Medication Errors - Assignment Example

Medication Errors Introduction Medication error can be referred to as circumstances that lead to a patient taking wrong medication, wrong dose or even taking the drugs at the wrong time, which may result to unexpected effects to the patient. In some circumstances the patient may omit the drugs at Specified time or even Continue taking drugs which have already been stopped by the doctor which may also contribute to the medication error. Medication errors may occur in the process of treating the patient since the treatment has several stages. The first stage is whereby the patient visits the doctor and after the doctor examines the patient he prescribes the medication that the patient ought to receive. On the next stage the pharmacist dispenses the drugs according to the doctors prescription. The duty of the nurse is to administer the drugs to the patient, which depends on the dosage and the amount, prescribed by the doctor and eventually the patient consumes the medicine. According to the above stages, medication error may occur at any stage, which may cause the effect to the patient. Happell B. (2000) observes that nursing errors occurs mostly when the nurses are administering the drugs to the patient. The errors are attributed to several reasons that are discussed in this paper. Prevalence of medication errors in Australian hospital In Australia, medication errors are a considerable problem that has drawn attention of all stakeholders and the government at large. The negative impact of medication errors has therefore been taken seriously in order to improve the current situations. Sharrock J and Happell B. (2000) Argues that medication being a sensitive activity requires efficiency and sober knowledge to achieve the target, which in this case is saving life and helping the patient regain normal health. According to Whyte S. (2000) Medication errors in Australia has reached a critical stage with a reasonable percentage of patients suffering more resulting to a complex situation due to permanent disabilities or even death which has a negative impact o the society. Statistics also indicate that approximately 20 percent out of the total drugs administered to the patient in Australia results to medication error (Santamaria N. 2000.). Percentage of the wrong drug, which is administered to the wrong person, is 12 % and wrong dosage is 7 %. In every year an approximate 2,324 adverse medical events cases in Australia do occur. (Manias E. 2000.). According to the statistics in Australia circumstances where the patients fail to follow the correct dosage as per the physician prescription amounts to 5-8% of the total patients treated per day (Kozer E, Scolnik, Macpherson A., 2002). Several cases pertaining to the wrong reason while administering the drugs have been happening although exact figure has not been registered. Medication error in Australia has been also been related to the cases of the patient or the nurse overlooking an allergy which can have some consequences to the patient. According to the statistics these cases in Australia have been averaged as 5% of the total errors reported in the year 2000 (Manias E and Street A. 2000). In some other cases the patient might have allergy, which may not be able to interfere with the medication. Several cases that pertain to wrong documentation that result in the medication error or that may hinder the establishment of the errors that have been made. According to the statistics of documentation in hospitals out of 100 records around 5 -7 documents are found to be wrongly documented with Information that are inaccurate (Grindlay A, Santamaria N and Kitt S. 2000). . This means that Approximately 5%-7% of the documents may cause medication errors. This statistics therefore indicate that the medication errors in Australia have considerably affected the nation and society at large. Risk Factors of Medication errors. Medication errors are attributed to various factors, which may be categorized according to the circumstances under which they occur. They may occur during the doctors’ prescriptions or during the process of examining the patient where inexperienced physicians may commit they errors. It has also been observed that lack of sufficient drug information In the process of drug manufacturing and packaging and also some drugs with almost similar names contributing to the error in drug prescription. This factor also contributes to the nursing section especially through verbal instructions given to the nurses. Higher risk of medication errors occurs during the process of administering drugs to the patient (Bailey B, Aranda S, Quinn K and Kean H. 2000). This is the stage that higher concentration is also essential. In some cases especially when the nurse is attending the patients in the wards lack of clear labeling may affect the process, which may lead to the errors in medication. Other Factors that are related to the nurse are lack of required skills and knowledge in the field of operation. Inexperience nurses have contributed a lot to the medication errors (White S and Sellick K. 2000). Nurses in some situations may fail to get the required