Introduction Medications are used as one of the interventional strategies in the prevention and management of various ailments. Although medications are useful to patients, when used inappropriately, they are not only harmful to patients but also impair the reputation of physicians. Medication Errors (MEs) are known to occur in the healthcare setting. According to National Coordination Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP) medication errors are defined as “Any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of a healthcare professional, patient or consumer”. Medication errors occur when a healthcare professional performs an act that fails to achieve the intended goal or due to imperfect execution. Importance of reporting and monitoring medication errors There is a necessity to monitor medication errors as they are responsible for injury in 1 of 25 hospitalised patients. While the medication error rates in hospitals ranges from 4.4 to 59.1%, worldwide reporting of medication errors is less than 5%. A report from Institute of Medicine (IOM) “To err is Human: Building a safer health system” (Nov 1999) stated that 44,000 to 98,000 Americans die each year as a result of medication errors and it is the eighth leading cause of death among Americans. A comprehensive population based Harvard Medical Practice study reported that 4% of medication errors related injury resulted in prolonged hospital stay or disability. It is reported that although 14% of injuries were serious/fatal most of the errors (69%) were preventable errors. United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) reported that 2% of hospital admission was due to ... ... middle of paper ... ...y B. Carothers. Medication Errors: The Problem and Its Scope. Int J Trauma Nurs 1998; 4:104-108. 2. Sarah EM, Harriet SF, Robin EF. The Pathophysiology of medication errors: How and where they arise. BJCP 2009 Mar 18; 67(6): 605-613. 3. The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention. 2005 Dec. http://www.nccmerp.org 4. Philip Sehneider. Medication errors. In: A Textbook of Clinical Pharmacy Practice: Essential Concepts and Skills. Editors: G. Parthasarathi, Karin – Nyfort-Hansen and Milap Nahata. 1st Edition 2009; 424-442. 5. Revikumar KG, Miglani B.D. Medication errors. A text book of Pharmacy Practice.1st edition. Career publications, Maharashtra, 2009. 6. Aronson JK. Medication errors: Emerging solutions. BJCP 2009; 67(6): 589-591. 7. Paul DM. Role of Pharmacist in Reducing Medication Errors. J Surg Onch 2004; 88: 189-194.
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.
It is very disturbing at the number of errors that occur in children who receive medication in the ambulatory care setting. According to Medication Dosage Error...
Unver, V., Tastan, S., & Akbayrak, N. (2012). Medication errors: Perspectives of newly graduated and experienced nurses. International Journal Of Nursing Practice, 18(4), 317-324. doi:10.1111/j.1440-172X.2012.02052.x
Some method such as audits, chart reviews, computer monitoring, incident report, bar codes and direct patient observation can improve and decrease medication errors. Regular audits can help patient’s care and reeducate nurses in the work field to new practices. Also reporting of medication errors can help with data comparison and is a learning experience for everyone. Other avenues that has been implemented are computerized physician order entry systems or electronic prescribing (a process of electronic entry of a doctor’s instructions for the treatment of patients under his/her care which communicates these orders over a computer network to other staff or departments) responsible for fulfilling the order, and ward pharmacists can be more diligence on the prescription stage of the medication pathway. A random survey was done in hospital pharmacies on medication error documentation and actions taken against pharmacists involved. A total of 500 hospital were selected in the United States. Data collected on the number of medication error reported, what types of errors were documented and the hospital demographics. The response rate was a total of 28%. Practically, all of the hospitals had policies and procedures in place for reporting medication errors.
A medication error is any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or harm to a patient (NCCMERP 2014). The death rate for medication errors averages around 7,000 deaths per year. Lawsuits for medication errors were mainly made against registered nurses because nurses are the last people to check a medication before it is administered. 426 medication error related lawsuits were made against registered nurses. (RightDiagnosis 2014).
Agyemang, REO, and A While. "Medication errors: types, causes and impact on nursing practice." British Journal of Nursing (BJN) 19.6 (2010): 380-385. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. EBSCO. Web. 7 Mar. 2011.
Medication errors made by medical staff bring about consequences of epidemic proportions. Medical staff includes everyone from providers (medical doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants) to pharmacists to nurses (registered and practical). Medication errors account for almost 98,000 deaths in the United States yearly (Tzeng, Yin, & Schneider, 2013). This number only reflects the United States, a small percentage in actuality when looking at the whole world. Medical personnel must take responsibility for their actions and with this responsibility comes accountability in their duties of medication administration. Nurses play a major role in medication error prevention and education and this role distinguishes them as reporters of errors.
What classifies as a Medication errors? An error can occur any time during the medication administration process. A medication error can be explained 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 healthcare professional, patient, or consumer” (National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention, 2014, para 1). Rather it is at prescribing, transcribing, dispensing or at the time of administration all these areas are equally substantial in producing possible errors that could potentially harm the patient (Flynn, Liang...
The topic of this article is medication error related to chemotherapy drugs. Forty percent of medication errors have been related to chemotherapy drugs. It is imperative that the nurses are properly trained on these medications and fully understand what is being administered before giving it to the patient as well as know what the proper dose is before administering anything to the patient. More importantly the nurse must pay close attention to their patient’s response to the chemotherapy given to the patient or it could lead to a serious injury or death.
six percent of these medication errors occurred at the time of admission, time of discharge or
Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Wakefield, B. J., Holman, T. U., & Wakefield, D. S. (2005). Development and Validation of the Medication Administration Error Reporting Survey. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Tzeng, H., Yin, C., & Schneider, T. E. (2013). Medication Error-Related Issues In Nursing Practice. MEDSURG Nursing, 22(1), 13-50.
O’Shea, E (1999) Factors contributing to medication errors: a literature review. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 8, 5,496-503.
If I make a mistake in the pharmacy, I take every step possible to remedy that mistake. I educate the patient on the possible adverse effects of our mistake, I inform the provider, I remedy the mistake and log it and the steps that led to the mistake to prevent it from happening again. By learning from our mistakes, we hold ourselves to the ultimate standard of one day working without error. While this goal may be theoretically unachievable, it is what we must strive for as we are working with humans, not just with profit margins. Pharmacy has opened my eyes to what health care is truly all about.
Medication errors are a huge problem in the nursing field. Although these mistakes are considered preventable, limited human resources, unclear handwriting,