Every year in the United States, approximately 98,000 people die in hospitals from different types of medical errors (Tzeng, et al, 2013). A study done by Burroughs and Associates in 2007 found that 17% of patients in US hospitals were impacted by medical errors in some way. Among these medical errors, 44% came from a type of medication error. (Tzeng, et al, 2013). Blegen, et al (1998) found that the greater the number of patient care hours provided by registered nurses that exceeded 87.5%, the greater the number of medication errors occurred. This statistic indicates that nurses have a primary role in maintaining patient safety. Providing this safety proves to be one of the most difficult challenges of health care providers, specifically nurses. …show more content…
One method to maintain focus is to utilize the “five rights” of patients regarding administration of medicines. These five rights say that the right patient receives the right dose, of the right drug, in the right route, at the right time (Härkänen, et al, 2013). These rights help to ensure the patient is receiving their medications in the specific way they are prescribed to them. The patients may not be receiving all of these rights because the nurse may be busy with another patient or distracted with another situation. By following each of these five parameters and making sure each is met before giving a medication, the nurse can prevent medication errors. In addition to this, nurses should take the time to prioritize tasks and take on one at a time (Cloete, 2015). Nurses have much knowledge and skill. Generally, it is not that a nurse does not know what he or she is doing, but that they are very busy with multiple patients and are responsible for many tasks. By slowing down, thinking through actions, and taking the time when administering medications many errors can be avoided. Another way to limit nurse distractions while administering medications could be to make areas around the medication rooms and carts “no interruption zones” (Härkänen, et al, 2013). Medication errors can happen because of excess …show more content…
This background should include knowledge of assessments that need to be completed before and after administration for certain drugs. For example, nurses must know that blood pressure needs to be checked before administration of an antihypertensive, pulse and potassium levels must be checked before administration of Digoxin, and bowel movements need to be observed before administration of a stool softener. If nurses do not know these crucial assessments, a medication error can occur that can lead to many severe consequences that affect the safety of the patient. In addition to this, the nurses should also have background knowledge of adverse reactions of drugs, what these reactions entail, and how to fix these reactions if need be. An adverse drug event is what comes of an adverse reaction from a medication error and can be defined as, “harm experienced by a patient as a result of exposure to a medication” (CITE 6). According to Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (2004), “770,000 people annually are estimated to suffer injury or death in hospitals as a result of adverse drug events. One study of preventable adverse drug events in hospitals found that 34% of such events occurred in connection with administering the drug (a nursing role), as opposed to ordering, transcribing, or dispensing of the drug” (CITE5). This
It is shocking to know that every year 98000 patients die from medical errors that can be prevented(Kohn, L. T., Corrigan, J. M., & Donaldson, M. S. (Eds.), 2000). Medical errors are not a new issue in our healthcare system; these have been around for a long time. Hospitals have been trying to improve quality care and patients safety by implementing different strategies to prevent and reduce medical errors for past thirty years. Medical errors are the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer in America (Allen, 2013). In addition medical errors are costing our healthcare system an estimated $735 billion to $980 billion (Andel, Davidow, Hollander, & Moreno, 2012).
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
When I say this, however, most people would picture the nurse giving the wrong medication due to lack of focus on the tasks at hand. While this could happen, I have noticed during my time at hospitals that the doctor orders are still hand written for the most part. Consequently, they can be very hard to be read legibly much less correctly translated into proper medication dosages. The first suggestion I would give to an organization would be that they required all orders to be submitted securely, by the doctors, to the pharmacy be electronic means.
Nurses are in charge of administering medications, often more than one medication, and most of the time they have multiple patients. Being in charge medication passes pose a massive threat to errors (Huges,
Drug administration is a fundamental part of every day in nursing profession. No medication is completely safe and protected in this manner. Therefore, nurses need to have an intensive and broad knowledge of the medications and its method of organization in the compelling treatment of patients whose life lies in her grasp (Satoskar, Bhandarkar, 2005)
The right drug is also very important to implement. Any mismatch of drugs can result in an increased risk of adverse drug reactions (Kanneh, 2011) . Nurses need to be very careful with drugs that have narrow therapeutic ranges or have a complex chemical structure (Kanneh, 2011). Checking the dosage is also crucial. Before giving a drug it is crucial to adjust the dose to the correct maintenance level of the order (Kanneh, 2011). If the dose is too high and has not been checked by the person administering it, an overdose can occur and can be life threatening (Kanneh, 2011).
