities, and home health agencies. Errors in medication administration can contribute to allergic reactions, hospital acquired disease or disability, and possibly even death. As part of the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) initiative, there are several competency areas for nurses to focus on to better patient care. In regards to medication errors, informatics and teamwork are essential practices to ensure medication is given with the utmost regard for the eventual health of the individual receiving the treatment. Teamwork and informatics are linked for the purpose of avoiding medication errors because medications are prescribed by doctors, administered
Analyzing a Current Health Care Problem or Issue This essay examines medication errors’ sources, effects, and prevention measures. This paper seeks to raise awareness and knowledge of this critical patient safety issue by exploring the definition, key players, and root causes of medication errors. The information presented will help identify the elements, solutions, and implementation to reduce medication errors, increase medication administration procedures, and improve patient safety in healthcare environments. Standardization of medication practices through establishing protocols, guidelines, and naming conventions can minimize confusion and mitigate the risk of errors. Open communication and collaboration among healthcare professionals
Medications that are given wrong can lead to serious side effects for the patient, and maybe even death. The nurse should be very careful to read everything before giving the medication to the patient, and should be very thorough when administering it to them. Nurses can make big mistakes by giving the wrong medication to the wrong patient, and this should be avoided at all costs. Careful medication administration should be implemented, so that patients have the best care
Many policymakers are giving huge attention toward medical errors that affect patient safety improvements by redesigning the delivery of healthcare system and methods and preparing plans for any inevitable errors that might occur in future as these errors often lead to adverse healthcare events and could be considered as the leading cause death. The incidence rate of medical errors were not well known until many countries have reported in 1990s that a lot of patients have harmed and died by medical errors they faced. The most reported medication errors were: wrong dose, delayed medicine or treatment, and wrong medicine taken. (Patrick A. Palmieri, 2008). In Saudi Arabia a lot of medical errors incidences were reported which were one of the
Physicians, pharmacists, unit clerks, and nurses can be involved in the occurrence of medication errors (Mayo et al. 2004). No studies have demonstrated strong relationships between nurse characteristics (i.e., age, years of practice, and education) and number of medication errors (Osborne et al. 1999). This would seem to indicate that any nurse is potentially at risk for making a medication error (Mayo et al. 2004). Prevention of medication errors is linked to accurate reporting of medication errors.
Medication use is potentially dangerous. Polypharmacy is increasing, and makes it harder to keep track of side effects and interactions and of potentially inappropriate drug combinations. “The risk of serious consequences, hospitalization, and death due to medication errors increases with patients’ age and number of medications (Scand J Prim Health Care, 2012)”. For example, the GP is supposed to monitor the patient's regular medication, but does not always do so. Lack of monitoring and keeping track of patients’ medication use is a main cause when a patient is given inappropriate drugs.
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