Drug Administration In Australi A Case Study

Each year, roughly 1.5 million adverse drug events (ADEs) occur in acute and long-term care settings across America (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2006). An ADE is succinctly defined as actual or potential patient harm resulting from a medication error. To expound further, while ADEs may result from oversights related to prescribing or dispensing, 26-32% of all erroneous drug interventions occur during the nursing administration and monitoring phases (Anderson & Townsend, 2010). These mollifiable mishaps not only create a formidable financial burden for health care systems, they also carry the potential of imposing irreversible physiological impairment to patients and their families. In an effort to ameliorate cost inflation, undue detriment, and the potential for litigation, a multifactorial approach must be taken to improve patient outcomes. Key components in allaying drug-related errors from a nursing perspective include: implementing safety and quality measures, understanding the roles and responsibilities of the nurse, embracing technological safeguards, incorporating interdisciplinary collaborative efforts, and continued emphasis upon quality control.

This article will look at two articles and focus on aspects of safety medication administration in nursing practice by the staff nurses. This is interesting area because the previous report on the medication administration error in the UK shows that approximately 5.6% of doses administered to adult hospital patients and it has been estimated that 0.6-1.2% of medication administration errors may lead to severe harm even death (Mcleod et al, 2013). Leape et al (1995) indicated that nurses were responsible for 86% of all medication error interception, regardless of the original errors. The nurses play the important role in identifying the causes of medication errors and preventing medication administration errors in nursing practice in order to provide safe care toward the service users (Henneman et al, 2010). The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA 2004) documented that the health professionals need to effectively and safely use medicines to ensure patients get the maximum benefit from the medicine; meanwhile minimizing the potential harm. This article will be critiqued on the different types of evidence which explored safety medication administration in the nursing practice toward service user. Using evidence is important in nursing practice because it can help nurses in addressing questions related to best possible care and improve patients’ outcome. It is embedded within the code the nurses are expected to use best possible evidence in the nursing

As clinical site co-ordinator with many years of clinical experience I feel competent in the drug administration via a variety of routes. Generally the patients I attend have become acutely unwell with most prescriptions not having the third eye of a pharmacist and most drugs being delivered intravenously. It is imperative therefore that the prescription and drugs always be thoroughly checked which relies on good communication throughout. Furthermore, most emergency drugs have a protocol for administration developed by the hospital. However within this situation the nurse is generally the last defence before any medication error actually occurs, therefore it is the nurses responsibility to ensure the prescription is correct and to challenge prescription written

The focus on prescribing within nursing profession was first brought into discussion by Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in 1980 but has proven to be cornerstone after was part of the government agenda as a result of Cumberlege report in 1996.This report outlined the need for

Safe medication practices are key to every nurse since it results to safe medication administration. When medication is not administered correctly it results to adverse drug event which refers to harm to the patient that includes mental harm, physical harm, or loss of function which is as a result of a medication error (practices, 2017). Medication errors occur when a mistake is committed by a person administering medication and in order to avoid these errors safe medication practices need to be adhered to. Some of these

There are many different variables that go into a scenario of a medication error. Nurses carry a huge role with ensuring patient safety during a medication administration. According to Härkänen, Ahonen, Kervinen, Turunen and Vehviläinen-Julkunen (2015), the study that was performed on a medical surgical floor yielded information that allows administration to examine plausible reason behind the medical errors. The area within nursing that need to have an improvement is reducing patient medical errors due to patient to nurse ratio in combination with reducing distraction and acuity. The study that performed by Härkänen et al. (2015), observed that patients had medications of upwards to 20 regular medications, and giving them 3 times minimally. Nurses encounter many types of distractions during the times that they are administering medication. The first issue with this is that the patient has high acuity

The earlier in a nursing student schooling they are aware of the impact medication errors can have on patients the more of an impact the education will have. One of the basic tenants of safe medication administration is the three checks and the five rights. Three checks of medication labeling should be performed when reaching for the medication, when retrieving from the medication dispersal unit and before giving the medication to the patient. The five rights of medication: right medication, right patient, right dosage, right route and right time are also to be performed before each distribution of medication to a patient. (Taylor, Lillis, Lynn, & LeMone, 2015). This simple intervention can help to eliminate most potential medication error problems. But while learning such strategies is essential to helping build a culture of safety within a health care facility nothing compares to hands on experience. Getting nursing students’ clinical medication administration experience early in their education can build confidence and instill the qualities needed to be a safe

