Med Bot Technology has advanced in the healthcare system. This has improved care in many ways. As technology continues to emerge, healthcare professionals are likely to see further innovative features built that can make patient care delivery safer and more efficient. In the near future, I would like to see innovative technology that will allow nurses to build stronger rapport with patients and provide quality improvement in care. To allow this, I envision a robot that can go around the unit, alleviating nurses from one of the many tasks they are responsible for. This robot has the ability to deliver medications to stable patients. Since nurses often have strenuous amounts of medication passes per shift, this robot can be of a huge help. Personally, …show more content…
The less time nurses spend on worrying about completing medication administration to stable patients, the more time they can spend at bedside providing more efficient, quality care. According to Steven McPherson, a clinical transformation analyst from Christiana Care (2023), the more time nurses spend with patients the better patients’ outcomes will be. In the article from Medical University of South Carolina (2023), Dr. Arman Kilic states that innovative technology like this one with AI, or artificial intelligence, “can help by automating many processes in the hospital to improve efficiency and allowing physicians, nurses and other care providers to spend their time on other tasks” as well as aid them in doing their jobs better. Mobile advancements like this medical robot can reduce medical errors, improve patient care timeliness, and be cost effective (Tian, 2019). This opportunity can yield safer and more efficient patient care. To assist nurses, innovative technology like the medicine robot or Med Bot can make a big …show more content…
The Med Bot will then be able to dispense the correct dosage and the correct medication to the correct patient. The Med Bot will be able to dispense medications only to the patient it is intended for as soon as it scans the patient’s medical bracelet, followed by the patient entering or stating their name and date of birth. As soon as this process is complete, the task will be removed from the nurse’s electronic medical administration record. Despite this, medications will need to be restocked by a pharmacy tech and medications will be limited to non-narcotics or non-controlled substances. The Med Bot will also only be allowed to administer medication to stable patients and to patients that are able to take oral medications. Nonetheless, new technology can come with risks. Unfortunately, there can be a lack of trust from patients or nurses. “The AI solution may not be transparent or explainable, leading to a lack of trust in recommendations and resulting in the AI solution being ignored” (OECD,
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
...vacy screen on the computer and/or turning the computer away so customers cannot see what’s on the screen, and use a secure network to receive new prescriptions or request refills. A patient must be notified and give authorization to allow a list of their drugs be given to a marketing company. The authorization must say what the data disclosure and use is being planned for and the date when the authorization will expire. In a community practice a pharmacist cannot discuss treatment with anyone unless patient signs authorization. In an institutional practice the patient can call the pharmacist and give permission to talk to a doctor if able to speak. In case of an emergency, such as a heart attack or car accident, the doctor can call the pharmacist to get the information without patient consent. A patient must give a written authorization in a community pharmacy.
Technological advances enable nurses to provide accurate, timely care for a patient. This is due to the fact that these advances enable doctors and nurses to quickly diagnose, explain and predict the health-illness status of a patient, thus allowing health care professionals to spend less time finding answers, and more time providing quality care. For nurses, this includes spending time with the patient establishing rapport, communication and a trusting relationship for optimum clinical care.
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.
Implementing technology in a clinical setting is not easy and cannot be successful without a well-organized system. It is important that healthcare providers understand the electronic medication administration record (eMAR) and its role in improving patient safety. One of the most significant aspects of healthcare is the safety of our patients. Medication errors account for 44,000-98,000 deaths per year, more deaths than those caused by highway accidents or breast cancer. Several health information technologies help to reduce the number of medication errors that occur. Once of these technologies is bar-code-assisted medication administration (BCMA). These systems are designed to ensure that the right drug is being administered via the right
Responsibility and accountability become important when medical staff gives or doses patients with medication. The chance for making a medication error presents itself at all times. Those passing medications must follow established policies and procedures developed and laid forth by t...
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.