knowledge on some drugs, which may lead them to administer the incorrect drugs. Langford A, Choong P, Dowsey M. (2000) argues that stress and fatigue is among the serious contribution to the medication errors. When the performance of the nurses is affected by exhaustion, lack of coordination may arise. This can be the directly related to the occurrence of errors during the administering drugs. It is also found that some patients may receive dosage meant for other patient in the same ward due to the excessive tiredness of the nurses while performing their duties. This is mostly as a result of working wrong hours without a routine break and also insufficient staff. Noisy environment and interruptions is also considered as a cause of nursing mistakes that affects the nurses’ performance. According to Manias E and Street A. (2000). Several causes have been recorded whereby the nurse fail to administer the correct drugs to the correct patient due to frequent interruptions and noise around the area of duty. Patients themselves contribute to the performance of errors by the physicians and the nurses. Incomplete information provided by the patients causes the medical practitioners to prescribe the wrong medication (Manias E. 2000.). Patient might be allergic to some drugs, which may be taken care of if clearly informed. Patients’ condition may be complex which can directly contribute to the medication errors. The adverse events related to medication errors Medication errors result to several circumstances. Among them is the situation where the drug causes harm to the patient unintentionally. Some errors may be prevented if only reported at the right time. Adverse drug events are common in Hospitals especially in the absence of better management. However some ADEs can be prevented depending on the circumstances and the condition under which the medication errors occur. According to Happell B and Taylor C. (2000) many patients who are affected by medication errors should go to the hospital for the situation to be rectified. It has been observed this circumstance has lead to increased patient in the hospitals, which sometimes affect the hospital operations. Depending on the condition of drugs effect to the patient some may spend several days in the hospital for their conditions to improve. This will therefore contribute to increased hospitalization. Treatment is an expensive exercise in many situations depending on the type of illness or the extent on which the disease has affected the patient. it is evidence that the cost incurred in treating and rectifying the condition of the patient is drastically increased. In other situations the cost of rectifying errors is more that the initial cost of treatment. Compensation is another thing, which can be very expensive due to legal procedure, which might involve the authority. Disability is another factor that is related to the medication errors. It is important to note that side effects are sometimes very sever that can cause even permanent disability which can not be rectified (Sharrock J and Happell B. 2000). Other errors may contribute to increased pain and suffering to the patient rendering the patient to be partially disabled and unable to perform the duties normally. Medication errors may also result to the most unexpected situation of death. Some errors are so severe that even before they have been notice they end up killing the patient immediately. Other death cases may be due to very gradual side effects, which are rarely noticed either through their painless condition or minimal pain, which might be ignored by the patient therefore not reporting to the appropriate nurse. The integrality of the medical practitioners remains controversial to the public especially the affected individual by the medical errors. This may affect the whole organization of the medical field compromising the trust of the public towards their operations (Whyte S. 2000). Nurses sometimes may be negatively accredited by the society considering the rise of nursing errors. The organization dealing with the health care should be more alert to reduce these errors. Strategies of reducing medication errors. Among strategies of reducing these errors is to ensure that the physicians and nurses acquire the appropriate knowledge and the required experience in dealing with the treatment process (Johnston L and McKinley DF. 2000). Good knowledge and experience will assist the nurse to be organized and able to understand drugs well in terms of the dosage required by a specific patient on the specified time. This will also ensure that the required drug has been administered and the nurse should also know the reason why the patient should take the medicine. Nurses should also be familiar with safe doses, which should not affect the patient, and keen observation and investigation on the side effects of the drugs to the patient is essential. Correct documentation is also important to trace the effective of drugs and any errors that might have occurred. Stress and fatigue being among the contributing factor to the medication errors, special consideration for the medical staff to have sufficient rest is important. In many