Medication error Medication error is one of the biggest problems in the healthcare field. Patients are dying due to wrong drug or dosage. Medication error is any preventable incident that leads to inappropriate medication use or harms the patient while the medication is in the control of the health care professional,or patient (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2015). It is estimated about 44,000 inpatients die each year in the United States due to medication errors which were indeed preventable (Mahmood, Chaudhury, Gaumont & Rust, 2012). There are many factors that contribute to medication error. However, the most common that factors are human factors, right patient information, miscommunication of abbreviations, wrong dosage. Healthcare providers do not intend to make medication errors, but they happen anyways. Therefore, nursing should play a tremendous role to reduce medication error The reality is that human’s make mistakes. Caregiver’s fatigue and stress plays a huge role in medication error. It is reported that fatigue and stress increased the risk of medication error. In a study comparing nurses who worked a 12 hour shift in different age groups, older nurse’s experienced sleeping trouble and were not able to focus on maintaining their performances during their shift (the average age of US registered nurses is 46.8). Fatigue is related to misreading labels, because somehow one is not fully conscious, a nurse who worked a 16 hour shift went into the medication
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
The words medication error elicit fear in every nurse. According to Stefanacci and Riddle (2016), preventable medication errors are responsible for third reason of death apart from heart disease and cancer in the United States. As a nurse, it is important to obtain skills and knowledge to prevent them as these errors could result in extended hospitalisation of patients, simultaneously a burden of health care cost. These errors could be reduced by identifying the problems which lead to medication errors and following certain protocols in a coordinated environment.
Older adults are at high risk for adverse effects of medication error more than their counteract younger adults. This is because they depend on more than one medication in order to treat or prevent disease, syndromes and sickness (Lindenberg, 2010). It is inevitable that the elderly face adverse effects of drugs while on medication especially when they still live independently. However, chances of errors in hospitals and care homes are more frequent when the medication process connects several departments (Belen et. al., 2009). Therefore, tactical measures are required in the provision of drug therapy in order to optimize safe medication in older adults. This paper discusses the issue by analyzing the existing structure of administering medication, reviewing the occurrence of medication errors; evaluating systems developed to advance safe medication administration. Finally, addressing the implication for professional nursing practice.
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.
Individual factor of medication errors has latent causes. Though it is difficult to control cause of fatigue outside workplace but situations that increase fatigue and pressures in the workplace can be limited. These interventions can be division of responsibilities and excellent management of schedule to ensure that there is sufficient number of staff in each shift. Computerization provides immediate access to patient information and history including medication, hence, reducing medication
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.
Medication errors originate in multiple ways such as “professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing; order communication; product labeling, packaging, and nomenclature; compounding; dispensing; distribution; administration; education; monitoring; and use” (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2015). Many patients may be quick to criticize medication errors to be the responsibility of the professional who administers the medication rather than the manufacturing, production and data entry processes.
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).
One patient required treatment with naloxone and the other required additional monitoring, ISMP Canada alerted the manufacturer who subsequently made changes in their packaging.” (Koczmara, C., Dueck, C., & Jelincic, V., 2006).
Objective: A high percentage of medication errors are happening that involves the nursing staff. In this study, I examined some potential reason why medication errors occur due to lack of education, competency skills, feeling rushed, giving too much drugs, and drugs with similar names. I sought to determine whether nurses are being properly educate or are just not satisfied enough with their work
Types of medication error can be stored as prescription, transcription, dispensing, administration and mentoring errors. Prescription error defined as an error that related to writing medication order3. For example, order writing illegible or lack of information about patient or medication .The second type of the medication errors is transcription error which occur during transfer the information from order sheet to the Medication Administration Record (MAR)4.It includes order transcribed to wrong patient or transcribed for wrong drug, dose and route. The third type of medication error is dispensing error that originate at any stage during the dispensing process5. It refers to medication error related to the pharmacy. It involves errors of
A medication error is any preventable event that could cause patients harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer. Some common cause for medication errors include ineligible handwriting, similar packaging design, similar names, or similar characteristics. These include drug strengths, dosage forms, and dosage intervals. The (DMEPA) Division of Medication Error Prevention and Analysis main priority is the premarket review of proposed proprietary medication names, labeling, and packaging, and Human Factor Studies in order to prevent medication errors. They also provide guidance and advise industries on the development of drugs and considerations from a medication error perspective. Fully writing
As a result medication errors are costly and seem to be relative to the staffing of nurses. Given that nurses make up such a large segment of the staff population, it is important to identify with the factors behind these medication errors.
There are fore main reason for Medication Error. First, patient knowledge deficiency such as allergy information. Second, medication knowledge deficiency such as drug compatibility. Third, non-adherence to policies and procedures. For example, order the drug in non-verbal or abbreviation ways so that led to error. Before administer the drug, the nurse did not check the name. The health giver did not follow the nursing, pharmacy or treatment policy Forth, miscellaneous for example: the caregiver forget to administrate the drug, or equipment failure. There are many drugs names look alike or sound alike another, so that make the caregiver confuse between them. The top ten drugs that involved in the errors are: insulin 8% Next, the Morphine 2.3%
I have learned many interesting things while doing my research on medication errors. I now know more about the kind of medication errors that affect people the most, ways to prevent, adverse effects that can cause the death of the patient, and many more. Something that I have discovered that has really surprised me, is the number of medication errors that happen each year in the U.S. The FDA(Food and drug administration) has confirmed that there are over 1.25 million medication errors made annually in the United States. That is a crazy high number. I was also very surprised to learn that almost one in five medications administered is given in error. That is 20%!!! Crazy!!!!