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Bar code medication administration disadvantages
Bar Code Medication Administration
Disadvantages of bar code medication administration
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Bar Code Medication Administration
Bar code administration is technology that was founded to improve the safety of patient care in regards to medication administration. Nursing as well as the healthcare system have benefited tremendously by this technology by increasing the pace as which medications can be administered and decreasing the number of medication errors when used appropriately. In the following I will define and discuss an example of bar code administration and a then a personal experience I had with bar code administration.
Example of Bar Code Medication Administration
Bar code administration is being incorporated into the medication administration process across healthcare to increase patient safety and reduce medication errors
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by 32%. The process requires a computer with appropriate software, a scanner, a patient wristband with the appropriate bar code and medications with the appropriate bar codes. The whole medication administration process can be done at the patient’s bedside (Harrington, Clyne, Fuchs, Hardison & Johnson pg. 611-612, 2013). According to What Are the Causes of Noncompliance Behaviors in Bar Code Medication Administration System Processes, nurses need to collect all necessary medication and supplies prior to begin the administration process. Then the nurse must sign into the appropriate medication administration program for the scanner, scan the patient identifier, and then the medications due at that time (2015). Personal Experience Bar code administration has become a part of my daily work life.
It almost seems like work would be impossible to get accomplished without the technology some days. Every medication administration, blood draw and specimen collection requires and readable accurate name bracelet to document and complete these tasks. One day while I was at work the topic of scanning compliance was discussed in a monthly early Monday morning staff meeting. It was brought to our attention that our floors compliance with scanning the medications was lower than the target goal. So, as I sat and contemplated my part in the floor’s overall score I came to a conclusion. I realized that I too was part of the problem. Sure I was acknowledging order, scanning the patient, ensuring all the six rights were met but, what the break in the chain was scanning the same two medications that every patient has ordered oxygen and saline flushes. In the system I use, at that time, the saline flushes and oxygen did not have a barcode that able to be scanned when completing medication administrations and every patient each shift have these ordered. Let’s say there are currently 30 patients on the floor and that have both of these medications on their MAR and not once were the medications scanned due to unreadable or no bar code available. That would come to a total of 90 times in one 24-hour period where there was a break in the bar code medication administration process resulting in …show more content…
noncompliance. Realizing where at least one of the breakdowns in bar code medication administration was on our floor, I discussed my thoughts and findings with other co-workers to try and find a solution.
We ultimately brought it up with our nurse manger and were informed that multiple floors had complaints of the same problem. As discussed in What Are the Causes of Noncompliance Behaviors in Bar Code Medication Administration System Processes, although bar code medication administration can seem easy to use it does require appropriate training in the required steps to use the system appropriately (Lee, Lee, Wong, & Yi pg.12, 2015). Since then the flush bar codes have been added to the bar code system and are now readable but we are still struggling with the issue of unavailability of and oxygen bar code. In the future we might see a barcode tag attached to the flow meter on the wall to help with our medication administration
compliance. The early Monday morning staff meetings that people might otherwise moan or groan about because they either want to go home after a long night or get their shift started are extremely useful and helpful. These meeting allow management to convey praises to staff and short comings that need improvement on the floor. If it were not for these meeting who know how long it would have taken for someone to speak up about unreadable or missing bar codes. “Our results indicate that when medication administration errors are communicated to nurses, it reinforces the belief that BCMA is useful in the prevention of medication administration errors” (Song, Park& Oh pg. 162). Conclusion Bar code administration is a great advancement in the field of healthcare and has proven to be successful in cutting down on medication errors. On turn it has improved overall patient safety and care. The evaluation of barcode administration has been effective on acknowledging noncompliance behaviors and thus promoting change on the workplace. I will continue to be more self aware of possible incidents of noncompliance as well as suggest ways to improve to system for the floor I work on.
During the 1980’s and 90’s there were many studies done that showed that medical errors were occurring in inpatient and outpatient settings at a very high rate. Computer Provider Order Entry (CPOE) systems were designed to reduce or eliminate mistakes made by using hand written orders. The CPOE system allows users to directly enter their orders into the system on computers which are then sent directly to the healthcare providers that will be implementing the orders. Previously orders were placed by writing on order sheets on patient charts. This was sometimes done by the doctor or by a nurse acting on behalf of the doctor. Order sheets were then signed by the doctor and then the information was input into the patient’s record. This left room for error due to misreading bad handwriting, confusing medications with similar names, etc.
