The nurses' responsability in the prevention of medication errors - Essay Example

egarding medical malpractices, the quality of care needs not be assumed and must at all times be considered as a crucial aspect in medical practice (Reason, 2000). The author continues to argue that medical practitioners have faced disciplinary issues, shame, and threats due to malpractices. Since nurses are major players in offering medical care, they are concerned with the health of an individual from the onset of medication till the end (Cohen, 2007). In light of this argument, it is argued that nurses play the major role of ensuring that they understand the major factors that lead to errors in the medical provision.

This role of prevention of errors is crucial in the prevention of medical errors (Cohen, 2007). These errors include incorrect calculations of medical dosages, improper consultations, inexperience, and failure to adhere to the set protocols amongst others (Cohen, 2007). With these avenues of medical errors in place, the quality of medical service is then jeopardized. In this case, the nurse should play the major role of ensuring that they minimize the avenues of cropping up of medical errors as possible.

A good example is that of the nurses’ conversance with the FEMA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) that has been instrumental in alleviating chemotherapy errors (Hartranft, Sheridan-Leos, & Schulmeister, 2006). Nurses are able to come up with thoughts on how to safeguard the safety of the patient care. Despite the fact that Cohen (2007) indicates that the nurses are mostly forced by the management to cause some of these errors, they should be on the frontline to ensure that they minimize as many challenges as they can.

Secondly, in the medical setting, they must have vast experimental knowledge in the concerned field (Cohen, 2007). This allows the nurses have a big picture of the entire case, always countercheck the medical history of a patient prior to making any form of conclusion (Cima, ‎2011). This means that the nurse is able to offer