I chose a career as a medical assistant because of the rewards I knew I would experience on a daily basis. Seeing a patient smile because I have helped them understand, or just making them feel comfortable with their visit, is just one of the many perks of my job. Upon graduating from an accredited college such as The College of Health Care Professions (CHCP), I now work for one of the most reputable hospitals in my area. Within two short years of committed studies, I obtained my associate of applied science degree, and then went on to obtain my certification as a medical assistant. There is nothing I have found more fulfilling, strong, secure, or rewarding then choosing to become a medical assistant,
Electronic-prescribing, often referred to as e-prescribing, is a fairly new, innovative way for physicians and other medical personnel to prescribe medications and keep track of patients’ medical history. Not only has e-prescribing enabled prescribers to electronically send a prescription to the patients’ pharmacy of choice, in the short amount of time it has been available, it has significantly reduced health care costs, not only for the patient, but for the medical facilities as well. In 2003, e-prescribing was included in the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) which jumpstarted the role of e-prescribing in healthcare. It has proven to significantly reduce the yearly number medication errors and prescription fraud, and its widespread publicity has helped build awareness of e-prescribing’s role in enhancing patient safety. Although it has not been in practice for very long, e-prescribing has already made a positive impact in the field of health care.
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 the nursing profession, taking up to forty percent of a nurse’s time in providing nursing care (Fowler). Consequently, nurses are commonly held accountable for medication errors. To improve the safety of a vital aspect of nursing care, bar code scanning was introduced to reduce errors in medication administration. Although bar code scanning has its advantageous aspects, there are also disadvantageous qualities.
Over the past few years, tremendous technological innovations have taken place. The field of robotics has undergone great development, which has seen robots being integrated into important sectors of the economy including health care. Robotic technologies in healthcare are utilized in a wide range of function, including diagnosing of patients, surgery, medication distribution, surgery, and delivery of food to patients. Allen (2015) points out that robots in healthcare are being used in three primary situations, namely communication and monitoring of patients, assisting nurses and doctors in different functions, and delivery of different medical supplies. Allen (2015) argues that many medical facilities spend a lot of money on delivery of medical supply, a function that can be effectively carried out by robots. “Robot-assisted surgery aims to offer the benefits of minimally invasive surgery, such as reduced post-operative pain, shorter hospital stay, quicker recovery time alongside the specific benefits associated with robotic surgery, including less technically demanding, shorter learning curve and ergonomic benefits”(O’Sullivan et al., 2012). Automation of such processes allows hospitals to cut down on the operation costs and facilitates efficient delivery of services that are critical for early recovery of patients.
In the Computerworld article, Mearian describes how an AI could process a patient’s information, simulate countless medical plans that are up to date with current treatments, and make a decision within seconds (2013). It would take a human doctor a lot more time and effort to come up with a plan for their patient since they do not have the mental capability to do what an AI could do. However, a disadvantage to having an AI as your doctor would be that as a whole, technology is unreliable. It would be very possible that an AI could misinterpret a patient’s symptoms or information and diagnose or treat them incorrectly because of it. The technology in the robot could also malfunction. For example, in the Fortune article, an AI was responsible for meeting with a patient and determining if their symptoms warranted a trip to an actual human doctor (Morris, 2015). If the technology were to malfunction, the A could potentially send their patient to a doctor when there wasn’t a need for it, or it could misdiagnose their patient a send them home when they in fact needed to seek
Technology has also helped medicine with the use of robots. At the Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, Jeff Lannigan oversees 1,300 prescriptions a day. [2] That is a huge amount of prescriptions. Now he has a new kind of help. Spencer is a one million dollar robot that dispenses prescriptions at speedy rates. It takes Spencer three and a half hours to do what it took pharmacists 24 hours to do. This new technology also eliminates the room for human error. This means that people will have the right medication every time. If you are a customer waiting for a prescription than this technology will defiantly better society. Some people say that this new technology will hurt society because it will eliminate jobs for pharmacists. This is not true. The article says, “Instead of spending the whole day dispensing medicines, pharmacists have time to do what they’re trained to do—take care of patients.