Nursing medication errors were examined by having nurses take surveys based on their perception of why medication errors are occurring as well as visiting their work setting and observing any errors. Nurses are encouraged to take precaution when administering medications to ensure that the correct medication as well as the dose, is given to the correct patient. It is imperative for hospitals to enforce medication stipulations to ensure that nurses are double checking medication labels. Studies show that causes of medication errors are due to nurse’s not understanding protocol, administration errors related to overworked weary
Medication administration is a multi-step process that is handled by multiple healthcare professionals. It begins with the prescription that is transcribed mostly by the physician, then dispensed by the pharmacist, and ends with the administration of the medication by the nurse. Throughout this multi-step process, medication errors can occur at any stage of the medication administration process. As expressed by L. Cloete in “Reducing medication errors in nursing practice,” “One third of the errors that harm patients occur during the nurse administration phase: administering medication to patients is therefore a high-risk activity.” Because the nurse is responsible for administering medication to the patient, he/she is considered and viewed as the most accountable in regards to the patient’s safety. Medication errors are one of the most common medical errors that can result in an adverse event that may pose a serious threat to the patient’s safety and well-being. In the article, “An inside look into the factors contributing to medication errors in the clinical nursing practice,” Savvato and Efstratios defined and characterized medication error as “any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer. Such events may be related to professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing; order communication;
Many medication errors occur as a result of lack of adequate knowledge and skills in medication error. Nurses play a vital role in safe medication administration. Nurses should have adequate skill and knowledge to prevent medication error. Yearly competence test in medication administration and periodic education and training is vital to improve the knowledge and skills. Prescription errors are the common cause of medication error. Physicians should take full advantage of computerized physician order entry system (CPOE) to improve the medication safety. Verbal and written orders should replace with CPOE. Distraction can cause medication error and avoiding unnecessary distraction during medication administration can prevent a number of
Medication errors are a very common problem in the healthcare world. They can be very minor errors or they can kill a patient. There have been many new systems put in place to prevent and reduce medication errors but they continue to happen. Several different factors have been looked at to prevent medication errors including computer systems, hours worked, patient to nurse ratio, and years of experience.
A model of medication errors was developed on error-producing conditions like work environment, team factors, personal factors, medication-related support services and patient-specific factors, Chang and Mark (2009). Work environment factors looked at nursing and how they simultaneously manage multiple patients. Nurses shift their attention from patient to patient and often carry out several tasks at a time. Having more nurses staffed has been associated with a decrease in medication errors (McGillis Hall et al 2004). Team factors expressed that medication administration is a multistep process with many involved disciplines. Therefore, there needs to be a well-established communication across disciplines. Most important is the communication between nurses and providers. We need to also look at a nurses’ ability to recognize a potentially dangerous event early on. Expert nurses are expected to make fewer errors and recognize a change in a patients’ condition at its earliest. (Minick and Harvey
Medical error reports can vary by type of error, for example, rule violations, non-standardized medical practices, medication and diagnostic testing errors, management practices, patient misconduct, and insurance fraud. Research suggests that many medical errors go unreported and that nurses are pivotal in understanding barriers to reporting and ways to improve the reporting process. Nurses are believed to a critical part of the medical error reporting issue because they are the individuals that work hands on with patients (the most), have a duty and responsibility for patient advocacy, and changes, resulting from error reporting, that improve direct patient care practices impact nurse’s day to day actives (Wolf & Hughes, 2008). Evidence suggests
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.
An analysis of given workloads in the event of medication errors in nursing was conducted by an exploratory-descriptive study with a quantitative approach. People who were part of the study had experienced some medication error in their work unit, with dose errors being the most frequent and the number of staff giving to the event of medication errors. Constructing successful ways to reach goals necessary to make something as small as possible in the event of medication errors and patient safety.
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