Health And Drug Administration Of The Health Care Setting
1688 Words7 Pages
Work Place Distractions Lead to Deadly Outcomes
Effective Ways to Reduce Medication Errors in the Health Care Setting
Lincoln University
Suzanne Norman-Ybarra
One of the greatest fears of any nurse is harming or killing a patient by making a critical medication error. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports that a person dies accidently every day from a medication error and approximately 1.3 million sustain an injury from medication errors (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2016). Medication errors can result from the initial prescribing of the order, transcribing the order, entering the order, dispensing the medication, repackaging the medication with improper labeling, administering the medication incorrectly,…show more content… In an effort to reduce the occurrence of medication errors, JHACO has thoroughly investigated and implemented new safety standards of care. JHACO implemented a new standard referred to as the “10 Rights of Drug Administration.” 1. The Right Drug, 2. Right Patient, 3. Right Dose, 4. Right Route, 5. Right Time and Frequency, 6. Right Documentation, 7. Right History and Assessment, 8. Drug approach and Right to Refuse, 9. Right Drug to Drug Interaction and Evaluation, and 10. Right Education and Information. Failure to follow the 10 Rights of Medication Administration can result in a patient’s injury or death (Potter, Perry, Hall, & Stockert, 2013). Further research in safety has proven that reviewing the physicians order three times significantly reduced transcribing errors or entering the order incorrectly into the electronic medical record. Training new nurses and experienced nurses to review every order three times has shown beneficial in patient safety and has reduced medication errors. Nurses and medical staff involved in medication administration are encouraged to have a buddy system, where there are two nurses or trained staff members who double check all medication calculations and assist with verifying high risk medication dosages. When there is a discrepancy concerning any medication administration, a Stop, Think and Call policy is implemented and the medication is held until proper documentation and verification have been obtained.