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
Medication: Tylenol #3 1-2 tabs PO q4h PO prn Docusate 100 mg PO BID prn Rationale: Received 400mg ibuprofen 3 hours ago and her current level of pain is 7/10. I am choosing to give her Tylenol #3 to control the intense pain she is experiencing from the episiotomy and third-degree laceration and intense labour. This medication is appropriate because she reported experiencing a lot of pain since delivery. The length of time that is appropriate for her to take this medication is solely based upon continuous assessments of her pain between doses. Continuous pain assessment will determine how long she will take this medication as a major concern is the crossing over of codeine, acetaminophen and caffeine into the breast milk (Chow, 2013).
Legislation P3- Explain relevant sections of key legislation and associated guidelines with regard to the administration of medicines. M1- Discuss how organisational policies and procedures are influenced by legislation and guidelines with regard to the administration of medicines. D1- Evaluate the effect of legislation and guidelines on the administration of medicines. In this assignment I am going to be explaining what different types of legislations and guidelines are in place when it comes to handling medicines in a health and social care setting.
These alarming statistics raise a huge concern with the effectiveness of the transitions of care. The main issue with transitions of care is that there are discrepancies that mistakenly occur during this process. As reported by Judith Kristeller, PharmD BCPS, “the transition between inpatient and community settings in particular is prone to medication errors related to a lack of communication between health care providers, missed patient follow-up, inadequate patient education, etc.” (6). Medicare services have even included a three percent fine on Medicare payment for hospitals that have unnecessary readmissions, and this percent has increased since 2014 (5).
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
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
Our solution to medication errors is here, it is just a matter of implementing it into our
Effective communication is crucial in ensuring that patient care is coordinated and safe. This semester, I witnessed an incident where a patient's medication was missed because the communication between the physician and the nurse was unclear. The nurse assumed that the physician had ordered the medication, but the physician thought the nurse had already given it. This resulted in the patient not receiving the medication on time, which could have led to complications. This experience reinforced the importance of clear and effective communication among healthcare
However, the most common medication errors are done by nurses. Researchers had identified that the reason for this is due to majority of the medication orders are carried out by nurses. In average nurses spends about 40% of their time in hospital just performing administration of medication only. Globally the incident of medication errors is high regardless whether it is developed or non developed countries. Studies had proven that approximately one third of medical complications are caused by medication errors.
recognizes patient safety and adverse drug events negatively corresponded to inaccurate medication reconciliation processes (2016). An improvement effort was established in Boston with a sample of, “148 Brigham and Women’s Hospital ambulatory specialty practices” (Keogh et al., 2016, p. 186). Brigham and Women’s ambulatory specialty sample involving a 148 practices, 63 practices followed a thorough medication reconciliation process, 71 practices less restrictive revised moderate medication reconciliation process, and lastly 14 practices followed a minimal accountability with medication reconciliation (Keogh et al., 2016, p. 186). The three divisions within this study are defined in vague terms. Pointedly, a sample size of 148 specialty practices is a large respective quantity, however no definition to how many providers cover a specialty or patient to provider
Recognizing, acknowledging, and understanding medication safety is important when administering medications. Understanding which medications are high-risk ones, being familiar with the medications being given, remembering the five most important rights when administering medications, communicating clearly, developing checking habits, and reporting the medication errors will lead to safe outcomes for the residents. However, errors do occur from a lack of experience, rushing, distractions, fatigue, doing too many things at once, not double checking, poor communication, and lack of team work. It is not only the staff that commit errors, but also the work environment that contributes to the medication error. Two examples are poor reporting systems
Fisher 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
1.What is your comfort level with medication administration? If your agency/patient population includes IV Therapy, what is your comfort level with this skill? What aspects (6 rights) of medication administration do you find easy to do? What aspects are challenging? What steps can you take to improve your confidence/safety in this aspect of patient care?
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.
The major of acute care hospitals have electronic documentation and onsite pharmacies. Thousands of American 's die each year related to unnecessary medication administration errors (Cark, 2009, p.319). The treatment plan is constantly changing to meet the needs of the client. Moreover, on occasion orders are modified but the adjusted medication dosage has not been delivered by the pharmacy. The clinician administering the medication is responsible for ensuring the six rights of medication administration have been met prior to giving the drug to the patient for consumption.
Chapter 3 Research Methodology The study is meant to explore the motivations behind medication nonadherence among people with mental illness in the community mental health setting, as it identifies the reasons for nonadherence from the patients and their caregivers. While some studies have been conducted in the Western countries in the particular community mental health settings, such a study that is related to the medication nonadherence is yet to be conducted in India. 3.1. Need & Scope of the study: Mental Health Action Trust (MHAT) shaped a new trend of Community Mental Health in Kerala, in the year of 2008 at Calicut. The aim of the trust is to provide long term treatment for chronic mental disorders through a system of community owned