For my research paper, I will be discussing the impact of medication errors on vulnerable populations, specifically the elderly. Technology offers ways to reduce medication errors using electronic bar-coding medication administration (BCMA) systems. However, skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) are not using these systems. Medication is still administered with a paper or electronic medication administration record (eMAR), without barcode scanning. In contrast, every hospital I have been in: as a patient, nursing student, and nurse uses BCMA systems. The healthcare system is neglecting the elderly. Nursing homes should use BCMAs to reduce the incidents of medication errors.
I am truly amazed by the positive impact of bar-code medication administration (BCMA). Since we have a fully integrated electronic health record, it is a true closed loop-system, with medication order entry, pharmacy validation of medications, and clinical decision support. Implementing technology such as BCMA is an efficient way to improve positive identification of both the patient and medication prior to administration. It is estimated that the bar-code medication charting can reduce medication errors by 58% (Jones & Treiber, 2010). Even though we have good adoption of BCMA, nurses still make drug administration errors. In many of the cases, errors are caused by nurses, because they do not validate and verify. The integration of technology
This technology assist the nurse in confirming patients identify by confirming the patients’ dose, time and form of medication (Helmons, Wargel, & Daniels, 2009). Having an EHR also comes with a program that allows the medical staff to scan medications so medication errors can be prevented. According to Helmons, Wargel, and Daniels (2009) they conducted an observational study in two medical –surgical units one in the medical intensive care (ICU) and one in the surgical ICU. The researchers watched 386 nurses within the two hospitals use bar code scanning before they administrated patients’ medications. The results of the research found a 58 % decrease in medication errors between the two hospitals because of the EHR containing a bar code assisted medication administration
The world of healthcare changes every day. Technology, as we know it evolves and changes the actual care that patients receive and even post care as well. It has been determined that most faults are caused by system failures. When a break in the system has occurred it must then be decided where the,” inefficiencies, ineffective care and preventable errors” to then influence changes within the broken system (Hughes, 2008). Improvements sometimes can begin with measurements and benchmarks which in turn will allow organizations to assess the trouble spots and broken areas within the system. Many times those broken areas within the system will be owned by the humans who operate within these systems. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM)
The Medication Administration Accuracy Project is a quality improvement project, whose purpose is to improve the accuracy of nursing medication administration. The study used for this project was to find where the most common “wrong doings” happened in the medication process and how to get rid of it. After a year of this project the medication error percent went from 4.3% in 2010 to 1.2% in 2011. The Bar Code Administration System implementation had been very successful with a 95% success rate every year that it is done. The study provided important insight on reducing the medication errors in children. Some were: making sure there are no distractions as possible, double checking medications and making sure the dose in adequate range for the child, and making sure you have two ways of identification with the bar code scanning (Hardmeier, A., Tsourounis, C., Moore, M., Abbott, W., Guglielmo, J.
Properly implemented and medication-use technology has the potential to moderate these costs. Bar-code-assisted medication administration (BCMA) has been shown to reduce medication administration errors by as much as 54-86%. BCMA, along with computerized electronic prescriber order entry and an electronic medication administration record, closes a technological loop that extends from the transmission of the order to the administration of the medication at bedside (Strykowski, Hadsall, Sawchyn, VanSickle, Niznick,
The main quality initiative affected by this workaround is patient safety. The hospital switched to computer medication administration as opposed to paper medication administration documentation because it is supposed to be safer. So, when the nurse gets the “wrong medication” message the computer thinks something is wrong, this is a safety net that is built into the computer system. If the nurse were just to administer the medication without any further checks, he or she would be putting patient safety on the line. The policy involved that pertains to this workaround is the “8 rights of medication administration”, which are: right patient, right medication, right dose, right route, right time, right documentation, right reason, and right response (LippincottNursingCenter®, 2011). Each nurse it taught these eight rights of medication administration in nursing school, therefore it is a nursing policy. When this workaround occurs the nurse should use his/her judgment before “scan overriding” and ensure these eight checks before administering the
Administration of medication is a vital part of the clinical nursing practice however in turn has great potential in producing medication errors (Athanasakis 2012). It has been reported that over 7,000 deaths have occur per year related to medications errors within the US (Flynn, Liang, Dickson, Xie, & Suh, 2012). A patient in the hospital may be exposed to at least one error a day that could have been prevented (Flynn, Liang, Dickson, Xie, & Suh, 2012). Working in a professional nursing practice setting, the primary goal is the nurse and staff places the patient first and provides the upmost quality care with significance on safety. There are several different types of technology that can be used to improve the medication process and will aid staff in reaching a higher level of care involving patient safety. One tool that can and should be utilized in preventing medication errors is barcode technology. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how implementing technology can aid patient safety during the medication administration process.
