Managing Medication Errors - Essay Example

?Managing medication errors affiliation: Managing medication errors Medication errors generally happen when a medical officer uses an inappropriate means to administer treatment to a patient and often are considered a human error (Clinic, 2011). This is a situation where either the drugs given are wrong or the procedure used contravenes the standard way of providing healthcare, which causes harm to the patient or even worse death. The most common medication errors are related with the administering of an incorrect dose of medicine largely due to wrongly understood prescription. In addition misdiagnosis and fatigue while attending to patients account to a large percentage of the errors. There are several instances throughout the medical process where medical errors can occur right from diagnosing the patient to the point where treatment is prescribed and administered by the relevant parties. Among these instances include documentation, dispensing, administering and monitoring a majority of which are carried out by nurses. This places a large responsibility on their hands and explains why medication errors and the safety of the patients lie at the core of being a nurse. The roles medical practitioners play in the occurrence of medical errors clearly cannot be overruled and it therefore goes without say, clear guidelines and procedures will go a long way in managing them (Clinic, 2011). This paper will outline the cause of medical errors, its prevention how it is reported and steps that could be taken to ensure the safety of patients. From the approach that human errors amount to the greatest percentage of medical errors there are two angles medication errors can be viewed from. The first angle looks at the error as being caused by human frailty. Poorly paid, overworked and unmotivated employees tend to overlook a number of critical issues which are crucial and if unattended amount to medical errors. Similarly human nature such as forgetfulness, not paying attention to details or even negligence of laid down procedures while administering care to patient’s directly cause medical errors. The second approach on the contrary views these errors in the medical field as being caused by a combination of factors surrounding the institutions. There exists an array of issues among them a broken line of communication that leads to decisions amongst practitioners being made based on partial or wrong information. This approach looks at the errors as being caused by the systems in place and for this reason they are bound to occur unless the correct measures are taken to prevent them. Based on this, much as human error may stands as the principle cause of medication errors, the conditions surrounding nurses and other medical staff go a long way in determining the safety of patients and in the long run preventing these errors. Even though issues handled within the hospital are diverse every one of which has a unique way of solving, most errors are recurrent and tend to fall into a pattern and therefore changes in the right policies will advertently reduce the number of medical errors. Furthermore it is important to note even the most meticulous and the very best of professionals make mistakes and placing such errors squarely on medical officers is a definite oversight. An error could occur as early as in the diagnosis stage of a patient or during the latter stages of administering treatment and drugs. All medical staff involved in this process can be the cause of such an error and therefore are directly or indirectly affected by its effects. Patients largely sit on the receiving end of medical errors and tend to carry the burden of its adverse effects. In the case of a misdiagnosis they get the wrong treatment and will still have to seek treatment again over and above the fact that they may suffer from deadly side effects if not fatal. These additional treatment costs impact heavily on the hospitals financials. In addition the hospitals reputation is spoilt due to malpractice and possible lawsuits against its staff. On a broader perspective these errors affect the medics involved indirectly in terms of confidence and guilt that may affect negatively how they get to handle their next patient. When it comes to reporting medical errors, it may be very difficult for a nurse to note an error they did considering the amount of work handled by a single nurse least to say is overwhelming. It therefore calls for teamwork among the staff to note the side effects on a patient or track the fault from charts and numerous patients’ documentation. On the same note the fact that it’s a balance between life and death literally and an individual’s health is involved the question of when to report and to who simply is immediately and to the doctor involved for a correction procedure to be undertaken at the earliest possible time. Again hospital procedures and policies come to play in this scenario and therefore a clearly set guideline is the key to handling the report correctly at the same time putting the patient’s health first. Clearly from the many perspectives of viewing medication errors it has adverse effects on parties involved and an impending disaster is inevitable. A conscious effort to manage these errors is a must and can be tackled by both medical practitioners and patients whenever possible. These are to ensure safety of patients and to prevent a future occurrence. Patients are required to clearly understand clearly the directions for medications they are taking including the dosage, storage and period to be under treatment. Patients should understand the purpose of every drug given and any possible side effects. On the other hand the hospital should come up with procedure to ensure patients are handled with appropriate care. At list two identifiers should be used that are specific to a patient to ascertain the patient’s identity (Clinic, 2011). This way the correct medication will be given to the right patient. Medical practitioners should also confirm from the patient any possible allergies and negative reaction to any of the medication administered. A patient’s history is important in understanding the identified causes of the ailments the patient has. This way nurses are in a good position to understand how to handle the case without a misdiagnosis. In the end it all boils down to an individual’s ethics and caution with which they handle their patients. No amount of regulation can rid one of carelessness and disregards to ones duties. If the hospitals set up the required policies, offers good working conditions and keeps it staff well motivated then it follows that the nurses are obliged and bound by oath to prioritize patients’ safety. In this regard causes of medical errors are very much preventable and manageable by taking necessary precautions both by the hospital staff and the patients (Clinic, 2011). In conclusion a great percentage of medication errors are not out of negligence poor training or inexperience of nurses and the medical staff. Rather, errors come up due to poor systems, policies and organizational structures within the institution. Medication errors are indeed caused by everyone involved right from the medical staff through to the patients as such everyone however small has a role to play in ensuring the safety of patients. Similarly, since every one of them is adversely affected, a collective effort to watch guidelines set up by the hospital, to be keen on the treatment being given and to abide by the doctors’ prescription from all relevant parties involved is required so as to properly manage the issue. These errors can effectively be reduced through the identification, elimination, or reduction of human and system errors and risks. However, the randomness of how the events may occur makes the very difficult to predict or even quickly identify and isolate them. Furthermore the strenuous nature of medical practitioners work makes it difficult to come up with a way to single out a specific solution. This therefore goes beyond the call of duty and in some way is a call for nurses to sacrifice and have a personal conviction when discharging their duties. References Clinic, M. (2011). Medication Errors: Cut your risks with these tips. Mayo Clinic Consumer Health . Read More