Medication Errors Including Look-Alike Sound-Alike Drugs in an ICU
People mistakes. This is true in every field and in every job. But in certain areas, mistakes can be costly, even deadly. Medication errors happen because sometimes staff at the medical facility or hospital see drug names that not just look alike, but also sound alike. Statistics point to only 0-2% detection rate of medication errors and prescribing errors. Although over 34% of adverse events happen when it comes to medication errors and over a half for prescribing errors, the very low detection rate presents problems. Medication safety, patient safety should be paramount especially in ICU conditions where the health of patients is at best stable, at worst at the brink of death.
To prevent things like accidental overdose, allergic reactions, or other complications resulting from medication errors, a possible solution is renaming drugs, especially those that have to be injected. Surveys nationwide suggest medication errors are due in part to the wide range of formulations available of the same drug that may be packaged differently and may lead to wrong dosage, rapid administration of medication, and wrong route. Changing the names as well as increasing medical personnel awareness of such inconsistencies and variations may lead to a reduction medication errors.
Initiatives to reduce Medication errors
Some initiatives involve standardization of equipment like utilization of smart pumps. Smart pumps come with DERS or dose error reduction software and lessen the occurrence of improper dosage administration when it comes to injectable medication. These are not only able to reduce dosage problems, but will less the burden placed on medical personnel to remember exact dosage, which often happens when dealing with numerous patients throughout their shift. It's a solution that uses new and innovative software, reducing human error. Other solutions involve recommendations like: "national recommendations for injectable medicines...
Medication Errors Since the research materials are provided to you by human beings, and may be based Medication errors pose a significant threat to patients. The results of medication errors vary from mild to deadly. No facility is immune from the possibility to drug errors, either through a fault of their own, or from suppliers or pharmacists that supply them. All medication errors must be reported to the Food and Drug Administration.
Medication Errors Over Medication Overmedication can be described as an inappropriate medical treatment that occurs when a patient takes unnecessary or excessive medications. This may happen because the prescriber is unaware of other medications the patient is already taking, because of drug interactions with another chemical or target population, because of human error, or because of undiagnosed medical conditions. Sometimes, the extra prescription is intentional (and sometimes illegal), as in the case
One proven solution to decrease medication errors is use of medication software such as CPOE. It has significantly reduced errors in prescribing, transcription, and dispensing of medications (Hidle). It also has the potential to decrease errors in administration due to unfamiliarity with a drug, drugs with similar names, or incorrect dose calculations since the software performs the calculations. So, why are these systems not used more often in the administration
Medication errors have serious direct and indirect results, and are usually the consequence of breakdowns in a system of care…Ten to 18% of all reported hospital injuries have been attributed to medication errors" (Mayo & Duncan 2004: 209). One of the most common reasons that errors in medical administration transpire is miscommunication. On a staff level, errors may occur in terms of the paperwork associated with the patient. The hospital
The anger that eventually and inevitably spills out is far more hurtful than any truth I could have told before, and the damage I have done to my self-esteem is too great. My opinions, right or wrong, are part of who I am. Honesty does not mean tactlessness. In fact, one of the important lessons about learning to be honest is to know that honesty does not mean being too
Identifying Opportunities to Reduce Medication Error Rates by Nursing Staff Today, one of the most challenging problems facing nurses practicing in any setting, but most especially tertiary healthcare facilities, is the adverse drug reactions caused by medication errors. Although medication errors can occur at numerous stages of care during hospitalization and outpatient follow-up, nurses are on the front lines in preventing these errors (Da Silva & Krishnamurthy, 2016). This is an
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