cases the nurses are over worked and not provided with time to rest. Shifts are effective means of providing sufficient rest to the nurses and physicians. (Happell B. 2000). Nurses should also be encouraged to report cases of medication errors. Appropriate labeling of drugs contributes in the reduction of medication errors. This is through ensuring that the packaging and labeling is clearly done on drugs and the information about the drug is clear to the nurses and the doctors. New terminologies should be well communicated to the respective organization, which has the mandate of updating the doctors and nurses. Change in drug composition should also be well accommodated in the medical field. It has also been suggested that incorporating bar code method of labeling can guarantee the correct name and the identity of the drugs. (Grindlay A, Santamaria N and Kitt S. 2000). Nurses should also ensure that they are working on quiet environment, which is free from distraction to maximize their operations and reduce errors. In some cases the distraction comes from other workmates or even the patients themselves. Conducive environment will also assist the nurse to ensure that the patient consumes the drug correctly and can also be able to monitor the progress of the patient. In case an error occurs the most important this is to report appropriately in order to find ways of rectifying the situation and also assist the nurse to know the cause of the error so that in future it can be avoided. Conclusion Being considered among the causes of death in Australia and other countries worldwide, medication errors has raised an alarm among the government and many private organizations. This has triggered many researchers to come up with solution, which have proved to be effective although the problem still persist. The cases reported are surprisingly increasing which requires more attention to be focused on this problem. As discussed on the causes of medication errors concentration on enhancing the working conditions of the staff requires to be reviewed and strong measures to be incorporated which will both help the nurses and the patients in general. It is important to note that the increased reporting of the medical errors will alternatively cause the improvement in solving the situations. Strategies of reducing the medication errors should not be only discussed but the practical aspect of it is more important in solving the situation. It is therefore important for both the government, medical organization and the nurses to cooperate in eradicating the reducing the problem which threatens to cause more harm to the nation if not controlled. The current situation therefore indicates that more research is necessary and the issue of medication errors should not be abandoned in order to save the life of people. References Bailey B, Aranda S, Quinn K and Kean H. (2000): extending palliative care nursing knowledge. International Journal of Palliative Nursing. Grindlay A, Santamaria N and Kitt S. 2000. Hospital in the home: nurse safety - exposure to risk and evaluation of organisational policy. Australian Journal of Advance Nursing. . Happell B. 2000. Psychiatric nursing education: Can it make a difference? The International Journal of Psychiatric Nursing Research Happell B. 2000. Student interest in perioperative nursing practice as a career. AORN Journal. Happell B and Taylor C. 2000. The image of drug and alcohol nurses: Undesirable and unskilled or knights' in shining armour? The International Journal of Psychiatric Nursing Research. Johnston L and McKinley DF. 2000. Cardiac tamponade after removal of atrial intracardiac monitoring catheters in a paediatric patient: Case report. Heart & Lung. Kozer E, Scolnik, Macpherson A., (2002).Variables Associated With Medication Errors in Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Pediatrics. Langford A, Choong P, Dowsey M. 2000. Clinical pathway for fractured neck of femur: a prospective, controlled study. Medical Journal of Australia. Manias E. 2000. Professional journalling over time: the position of the inside nurse-researcher in intensive care. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing. Manias E and Street A. 2000. The handover: uncovering the hidden practices of nurses. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing. Santamaria N. 2000. The relationship between nurses' personality and stress levels reported when caring for interpersonally difficult patients. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing. Sharrock J and Happell B. 2000. The psychiatric consultation-liaison nurse: Towards articulating a model for practice. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Mental Health Nursing. Sharrock J and Happell B. 2000. The role of the psychiatric consultation-liaison nurse in the general hospital. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing. Whyte S. 2000. The specialist nurse: A classification system. Contemporary Nurse. 9 (1): 6-15. Whyte S and Sellick K. 2000. Specialisation in nursing: a survey of reactions of Victorian nurses to the National Review of Specialist Nurse Education. Collegian. 7 23-31. (Word count: 2,122) Read More