Advances in technology have influences our society at home, work and in our health care. It all started with online banking, atm cards, and availability of children’s grades online, and buying tickets for social outings. There was nothing electronic about going the doctor’s office. Health care cost has been rising and medical errors resulting in loss of life cried for change. As technologies advanced, the process to reduce medical errors and protect important health care information was evolving. In January 2004, President Bush announced in the State of the Union address the plan to launch an electronic health record (EHR) within the next ten years (American Healthtech, 2012).
Young, J., Slebodnik, M., & Sands, L. (2010). Bar code technology and medication administration error. Journal of Patient Safety, 6(2), 115-120. doi:10.1097/PTS.0b013e3181de35f7
Also, these studies question those who are effected; in this case, those who are most effected, is everyone. Doctors and nurses spend the most time working within these systems, but the information that is put into these systems effects every individual in America, because it is their information. Because nurses are often considered “both coordinators and providers of patient care” and they “attend to the whole patient,” their opinion is highly regarded (Otieno, Toyama, Asonuma, Kanai-Pak, & Naitoh, 2007, p. 210). It is clear that the use of these new systems is much debated, and many people have their own, individualized opinion. This information suggests that when there is a problem in the medical field, those who address it attempt to gather opinions from everyone who is involved before proceeding. It has been proven by multiple studies that this system of record keeping does in fact have potential to significantly improve patient health through efficiency, and it is because of this that the majority of hospitals have already completed, or begun the transfer from paperless to electronic (Otieno, Toyama, Asonuma, Kanai-Pak, & Naitoh,
An error can happen at any step of the process. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices has identified ten elements with the greatest influence on medication error such as, two patient identifiers, ask the patient about any allergy, Avoid abbreviations, pay close attention to patient’s diagnosis, and note the patient current medication regimen. Using two identifiers when dispensing medication can cut the risk of medication errors. For example, along with patient’s name ask for the date of birth to make sure the prescription matches the patient. In addition, having a system in place to show patients with similar names. This can be simple as a special color coded stickers or even verify information with the family members. Secondly, ask the patient about any allergy and reaction to medications before any new medication is administered. This includes information from the patient’s chart. Thirdly avoid the use of abbreviations which can easily misinterpret when documenting medication of allergies. Fourthly, pay close attention to the patient’s diagnosis, which can affect the dose and frequency. For instance, patients with kidney, impairment, liver and diabetes fall under this category. Educate patients to ask for information from their doctor when they received a medication to include what is the name of the medicine, dosage, and what it is used for. Lastly, note the patient’s current medication regimens and update the list for each visit. These simple tips can definitely enhance patient safety and decrees any
RFID data, for example, part and serial numbers, assembly dates and support history are put away on the tags and catches which help in maintenance of equipment. RFID technology as high value for asset management and inventory systems. A barcode is a visual representation of data that is checked and utilized for data. Bar code is simple to control equipment and tool inventory. In facilities supervisors can use barcodes to link work orders, purchase orders, spare parts and equipment which can be further used to track and collect costs.
Technology is stated as the scientific method and material used to achieve a commercial or industrial objective. To go one step further, nursing technology is using a tool to advance nursing practice. “The Institute of medicine identified that technology as a viable method of enhancing patient care delivery and improving staff productivity” Sensmeier, Horowitz (2003 page). Because inadequate nursing staff causes shortcuts to be taken, there are mistakes made that could have possibly been prevented. Errors by nursing staff were variously reported as being responsible for between 44,000 and 98,000 hospital deaths per year. Sensmeier, Horowitz (2003). Technology can have a large impact on nursing. In the past 5 to 10 years, computerized patient records have increased less than 10%. This number shows us that we are still not embracing technology to its full potential. Today in most hospital systems computerized electronic charting is being used. Many hospitals have many different systems for...