Pharmacy: Improving Medication-Use System

In the UK, there are more than 1 billion scripts prescribed and dispensed every year (HSCIC, 2013). There are over 12,000 pharmacies in the UK, and approximately 1.6 million people visit a pharmacy every day (HSCIC, 2013). It is therefore natural to assume that between these 1 billion prescriptions, an error or mistake will be made. Current studies suggest that of all the dispensed medicines, there are approximately 0.01-3.32% errors made in community pharmacy and 0.02-2.7% in hospital pharmacy (James et all, 2009).

Medication errors are the leading cause of morbidity and preventable death in hospitals (Adams). In fact, approximately 1.5 million Americans are injured each year as a result of medication errors in hospitals (Foote). Not only are medication errors harmful to patients but medication errors are very expensive for hospitals. Medication errors cost America’s health care system 3.5 billion dollars per year (Foote).Errors in medication administration occurs when one of the five rights of medication administration is omitted. The five rights are: a) the right dose, b) the right medication, c) the right patient, d) the right route of administration, and e) the right time of delivery (Adams). Medication administration is an essential part of

As it is mentioned earlier, medication administration includes various steps and an interdisciplinary team. Undoubtedly, nurses play a vital role in the medication administration process. Since patient safety is the priority to all health care professionals, it is important for the nurses to effectively communicate and collaborate with an interdisciplinary team if he or she is unsure about any medication prescription to prevent any adverse events. In addition, patient education is another component of safe administration. A patient must be educated on medications they are taking, the reason for taking them, the dosage, a route, potential side effects, and interactions. Nurses should perform “six rights” of the medication each time. Before administering

The Action Plan for Medication Safety was a study that accessed patient’s knowledge on their medications. Patients taking more then 5 medications were chosen to participate. The study began by giving each patient a fake medication plan to test if they understood the plan or not. After being accessed and properly educated, the patients were then given their own plan and a filled pillbox to handle and properly take their medications. The study concluded that the patients were more adherent to their medications because they understood the medication plan and the importance of taking their medication at the appropriate time

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;

Medication errors compromise patient care and potentially leads to increase in debt for the institution. The source of errors are numerous

Strategies to address causative factor of medication error are detailed as follows: (1) team factor strategies, (2) task factor strategies, (3) environmental factor strategies, (4) individual factor strategies, and, (5) system/organisational factor strategies.

Prescription medication use is widespread, complex, and increasingly risky. Clinicians have access to an armamentarium of more than 10,000 prescription medications, and nearly one-third of adults in the United States take 5 or more medications. Advances in clinical therapeutics have undoubtedly resulted in major improvements in health for patients with many diseases, but these benefits have also been accompanied by increased risks. An adverse drug event (ADE) is defined as harm experienced by a patient as a result of exposure to a medication, and ADEs account for nearly 700,000 emergency department visits and 100,000 hospitalizations each year. ADEs affect nearly 5% of hospitalized patients, making them one of the most common types of inpatient errors; ambulatory patients may experience ADEs at even higher rates. Transitions in care are also a well-documented source of preventable harm

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.

Medication administration errors is not only a problem in the United States but is a global concern of managers and healthcare professionals (Department of Health, 2004;

In the United States, the Renaissance had a great influence on modern art because it was a natural way in which artistic expression were extended. During this period, human beings were shifting from the dominant religious ideas to the realism aspect. Which was highly reflected in the work of art. This clearly indicates that the work of art during the renaissance and modernism era were very distinct. To this end, this assignment has a purpose of comparing two works of art, which are selected from the Museum of Fine Arts based in Houston. In particular, the comparison will consider the way the nineteenth-century artists began to embrace the current urban spaces in modernity from the old academic works. The two artworks being compared are the Berthe Morisot, The Basket Chair, and the Gustave Caillebotte, The Orange Trees, 1878, which are both placed in room 222 of the museum. Therefore, the comparison discusses that the male artists were more effective at this time.

Medication errors have contributed to healthcare issues and created problematic discrepancies affecting costs, safety issues, qualitative concerns, and economic effects. This review will provide the background, rationale, and the overview of multiple issues causing medication errors. Issues contributing to negative effects of the health system will be identified including how specific issues affect patients, and adverse drug effects. Effects on health costs will be reviewed as they relate to higher health costs, in addition to the impact higher costs have on the economy.

Medication error (ME) is a significant problem within our health care system, in terms of patient harm and cost. In July 2002, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) cited the need to reduce medication errors as a top priority. Several studies suggest that medical error is the third-leading cause of death in the United States. In fact, at least 7,000 inpatient deaths occur annually as a direct

It is evident that patient safety is one of the most important principal in place as a nurse. To insure this there are many standards that are set in place that as a registered nurse need to be met, some including, professional responsibility and accountability, having knowledge based practice, ethical practice, service to the public and self-regulation (SRNA, 2014). “These standards and foundation competencies serve as the criteria against which all registered nurses, practising in all domains of nursing practice (direct care, education, administration, and research, and the evolving domain of policy) will be measured by clients, employers, colleagues and themselves”(SRNA, 2014). Having these standards allows register nurses and the public to have a clear understanding of what needs to be met in order to insure that there is proper patient safety. However there are still many issues that contribute to unacceptable patient safety, including medication administration errors, post operative care, and patients mental health. However, “medication errors are one of the most common types of medical errors that occur in healthcare institutions” (J.Choo, 2010). A medication error, according to The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention “is 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