Complications from Chronic Diseases - Essay Example

Medication errors can occur at the pharmacy, at the doctor’s office, at home, or in the hospital. Various causes of medication error have been cited including confusion regarding different drugs with the same names, inadequate information concerning sensitivities and drug allergies of a particular patient, and difficulty in reading prescriptions that are handwritten among others (Naylor, 2002). To have a better understanding of this topic, this paper will discuss medication errors in general, with particular reference to medication safety, prevention, as well as reporting.

            Medication should at all times achieve its main aim of relieving pain and suffering, managing symptoms of chronic diseases and treating infectious diseases. Medication safety is one of the main strategies that can help in realizing this goal. Caregivers, pharmacists, and patients should focus on critical elements of medication safety which are safe storage, safe dosing, and safe disposal. Medicines should be stored in the right locations and under the recommended temperatures (Banja, 2005). Safe storage also involves keeping drugs out of reach of children. It also involves keeping them where they can be destroyed such as in the backpack or the purse. Medication safety further entails safe dosing; under and overdosing are preventable. This starts by ensuring that the right prescription is made. After that, caregivers and patients should be vigilant in reading the medication instructions and labels to take the right dose. The final aspect of medication safety is the safe disposal of medicines. If medications are not needed anymore or they are out of date, they should be disposed of appropriately. This can be done through the community’s medication take-back program, by dissolving them in water if they are solid, or by removing personal information and any instructions from the packaging among other recommended techniques of medication disposal (Naylor, 2002).

            It is worth noting that medication error can be prevented and it is important that all concerned parties be actively involved in prevention efforts. This is critical in ensuring that medication achieves its main purpose by preventing all avoidable errors. The first way of medication error prevention is to know the medicines. The names of all the medicines should be kept, as well as the record of how much should be taken and when they should be taken Cohen (2007). This measure should include all the medicines including supplements, herbs, over-the-counter medicines, and vitamins. This information should be available to the one dispensing medication, as well as the recipient of medication. The second way of achieving medical error prevention includes accurately reading medicine labels and properly following the instructions provided. People should desist from taking medications that have not been prescribed by qualified medical practitioners. The other way of preventing medication error is by taking extra caution when administering medicines to children. The last but not least way of preventing medication error is by asking questions; the patient should ask the pharmacist or doctor the questions that can aid in medication. Questions such as when should the medication stop? What are common problems to look out for when under-prescribed medication? Can the drugs provided be taken simultaneously with other drugs, either prescribed or not? Such questions will equip the patient with the necessary knowledge that can help prevent medication errors (Banja, 2005).

            The final aspect of medication error that this paper will look at is medication error reporting. Naylor (2002) observes that most medication errors go unreported and that it is only a few of them that are reported. This situation is mainly attributed to the fear of reprisal and reaction from colleagues and management. Reporting medication errors is an important part of addressing the problem of medication errors and of helping to reduce the occurrence of medication errors in the future. It is therefore important that the patients and medical practitioners be encouraged to report medication errors to help in identifying and rectifying defective systems. After the errors have been reported, it is important for the hospital management to thoroughly investigate the errors and find a proper way of ensuring that those errors do not occur in the future Cohen (2007).