Problem of Omission to Administer Medication to Patients

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Omission of medications is a common issue in the field of nursing. When patients miss their scheduled dosage of medication, it can cause harm. Nurses take an oath to do no harm to their patients. When a nurse purposely omits a medication, they are not properly acting within their nurse’s scope of practice. A nurse cannot make the decision to hold a medication based on ones believes, because they were interrupted, or because of time constraints. “The administration of medications is a major part of the role of the clinical nurse and is an activity prone to error” (Johnson, Tran, & Young, 2011 p. 553). Administrating medications is an important part of my job as a nurse. Usually, I only have five or six patients on my shift however, we were short staffed due to an emergency another nurse had. I had to add a few more patients to my workload. My colleagues and the patient’s family members distracted me. “Distractions are a major cause of error in healthcare, especially during the process of medication delivery” (Hohenhaus & Powell, 2008, p. 108). The drug I omitted was not one that would cause harm or put the patient’s life in jeopardy, it was an antacid medication, calcium carbonate. This is why I felt justified in omitting the drug. It was time to administer medication. My patient was on the unit because he had a schedule test. “ Omission of medication was the most frequent often related to patient absences from the unit” (Johnson, et. al., 2011, p. 548). Upon his return, I was no longer administering medication but I had documented that I gave this medication to the patient. All medications must be accurately documented to ensure all prescribed medications are being given to the patient. I know my shift was ending soon and tha... ... middle of paper ... ... References Hohenhaus, S. M., & Powell, S. M. (2008). Distractions and Interruptions: Development of a Healthcare Sterile Cockpit. Newborn and Infant Nursing Reviews, 8(2), 108-110. Frith, K. H., Anderson, E. F., Tseng, F., & Fong, E. A. (2012). Nurse staffing is an important strategy to prevent medication errors in community hospitals. Nursing Economics, 30(5), 288-94. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1112217903?accountid=28076 Johnson, M., Tran, D., & Young, H. (2011). Developing risk management behaviours for nurses through medication incident analysis. International Journal Of Nursing Practice, 17(6), 548-555. doi:10.1111/j.1440-172X.2011.01977.x Jones, S. W. (2009). Reducing medication administration errors in nursing practice. Nursing Standard, 23(50), 40-6. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/219876884?accountid=28076

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