Reduce Medication Errors

Nurses are responsible for multiple patients on any given day making medication errors a potential problem in the nursing field. Medication administration not only encompasses passing medication to the patients yet begins with the physician prescribing the medication, pharmacy filling the correct prescription and ending with the nurse administering and monitoring the patient for any adverse effect from the medication. According to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP), ‘A medication error refers to any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the healthcare professional,

*Intravenous (IV) injection administration – The medicine is administered directly into the veins. Medicines are rapidly absorbed into the body via this route, which is advantageous when a situation is life threatening.

The nurse is preparing to administer IV fluid to a client with a strict fluid restriction. IV tubing with which feature is most important for the nurse to select?

Excellent outline for your quality improvement initiative that addresses medication errors. I like how you describe the closed-loop medication administration process that includes all members of the interprofessional team. Your references are also well researched and current. From the outline, it is unclear what the barriers and implementation strategy are to reduce medication errors. One suggestion I would make is to look at the grading rubric. There are four main points that the rubric requires to complete the objectives for the paper. I usually create headings that align with the rubric, this helps me organize my thoughts and to meet the objectives of the assignment.

3. Continuous irrigation is fluid instilled into the body at a steady rate. Intermittent infusions are for medication administration and

McComas, Riingenm and Kim (2014), conducted a study that investigated the occurrence of medication errors and the efficiency of medication administration following the implementing an eMAR system. The study was conducted in an appropriate setting and all observed nurses volunteered for the study. Before implementing the eMARs mandatory class were provided and nurses were evaluated for competency. Data was collected by observation and nurses were randomly followed throughout a medication pass. Collected data consisted of medication errors, distractions during medication pass and amount of time spent administering medications.

The health information technology (HIT) topic selected is medication errors. In his March 17, 2017 article titled, “Poorly Implemented IT systems lead to medication errors” author Evan Sweeny discusses a the findings of Pennsylvania Safety Advisory which found that information technology (IT) systems implemented to prevent medication errors, may in fact contribute their occurrence. This paper will examine how HIT can both prevent and contribute to medication errors. The following elements are included, introduction, the rationale for selection, positive and negative impact of health information technology on medication errors, how informatics skill was relevant in assignment development, and

Drugs can be administered in many ways however the most dangerous way to use drugs is through intravenous injections. Several risks factors are associated with IV drug use including death. People that practice this method of delivery for drug use are endangering their lives as well as non-drug users. This method allows a powerful dose to be injected instantly and can lead to an accidental overdose. Injecting drugs intravenously can also damage veins as well with repeated use of this method.

Peripheral I.V. rotation and care may differ from facility to facility. Although across the nursing community peripheral intravenous catheters are replaced every few days, they will be changed even if the vein is patent. If the site does not show signs of infection or phlebitis, it is protocol to change the site. Evidence-based practice says that there is no need to change the site routinely, instead the site should remain intact and changed only upon need such as inflammation, irritation, or lack of patency. Not changing the I.V. routinely gives comfort to the ill patient, while it also saves money for the hospital.

I will begin with talking about peripheral intravenous catheters. It is a tool within the hospitals or care facilities to quickly provide medications, nutrition, and fluids through the blood stream. (Peripheral) There are two types of methods for delivery. Continuous IV is for long term use and is for replacement or maintaining fluids and electrolytes. Intermittent IV’s are administration of medications and supplement fluids. To maintain an intermittent IV, you use saline and heparin locks so you don’t have the need for continuous infusion. (Morris) Peripheral IV catheters are strictly for short term use. (Potter) The most common sites for peripheral lines are in the arm, hand, scalp of an infant. In more serious occasions you can use the veins in the leg (Morris)

3.) Often IV pumps beep and require trouble shooting. Varies issue occur including occluded, air in the line, and infusion complete.

Perhaps one of the most used skills by a nurse in the clinical setting is initiating intravenous access on a patient. Intravenous access is commonly referred to simply as an I.V. There are many reasons a person may have the need for an I.V. They may be suffering from an acute illness or injury in an inpatient setting like a hospital or emergency room. Some people have I.V. access routinely for various types of outpatient infusions such as antibiotics, chemotherapy, or blood product transfusion. Each nurse will develop over time their own individual technique but there are steps of the process that are universal across the healthcare industry to ensure safe care for the patient.

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

IVs deliver a combination of nutrients directly into your bloodstream. This allows your body to quickly recover from physical stress. Vitamins + hydration + minerals = faster recovery and better health. These solutions are designed for:

- If client is receiving numerous and/or large volume intravenous medications, consult pharmacist about ways to prevent excessive fluid administration and example being to stop primary infusion during administration of intravenous medications, dilute medication in the minimum amount of solution ect.