During the interview, R. Crowdis emphasized on different safety measures nurses can take to protect patients from medication errors. These include verifying and clarifying any orders that look ambiguous or that do not match the patient’s needs, use the five rights of medication, always scan the medication, have two separate nurses verify high risk medications, and follow hospital policy when wasting narcotics (R. Crowdis, Personal Communication, June 11, 2016). The five “rights” of medication R. Crowdis is referring to are the right patient, right medication, right dose, right route, and the right time (Archer, 2015, p. 394: Centre for Policy Agency, 2011). Every medication must be scanned and if unable to, then notify the unit director and pharmacy of the issue. Always scan each individual pill, even if there are multiples of the same kind; one pill may be expired, a different medication, or same medication but different dosage that was accidentally stocked by pharmacy. Watch for system lags or additional screens that appear for this may cause errors is medication administration when scanning. Athanasakis (2012) also recommends reducing distractions and interruptions during medication preparation and administration to help in the prevention of medication errors (p. 775). Having excess family and friends step out of the room, informing the patient of the medication, what it does, and double checking when the last dose was given are additional measure a nurse should take in the prevention of any

In today’s current fast-paced and demanding field of heath care, medication administration has become complex and time-consuming task. Approximately one-third of the nurses’ time is used in medication administration. There is much potential for error because of the complexity of the medication administration process. Since nurses are the last ones to actually administer the medication to the patient therefore they become responsible for medication administration errors (MAE). Reasons for MAE may include individual factors, organizational factors or system factors. This paper will discuss the root causes analysis of MAE and strategies to prevent them.

We will be looking at the roles of three people involved in the medication cycle starting with the doctor, then moving onto the Pharmacist and then onto the Enrolled nurse. The doctor’s role is to look at all the symptoms, medically diagnose the patient and to analysis their medication needs (Berman, Kozier & Erb, 2015). The doctor then writes the order or script of medications for the patient, which needs to be taken to the pharmacy where the Pharmacist will make up the prescription and dispense the medication the pharmacist may also give information about drug interactions and side effects just to name a few. The Pharmacist

One of the many responsibilities of a nurse is administering medications. Improper transcription, dispensing, administering, and reporting can result in medication errors. The article Simple Steps to Reduce Medication Errors recognizes how detrimental errors can be to the patient and the facility (Chu, 2016). An error in medication can lead to an extended stay for the patient, resulting in serious harm or death.

The administration of medication can be associated with a significant risk with it is recognized as a central feature of the nursing role. It should continue in order to avoid a possible medical malpractice continuous care. Nursing staff have a unique role usually given to patients to manage their medication and responsibilities, then they can report these identified medication errors. Some of the most distinguishable events can be related to errors in professional practice, prescribing, dispensing, distribution, and education or monitoring. Since medication errors can arise at any state of the administration process, it is essential for nursing staff to be attentive of the most commonly encountered errors. For the most part, the common of the perceptible aspects related with medication errors are due to minimal awareness about hospital policies, inappropriate implementation or latent conditions (Farinde, n.d).

Going back to 2007, there were nearly 73,000 medication errors reported to the National Patient Safety Agency. 73,000 errors is far too many regardless whether there was harm done to the patient or not (Nute, 2014). According to a study done in 2009, the majority of the errors came from unclear or wrong dosage, wrong medication, delayed or omitted medication, wrong route, and giving medication to the wrong patient, with unclear or wrong dosage being the number one cause. One of the things that is being implemented now is the use of the five rights. A nurse or healthcare provider is required to administer the right patient the right medication at the right time using the right route and the right dose. This appeared to be the perfect solution to the problem until further studies were performed. The five rights provided some reduction in the number of medication errors but it did not solve the many steps that are to be taken before administering the medication to the patient. One of the most important tasks that needs to be met is knowing the medication before it is

Mion and Sandhu (2016) stated “at the individual level, nurses must practice safe medication administration behaviors prior to every administration of every medication: compare the medication to the medical administration record, label the medication throughout the process, check two forms of patient identification, immediate documentation, and explain to patient” (p. 154). By following the 7 rights of medication administration, nurses can reduce the number medication errors. Nurses are held accountable for the medication that they are administering and must “continually

Analyzing the acute care context is crucial when critiquing the many activities that nurses carry out during their shifts. This analysis ensures that these activities are being performed correctly, while also maintaining that the patient and his or her needs are at the centre of care. In particular, when examining the medication administration process (MAP), nurses must explore many factors, including the practice standards and guidelines that accompany this activity, the positive and negative aspects associated with current as well as best practice, barriers and facilitators associated with best practice, and how one can maintain his or her best practice within this activity. For the purpose of this