3.1 Nursing Care Paper

Checking, double checking and triple checking a medication prior to administration may seem extreme, but at times it is crucial in preventing a mistake. Also taking extra care when administering medications that sound very similar to one another, but may have entirely different effects on

Medication errors are focused on: terms and definitions; incidence of and harm; risk factors; avoidance; disclosure, legalities & consequences (Wittich, Burkle & Lanier, 2014). Medication errors categories have been developed by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). Examples of these categories are based on prescribing, omitting drugs not administered, timing, unauthorized drug, wrong dosage, wrong preparation, expired drug, not using laboratory data to monitor toxicity (Wittich, Burkle & Lanier, 2014). Additionally, this article examines in depth common causes leading to medication errors, drug nomenclature, similar sounding drugs, unapproved abbreviations and handwriting, medical staff shortages and manufacturer medication shortages. Even though this article provides an informative overview for physicians, other allied health personnel may benefit too. This is valuable knowledge for the health care professional not just physicians in order to provide safe care for their

At the nurse station, she raised her voice and said:” We have a problem if you can pass your medications by 10pm. I want to make sure you chart early and there will be no overtime!” I told her I appreciated her help,

At the hospital, an inquest followed and that implemented procedures is for preventing such medication errors again.

The job of a nurse includes following the ethical principles of nursing. Nonmaleficence is the principle of doing no harm (Kelly, 2012). As a nurse the preferred outcome is that no harm is done on to others, if this were to occur the nurse should abide by the principle of veracity, the obligation to tell the truth (Kelly, 2012). In the unfortunate circumstance that a medication error is preformed it is in the nurses best interest to report the situation immediately so that if there is an antidote or a procedure to prevent harm to the patient it can be preformed. As a fellow nurse veracity also applies, if there is a medication error or discrepancy it is the duty of the nurse to report it. As a new nurse reporting medication errors may be a difficult task. It is already difficult to admit mistakes however being the new person on a floor may make this task harder, it is important to build trusting relationships with the staff to prevent staff from avoiding reporting these medication errors. As a nurse manager or supervisor it is best to receive medication errors as a teaching experience to prevent this from happening once more. Reporting errors is fundamental to error

Our patient in room 3032 is bringing in her own Sodium Chloride (Inhalant) 7 % NEBU 4 mL which is order BID. In order for us to see the medication you have to go under the MAR and click the all button not our respiratory tab. Please make sure that we are assigning this treatment BID. We almost missed this treatment today due to this mishap.

I felt that the strongest way to making sure that this ugly medication errors do not re-occur is through bedside handoff. Another purpose of this care is to measure the quality of care of RN bedside handoff, to improve communication between nurses and the patients, patient safety, patient satisfaction, and to improve staff readiness to assume care immediately following bedside handoff. "Handoff helps to facilitate RN to RN communication and improve patient condition and plan of care (Huber,

Dosage error can occur easily. Before, it is important to be cautious and making sure that patients will not be

On an ordinary day in the summer of 2015, I returned to work after a three day break. I began working my evening shift as a Pharmacy Technician in the inpatient pharmacy. While performing my regular duties, I came across an EMR message from a nurse requesting a large volume intravenous solution for her patient. I did my usual check to ensure that all four bags sent out in the early morning shift were administered. Upon investigating I noticed that none of the large volume bags were charted as being given. I assumed that the medication was on the unit and that the nurse was not checking the proper locations .I called to inquire and requested the nurse to check the designated locations again. I ended up dispensing the medication, got it checked off by a Pharmacist and made my way to the unit to deliver the order. Upon reaching the furious nurse approached me with a raspy voice. Enraged with Pharmacy's conduct since the past two days, she began conversing in provoking tone. She claimed being portrayed as a liar. More so she was furious that Pharmacy persistently asserted that the medication was on the unit and repeatedly requested her to look for it.

Another important reason of screening is to avoid medication errors. These errors can be fatal and risky for the patient. The risk can be significantly reduced by medication reconciliation. The process involves acquiring,confirming and documenting the list of the patient's current medicines and scrutinize this list to the ordered medicines and the patient's health to identify and resolve any variances. The best practice is to record it electronically or in writing in patient's chart or notes for the easy access for clinicians to review before writing any medication orders. The process of medication reconciliation using a structured approach involving patients provides shared accountability, can reduce the morbidity and mortality of medication

As defined by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI 2015) and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE 2015), medicines reconciliation (medsrec) ‘is the process of identifying an accurate list of a person's current medicines and comparing them with the current list in use, recognising any discrepancies, and documenting any changes, thereby resulting in a complete list of medicines, accurately communicated’. It has been shown on many occasions that uncorrected discrepancies during medsrec contributes to medication errors on discharge. As a result, medsrec is now a compulsory process and forms part of the discharge planning in compliance with NICE, Department of Health (DoH), RPS and local policies. NICE guideline (NG5)

Two of the six rights of medication administration are giving the correct medication that was ordered to the correct patient that it was ordered for. Errors occur when the nurse either misreads the order for the medication, or does not check behind themselves. Nurses must learn to take the time to look at the drugs to avoid careless mistakes. Sometimes it may be necessary to have another nurse double check the drugs. To prevent errors in providing correct medication, the nurse should always call the provider if they have a question. A nurse should identify a patient by asking them to state two of the following: their name, date of birth, and/or hospital identification number before administering the medications. To prevent errors nurses should

Being a nurse and as a duty of care as a medically indorsed enrolled nurse, going through the 5 rights of drug administration before giving medications is crucial and productive in minimising the risks of giving the wrong patient wrong medications.

Medication misuse, under-use, overuse, and reactions are one of the most common adverse events (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2009), in oncology setting and also relates to the case of Mr Valdez. Medication error refers to an event that can be prevented which may be the cause of inappropriate medication use or result in adverse effects on the patient when the medication is being administered by a health care professional (Nebeker, Barach, & Samore, 2004).

This chapter provides a background and an overview regarding the topic of “Prescribing Errors in High Risk Medicines”. The first part of the background