Medication Errors, Safety, Prevention and Reporting - Essay Example

 Medication Errors, Safety, Prevention and Reporting Abstract The present study focuses on the issue of medication errors in healthcare services, considering the role of the prescribers, the nurses, the pharmacies as well as the patients. It is necessary to understand that all of these parties need to be equally responsible towards taking measures to avoid medication errors. While it can be realized that mistakes can occur through human beings, yet there are certain preventive measures as well that, if followed effectively, can prevent the incidence and occurrences of such errors in medication. The study has researched through some of the secondary sources towards obtaining the safety, preventive measures and steps that healthcare professionals as well as patients may follow to prevent medication errors. The study has been able to conclude that with such preventive measures, medication errors can be prevented to a great extent, thus securing the lives of the patients, particularly who are under the charge of healthcare treatments. Introduction: Medication errors that can lead to harmful effects on the patients can be prevented if nurses take the proper responsibilities of safety and reporting. Medication errors, particularly related to nursing, are defined as the errors that might lead to improper use of medication, causing harm to the patients, when the patient is in charge of some healthcare professional or nurses (Medication Errors, 2013). Medication Errors, Safety, Prevention, and Reporting: While medication errors may occur at any place, it has been found that the errors most commonly occur even when patients are in charge of any doctor, in nursing homes, under the case of nurses. It is highly essential and recommended to consult doctors before taking any medication in order to avoid harmful effects or injuries resultant from wrong medications. An example of medication error is intake of a prescription painkiller along with a non-prescription painkiller. In such cases, the dosage exceed the limit that should be taken and thus cause damage to the livers. Thus safety measures need to be taken in order to avoid such errors in medication. Having a proper communication between the doctor and the nurses is one of the safest ways to clearly understand which drug is being provided to the patients (Medication Errors and Safety, 2010). It has been obtained that such medication errors can be prevented if certain cautious measures are considered. In many cases, the doctor may prescribe a wrong medicine, or the pharmacist may provide with a wrong drug. In such cases the nurses take the role to catch the wrong being taking place and protect the patients from the wrong treatments. However, when nurses make such mistakes themselves, they might have to pay for their mistakes. It can be considered that nurses being humans, mistakes might occur by them as well. Thus it is necessary to take certain steps that can at least minimize such mistakes, particularly when the lives of patients are at cost. For this purpose, there are certain rights of medication administration that if followed by the nurses can prevent such errors (Lampert, 2012). These rights include checking with two identifiers to ensure that the right medication is being provided to the intended patients. The names and the dates of birth of the patients should be checked in such cases along with checking the history of the patient. Checking the medication is another step that ensures that the intended medication is only provided and has not been mistaken with any other drug. The nurses should also check the appropriateness of the medication, and also the correctness of the amounts of the medications being offered to the patients (Lampert, 2012). These are some of the medication administration rights that need to be followed effectively by nurses in order to avoid medication errors. Some of the other preventive measures that can avoid medication errors in nursing include: effective and improved communications, education of the patients, standards and incentives of pharmacies, training and education for healthcare providers, and research. Improved communications involve effective and clear communications regarding the intended medications to the intended patients, in between the prescribers, pharmacists, patients, and the nursing professionals. If the communications are clear, then chances are that incorrect medications would not take place. Education patients enable them to become more aware of the use of different medications and particularly the negative effects of mediation errors (Prescription for Improving Patient Safety: Addressing Medication Errors, 2007). The standards and incentives of the pharmacies are also essential to be given consideration on, since they can provide the patients with medication consultations with details on safety of the use of different drugs, educating them to use correct drugs at the correct times. Training the healthcare providers is another preventive measure that enables safety practices of medication creating proper requirements for pharmacists and healthcare professionals. Research would focus on getting hold of information about the occurrence, character, and incidence of medication errors in the population surroundings (Prescription for Improving Patient Safety: Addressing Medication Errors, 2007). Another significant concern that needs to be considered by nurses and healthcare professionals in order to avoid medication errors is the proper documentation of all medication administration. Appropriate documentation has been found to avoid many errors in medication. The name of the drug administered and the time when it was given to particular patients need to be recorded such that in case of any mistake, the wrong can be identified. Moreover, with proper documentation, any miss or over implementation of any dosage of any drug may also be identified. The reasons for such misses or overdoses can also be identified then at a correct time before it’s too late for the treatment of the patient (Daniels and Daniels, 2004). Conclusion: From the above study it can be concluded that medication errors are a matter of significant concern in the healthcare services. However, with proper safety, and preventive measures, and appropriate documentation of all medication administration, such errors may be avoided successfully. References Daniels, R. and R. Daniels (2004). Nursing Fundamentals: Caring & Clinical Decision Making. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Lampert, L. (2012). Medication errors: preventative measures, Ausmed. Retrieved on March 10, 2013 from http://www.ausmed.com.au/blog/entry/medication-errors-preventative-measures Medication Errors (2013). FDA. Retrieved on March 10, 2013 from http://www.fda.gov/drugs/drugsafety/medicationerrors/default.htm Medication Errors and Safety (2010). Drugalert. Retrieved on March 10, 2013 from http://www.drugalert.org/safety/medication-errors-and-safety Prescription for Improving Patient Safety: Addressing Medication Errors (2007). Cdcan. Retrieved on March 11, 2013 from http://www.cdcan.us/Health/MedicationsErrorPanel-FULLFINALREPORT.pdf Read More