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 important issue because the human and economic costs that are associated with medication errors are staggering, with current estimates indicating that these errors affect more than 7 million patients, cost nearly $21 billion and cause more than one million emergency room visits and three-and-a-half million visits to doctors’ offices each year (Da Silva & Krishnamurthy, 2016). The purpose of this paper is to provide a timely discussion concerning the role of quality and safety in nursing science as they apply to the prevention of medication errors. To this end, a definition of quality and safety measures for medication errors an assessment of their relationship and role in nursing science today are followed by a contemporary example of how quality and safety measures for mediation errors are applied in nursing science. Finally, an identification of the quality and components needed to analyze a health care program's outcomes with respect to medication errors is followed by a summary of the research and key findings concerning this nursing science issue in the conclusion.
Definition of quality and safety measures for medication errors and their relationship and role in nursing science today
A strict definition of quality and safety is zero tolerance for medication errors from the pharmacy to the patient. Although this level of acceptance may appear unrealistic given the human factors that are involved during each of the...
References
Da Silva, B. A., & Krishnamurthy, M. (2016). The alarming reality of medication error: a patient case and review of Pennsylvania and National data. Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives, 6(4), 10.34.
Federico, F. (2018). The five rights of medication administration. Institute for Healthcare Administration. Retrieved from http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/ImprovementStories/ FiveRightsofMedicationAdministration.aspx.
Hayes, C. & Power, T. (2014, April-June). Interruptions and medication: Is 'do not disturb' the answer? Contemporary Nurse: a Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession, 47(1/2), 3-6.
Medication safety basics. (2018). U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/medicationsafety/basics.html.
Targeted medication safety best practices for hospitals. (2017, December 4). Joint Commission. Retrieved from https://live-ismp.pantheonsite.io/guidelines/best-practices-hospitals.
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 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%
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
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now