Reporting Medication Errors

Giving medication in the Emergency Department in theory should be just like any other department. The difference in medication administration in the Emergency Department from others is the environment. Medication errors can be caused from a number of things, omission, time delay, wrong dose, wrong route, etc. The problem in the Emergency Department with medication errors is nurse distractions during the medication process. According to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, (2012) nurses are distracted or interrupted four times during a single medication administration. Distractions and interruptions affect the nurses memory.

This article define medication errors and when occur these medication administration errors (MAEs) such as one or more of the seven rights of medication administration (right patient, right drug, right dose, right time, right route, right reason and right documentation) are violated. Moreover, the writers suggest study more about nurses’ knowledges with and perceptions on preventing MAEs through this journal. Wulff, K., Cummings, G. G., Marck, P., & Yurtseven, O. (2011). Medication administration technologies and patient safety: a mixed-method systematic review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 67(10), 2080-2095.

Deficiencies in communication between health professionals and recommendations for improvement are major findings in many health care quality improvement investigations with communication errors identified as the root cause of 70% of sentinel events in health care setting. Research also indicates that inadequate communication between health professionals and with health care consumers and/or family members is the primary issue in the majority of medication errors, adverse reactions, and near

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.

Emily’s mother did not put the blame only on that one pharmacy technician but she believed it was multiple system flaws and the fact that the hospital was short-staffed that day. When working in the field I will always make sure be aware of the medication I will be preparing and be sure to go over it more than just one time. I will also be mindful that my mistake could put another person’s life at risk.

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).

Medication Errors in Healthcare The nursing profession entails many responsibilities that range from providing emotional support to administering medications that could result in death for those receiving care. Approximately 40% of a nurse's day consists of passing medication, a duty that sets their level of liability above many other healthcare professions (McCuistion, Vuljoin-DiMaggio, Winton, Yeager, & Kee, 2018). Despite today's advances in technology and nursing education, the frequency of medication errors is still staggering. To ensure that the benefits of nursing outweigh the risks, nurses look to the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) six core competencies for guidance.

Medication errors are preventable adverse events and costly to patients, insurance companies and health care organizations (Institute of Medicine, 2006). It is estimated that for every adverse drug event that occurs in a hospital, adds over 8,000 to the hospital stay (Institute of Medicine, 2006). One of the essential components in reducing medication error is a collaborative partnership with the patient and healthcare providers to facilitate communication. Patient education regarding risks, side effects, drug interactions and contraindications must be thoroughly reviewed with the patient (Institute of Medicine, 2006). The use of technology for prescribing, dispensing and to obtain detailed information regarding

Our solution to medication errors is here, it is just a matter of implementing it into our

This resulted in 7% of the respondents reporting involvement in a medication error during that past year. Good interpersonal skills and effective communication ensures that concerns regarding patient safety can be brought up without seemingly challenging the knowledge of the other healthcare

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.

Medication error (ME) is defined as “improper dosage, delivery of an incorrect medication administration to wrong patient, and inappropriate medication therapy” (XU et al., 2014, p. 286). ME is a long threat standing threat and is common errors in health care setting. It outcome can lead to physically harmful, fatal and prolong hospitalization, and enormously costly. In the mental health setting, some of causes of ME are, similarities of generic and brand names of drug, similarities of container labels and packages, and illegible of handwriting prescription. In this paper, the issue of medication administration error related to sound-alike and look-alike medications will be examines and implement a policy and procedure to prevent this error

The prevention of medication errors is a process that should involve all staff in the emergency department. Yes, it is the registered nurse (RN) that administers the medication. However, patient safety is a concern in which all staff can assist. According to Kim and Bates (2013) medication errors represent one of the major concerns in patient safety. The process of medication administration first starts when the RN receives the order. From there the nurse must use the Pxysis dispensing system to obtain the medication. The problems noted in the emergency department (ED) at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center (FHMMC) has been distractions while the nurse is obtaining and preparing the medications. The issue is the Pxysis systems in the ED are not in closed rooms, they are located in the open at the nursing stations. This issue allows distractions while the nurse is obtaining the medications from the Pxysis.

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.

Accountability for delivery of patient safety improvement targets with relation to medication errors. Janine was an enthusiastic and engaging speaker, and her passion for reducing medication error and the involvement of her junior doctors was evident. She spoke about the Juniors’ Educational Drug Initiative (JEDI) and discussed the ‘carrot and stick’ as a simple model to describe motivation.