Medication Errors
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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. This agency keeps records of the types of drug errors that occur, with the intention of using them as a tool to improve patient safety on all levels (U.S. FDA). This study will explore many facets of medication errors and will present a review of a video on medication errors from the ISMP website. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of medication errors and ways to minimize them in any medical setting.
A medication error is defined as an event that is preventable and that can cause inappropriate medication use for a patient while the medication in under the control of a health care professional (NCCMERP). Medication errors that are a result of patient error do not fall under the same category and are not tracked in the same manner as those caused by the medical facility. The medication error may or may not cause harm to the patient. However, any medication error has the potential to cause harm. Therefore, even medication errors that do not cause the patient harm are treated as seriously as those that result in consequences for the patient.
Types of Medication Errors
The American Hospital Association classifies errors according to several types depending on the root cause of the error. These include incomplete patient information, unavailable drug information, miscommunication of drug orders, poor handwriting, similar sounding name confusion, confusion of dosing units, inappropriate abbreviations, lack of appropriate labeling, and environmental factors (U.S. FDA). There are a number of classification schemes developed by other organizations, but the classification scheme developed by the American Hospital Association is the most widely used.
There are a number of common causes for each of the types listed above....
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%
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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
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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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