Patient Safety

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Patient Safety Incident: A look at the Nurses role in paediatric medication errors and prevention
There are many different patient safety issues prevalent in the clinical setting today. This essay will take a particular focus on medication errors in the paediatric population which can lead to poor clinical outcomes for such patients. This is a substantial problem because according to Hughes and Edgerton (2005), it accounts for the most common harm to paediatric patients during treatment. The essay will deal with the role of the nurse in facilitating such incidents. Therefore there will be a specific focus on the extent of errors at stages of medication administration, education and monitoring. The essay will then conclude with a critical …show more content…

WHO,( 2005, p8) defines it as “an injury related to medical management, in contrast to complications of disease”. Children are at a much higher risk of developing an adverse event as a consequence of a medication error due to their limited physiological development and communication (Hughes and Edgerton (2005)). Sandlin (2008) refers to a quote by Stu Levine, PharmD, of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, who declares that adverse drug events occur at three times a higher rate in paediatrics as supposed to adults.
Following on, this highlights the importance of the nurse’s role in preventing medical errors. If the incident is recognised before the problem occurs it eradicates the risk of an adverse event occurring in a patient. Nurses are usually the last barrier in the potential for a medication error to cause a problem in a child. Hughes and Edgerton (2005) refer to a study which states the majority of healthcare workers, including nurses themselves, view patient safety primarily as their …show more content…

They are responsible for identifying possible toxic or adverse events associated with the effectiveness of the drug. Failure to do so is regarded as a medical error. Careful monitoring is vital, specifically in the case of paediatric patients as their communication skills are limited. (Hughes and Edgerton (2005)). Young kids are vulnerable as they cannot tell if a problem is wrong and aren’t able to tell nurses if they don’t feel ok (Sandlin, (2008)). WHO (2007) guidelines also state that the monitoring of medication in children is of utmost importance. This is due to the fact that very small numbers of clinical trials are carried out on children. This establishes for the use of “off label” drugs. Extra vigilance is required in these

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