Patient Safety Assignment: Medication Errors

Patient Safety Assignment: Medication errors

Patient safety is described as “"freedom from accidental injury; ensuring patient safety involves the establishment of operational systems and process that minimize the likelihood of errors and maximizes the likelihood of intercepting them when they occur"(Kohn et al., 2000, p. 211). Throughout this essay I will discuss the patient safety problem of medication errors and the policies that have been put in place to ensure patient safety. The problems linked with medication errors vary from communication errors to insufficient staffing number. While it’s impossible to completely ensure that no errors will occur, it’s the job of healthcare professionals to lower risks and provide safer patient care.

Almost all patients take multiple types of medications during each drug round and it’s vital that the nurse understands what each drug is responsible for. In order to prevent any administration issues nurses should follow the “5 rights” which outline the checklist of the right drug, right dose, right route, right patient and right time to ensure patient safety. Often mistakes are made as nurses give medications at the wrong time. Nurses should also be aware on the needs of the patient taking the medication. Nurses have the closest contact with the patient and are likely educated about any difficulties they have with their medication before any other healthcare professional. For example, some patients may have difficulty swallowing large tablets therefore it’s the responsibility of the nurse to inform the doctor and inquire about an alternative form of the drug. Nowadays most drugs are available in soluble forms and the nurse should be educated on all forms

Within a hospital the "pen to patient” (Benjamin DM., 2003) steps are often complex which led to miscommunication and can have life threatening affects to the patient. Often it can be extremely difficult to understand the doctor’s handwriting on a patient’s drug kardex which can lead to medication errors. Healthcare providers also use many abbreviations when writing notes and prescriptions which may be misinterpreted. Therefore, healthcare providers should avoid using complicated abbreviations and ensure that their writing is legible for others. Also if the drug dose isn’t written clearly the wrong amount could be given and have disastrous consequences. Calculation errors are another major factor in medication errors. It’s vital that healthcare providers calculate the correct dose as even the smallest margin in difference can have a huge impact on the patient’s safety. The nurse should be 100% certain that they are giving the correct dose and if there is any doubt, they should double check their calculations with someone