Dosage and Calculation Mistakes with Medication - Essay Example

MED110 According to Jeffery (2009), medical error is the resultant failure that occurs during a treatment process in a healthcare facility that ultimately harms the patient. There are many forms of medical treatment errors, but this report will limit itself to over-prescription as an error. Overprescribing is an error that results from administering a higher dose than the normal to the patients. It may result in adverse effects such as heart attacks or respiratory arrests such as the case highlighted in this report.

Error in the administration of dosage to an infantAn infant received ten times the amount of morphine dosage he was to receive due to a prescription error done by the administering nurse. At two months of age, the infant was been admitted to the healthcare facility to undergo a pyloric stenosis repair. The attending physician ordered a 0.2-0.4 mg morphine sulfate to help alleviate the post-operation pain. The administering nurse normally uses the 5mg/ml morphine sulfate. However, due to the absence of the usual 5mg/ml vial, she decides on using the 10mg/ml vial but at a reduced quantity of 0.

04ml as per her calculations. She double-checks her calculation and dosage with another nurse for a second opinion. However, the over prescription error occurs during the administration of the morphine sulfate when she draws 0.4ml instead of the intended 0.04ml (Keyes, 1998).Consequences of the high dosage to the infant and the administering nurseShortly after the administration of the ten times high dose, the infant suffers from respiratory difficulty in his mother’s arms. Further inspection by the nurse reveals that the infant is experiencing a respiratory arrest.

The nurse if forced to administer a narcotic antagonist and resuscitate the infant. However, after successfully stabilizing the infant, the medical team does not realize that the cause of the infant’s respiratory arrest was a direct result of the high morphine sulfate dosage. They make an incorrect assessment of the course of the respiratory arrest. The infant suffers another respiratory failure because of receiving a high dose of morphine sulfate again. The administering nurse and the medical staff are forced to take the infant for further observation and diagnosis.

They later realize that there was an over prescription of the infant’s medication. Therefore, they had to change the high dose to a correct one. The infant was later discharged in good health. The healthcare facility handles the conduct and act of its staff who are on duty. Therefore, the parents of the infant sued the hospital for malpractice and negligent cause of emotional stress (Keyes, 1998). Suggestions for avoiding errorsMedication errors such as the mistake in the dosage of a drug are poor outcomes in the healthcare system.

It is important that the pharmaceutical companies and hospitals to be focused on steps that will reduce the likelihood of a mistake in dosage from occurring. Based on the case highlighted in this report, the pharmaceutical companies can label their products to incorporate a correct dosage for infants. The medical practitioners should be educated on the proper use, calculation, and administration of the drugs that have no dosage indication. ReferencesJeffrey, A. (2009). Medication errors: what they are, how they happen, and how to avoid them.

QJM: An International Journal of Medicine. Retrieved June 11, 2015, from http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/102/8/513Keyes, C. (1998). Accidental drug dosage error. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 10(4), 357.