Medication Errors.edited

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Nursing

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Nov 24, 2024

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ERRORS 1 Medication Errors Name Institution Professor Course Date

ERRORS 2 Medication Errors Medication mistakes are the most significant source of patient damage and adverse events in medical settings. Nurses are the primary healthcare staff delivering medicine; hence, nurses must be well-versed in safe drug administration (WHO, 2019). This article will examine the primary causes, standard forms, and prevalence of medication mistakes, as well as the practice techniques, reporting procedures, and legal and ethical consequences for nurses. Leading causes of medication errors The World Health Organization (WHO) defines medication errors as any avoidable incident that might result in improper pharmaceutical usage or patient damage when the medicine is within the control of the healthcare provider, patient, or consumer (WHO, 2019). The primary reasons for drug mistakes are multifaceted and include human issues, system flaws, communication problems, a lack of expertise, and environmental variables. Human variables influencing performance and decision-making include exhaustion, stress, attention, memory lapses, and cognitive biases. Inadequate standards, guidelines, rules, procedures, protocols, and resources that support safe pharmaceutical practices are examples of system failures. Examples of communication failures include illegible handwriting, imprecise acronyms, murky spoken instructions, and inadequate or erroneous paperwork. Lack of knowledge includes having poor education, training, competency, and understanding of drugs and how to utilize them. Noise, illumination, interruptions, workload, and time constraints are just a few environmental factors that lead to stress and diversions (Ogera, 2021). Types of medication errors Prescription, transcription, dispensing, administering, and monitoring are the stages of the drug usage process that may be used to categorize common forms of pharmaceutical mistakes.

ERRORS 3 Irrational, unsuitable, ineffective, under- or over-prescriptions and prescription drafting mistakes are all examples of prescribing errors. Errors in documenting or interpreting the prescription are examples of transcriptional mistakes. Mistakes in the drug's reparation, labeling, packing, or delivery are all examples of dispensing errors. Giving the appropriate drug to the appropriate patient at the appropriate dosage via the appropriate route at the appropriate time is an example of a drug administration procedure. Any mistake made during this whole procedure results in an administration error. Mistakes in viewing and assessing the effects of the drug on the patient are examples of monitoring errors (NCC MERP, 2023). Patients have been affected by medication errors annually over the last ten years. The prevalence of pharmaceutical mistakes is difficult to determine because of variances in definitions, methodology, and data sources. However, research has revealed that drug mistakes are prevalent and expensive (Ogera, 2021). According to a report by (the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (2019), medical mistakes are the third most significant cause of mortality in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer. They calculated that more than 250,000 fatalities yearly are attributable to medical mistakes, of which around half are connected to drugs. Another WHO (2017) analysis stated that worldwide, the cost associated with drug mistakes is USD 42 billion yearly. They also calculated that at least one medication mistake happens during each hospital stay and that roughly 1.5 million adverse drug events occur yearly in the United States alone (Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, 2019). How to prevent medication errors Nurses must put into practice techniques that are based on evidence-based standards and recommendations to reduce medication mistakes. Utilizing clinical decision support tools with computerized provider order entry systems is one of these tactics for lowering prescription

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ERRORS 4 mistake rates. Utilizing barcode technology and intelligent pumps is another tactic for minimizing administration and dispensing problems. Utilizing established processes and checklists is another tactic to maintain consistency and eliminate variability. Another tactic is to use separate double-checks to confirm computations and high-risk drugs. The five rights (patient, medicine, dosage, route, and time) and other identifiers may also assure appropriate delivery. Another option to guarantee proper information flow is to use clear communication strategies like read-back and SBAR (situation-background-assessment-recommendation). Another tactic is using trustworthy resources like pharmacological references and formularies to guarantee proper understanding. Another approach is utilizing incident reporting systems to find mistakes, examine them, and take remedial action (iRodziewicz & Hipskind, 2020). The process for reporting medication errors The method for reporting pharmaceutical mistakes differs based on the kind of error, the environment, and the organization's policy. Nonetheless, specific actions may be taken in the event of a medical mistake to report it. The first step is acknowledging the mistake and telling the patient and family about it. Reporting the mistake to the supervisor and prescriber is the second step. Entering the mistake into the patient's record is the third step. According to the organization's policy, filling out an incident report form is the fourth step. The fifth phase is taking part in an investigative approach, such as a root cause analysis (RCA); implementing improvement suggestions is the last phase ( Rodziewicz & Hipskind, 2020). Purpose of reporting medication errors By identifying and averting mistakes, the healthcare institution hopes to enhance patient safety and care quality by reporting drug errors internally. Accountability, openness, and trust

ERRORS 5 between medical staff, patients, and families are further facilitated by reporting ( Rodziewicz & Hipskind, 2020). What individuals need to be notified? Depending on the error's severity, ramifications, and potential for danger, different people may need to be informed when a drug is mistakenly taken. The patient and family, the prescriber, the manager or supervisor, the risk manager or quality improvement officer, the pharmacist, the nursing director, or the educator are some typical people who need to be informed (Lawyers, 2022). What are the legal and ethical implications of medication errors? For nurses, drug mistakes have serious and intricate legal and ethical ramifications. Legal repercussions for nurses who make pharmaceutical mistakes include disciplinary sanctions, criminal prosecutions, civil lawsuits, and malpractice claims. In addition to obeying their profession's code of conduct and practice standards, nurses must care for patients. Nurses may be negligent or guilty of malpractice if they damage patients. If nurses fail to oversee or act, they may be liable for their coworkers' errors. When prescription mistakes occur, ethically speaking, nurses may experience moral discomfort, remorse, embarrassment, or loss of confidence. In addition to acting in their patients' best interests, nurses have an ethical duty to protect their patients' autonomy, dignity, and rights. Along with reporting and disclosing mistakes, nurses have an ethical duty to practice with competence, honesty, and accountability. When personal ideals and professional responsibilities collide or when they see mistakes made by others, nurses may find themselves in complex moral situations (Lawyers, 2022). In summary, pharmaceutical mistakes are a severe and pervasive medical issue that may have adverse effects on patients and medical personnel. In order to avoid, identify, report, and

ERRORS 6 learn from drug mistakes, nurses are essential. In order to guarantee safe medication practices, nurses must implement evidence-based standards and techniques and be aware of the ethical, professional, and legal ramifications of medication mistakes.

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ERRORS 7 References Lawyers, S. (2022). Medication errors: why they happen and what you can do . Www.shine.com.au. https://www.shine.com.au/resources/medical-negligence/medication- errors-why-they-happen-and-what-you-can-do NCC MERP. (2023). Types of Medication Errors . Rxr@Usp.org. https://www.nccmerp.org/types-medication-errors Ogera, A. (2021). Medication errors: Causes, Types, and Prevention . Medcrine.com. https://medcrine.com/medication-errors Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. (2019). Medicine Safety: Take Care . https://www.psa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/PSA-Medicine-Safety-Report.pdf Rodziewicz, T. L., & Hipskind, J. E. (2020). Medical error prevention. StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing . https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499956/ World Health Organization. (2019). Medication Without Harm . World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/initiatives/medication-without-harm

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