Introduction:
Patient identification is a critical aspect of providing safe and effective healthcare. Failure to follow proper identification protocols can result in serious harm to patients. In healthcare settings, nurses play a crucial role in patient identification, and it is vital that they adhere to the established protocols and procedures to ensure the accuracy of patient identification throughout the care process.
In the past, Hackensack Meridian used only two forms of patient identifiers in their facilities, the patient’s full name, and date of birth (jointcommission.org, 2016), to ensure patient safety and prevent errors. However, as healthcare delivery became increasingly multifaceted and complex, medication errors continued to occur. There were instances of medications being administered to the wrong patients. Therefore, research was conducted into investigating the root cause of these errors and how to improve. In response to this issue, they implemented a third patient identifier, checking the last three digits of the medical record number (MRN). The patient will be asked to verify the patient ID wristband information compared to the nurse’s Medical administration record (MAR) to ensure accuracy.
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Problem:
Our observations on Mehandru 6 were that all the nurses asked their patients their full name and date of birth but we did not see any nurse ask about the last three digits of the MRN when doing the routine checks before administering medications. This failure to use the proper forms of identification can cause serious harm to patients. This includes the administration of incorrect medications, delayed or incorrect treatment, miscommunications, and sometimes legal and financial implications. We reviewed five research studies that speak about the direct correlation between medication errors and not properly identifying patients.
Our ultimate goal of conducting this quality improvement project is to ensure that all nurses in our healthcare facility are fully trained on and adhering to proper patient identification protocols, and that
we are providing safe and effective care to all patients.
