Prevention Strategies to Factors That Cause Medication Errors - Essay Example

Nursing Workbook Name Institution Introduction The aim of this assignment is to suggest prevention strategies to factors that cause medication errors. Medication errors are severe when caused by medical practitioners. Wrong dose, patient, medications and routes are some of the errors that commonly occur in health systems (Forrester and Griffiths, 2010, p. 229). This matter is intensified by the fact that these errors go unnoticed by the persons assigned the responsibility of detecting and preventing them. This essay consists of a sketch of the process involved when approving a new medication. The importance of health practitioners to understand their role and responsibilities is emphasized. A comprehensive conclusion is presented that clarifies major points in the essay. Roles and Responsibilities of the Medical Practitioners involved in Medication Cycle The role of health practitioners is to provide quality care to patients not only by administering drugs but also acknowledging medication errors immediately they occur. There are various reasons for the occurrence of medication errors. Most grievous errors occur when health practitioners are distracted, tired or inexperience resulting in omission or dosing errors (Koch, Gloth and Nay, 2010, p. 89). Clinicians are responsible for the effect the drug has on a patient. Their work is to ensure drug is suitable for the illness and does not undermine the health of the patient. Registered nurses, doctors and pharmacists are also trained to identify and effectively rectifying errors after prescription and circulation medication. Health practitioners must ensure medication administered goes to the right route and of the required quantity. Drugs with side effects that are threatening are administered carefully under the supervision of health practitioners. Failure to administer the right dosage results in medication errors that are life threatening to the patient. Assessment of orders is another role of medical practitioners. There are set protocols that ensure patients are assessed fairly. Nurses are required to abide by set protocols during diagnosis and management of an ailment. Close monitoring of the patient is required of health practitioners during the entire medical procedures to assess the suitability of drugs administered to patients. This ensures side effects of drugs are controlled to avoid damage of treatment plan. Health practitioners should have insight understanding on the role of the drug and foresee side effects and how to control them. Furthermore, it is of no use to treat a certain ailment by damaging other organs. Medical practitioners are problem solvers who make crucial decision to save lives (Drennan, Casado, and Minchin, 2014, p. 45). New Drug Approval Process Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is a body that deals with assessing products to ensure they are of satisfactory quality standards (Biswas, 2013, p. 54). Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) on the other hand, is a unit of Australian National Medicines Policy that guarantees affordable access to medicines for all citizens. The first step of the approval process entails appraising data to ensure its risks and benefit are safe for human consumption. Thereafter an application for marketing is submitted to TGA that is concerned with how the drug works by evaluating the amount of toxins in the drug and whether they are safe for human consumption. Drugs are vividly classified and categorized by TGA to minimize medication errors. This process ensures all drugs are safe for human consumption. Effectiveness of improved new drug is facilitated by the International Conference of Harmonization (ICH) that moderates duplicative efforts during clinical trials across the globe. ICH also standardizes drug approval process globally (Biswas, 2013, p. 56). Pharmaceutical Benefits Schemes (PBS) is a major part of health care in Australia. Its aim is to ensure pharmacists at community level have access to quality and low priced medications. This offers a means by which pharmacists can claim cost of drugs from Medicare. Drug approval process is a complex process that ends up being expensive for pharmacists (Biswas, 2013, p. 56). Laws and regulations set by the government are effectively adhered to prior to drugs being listed on Pharmaceutical benefits scheme. Approval process is a long that ensures drugs are suitable for human consumptions. Self medication is a common practice for patient that facilitates drug abuse. Drugs used in the treatment of unusual disorders are only released from TGA in the event disease is diagnosed. Factors increasing Risk of Medication Errors Team factors increase the risk of medication errors as they are involved in processes that expose patient to errors. Roughead and Semple (2009) assert that, team factors are as a result of supervision and communication. Communication is crucial in medical setup to ensure no detail is ignored. For example, a nurse needs to ensure all details from the observations of a patient are captured and narrated to a pharmacist who will administer correct dose. On the other hand, improper supervision will cause medication errors. Some of the causative factors of medication error involved in task factors are procedures and accuracy of test results. Administering drugs to a patient is prior to testing to determine cause of illness. An error while testing for a certain ailment translates to error in treatment. These procedures in health centers facilitate risk of medication. A blunder in one aspect reduces the chance of accurately administering medication to a patient. Systems approach recognizes environmental factors as those that pose medication errors as a result of workload and skill mix (Roughead and Semple, 2009). Health practitioners have different skills and are required to work together to offer quality health care. Skill mixing categorically determines high grade staff to focus on therapeutic tasks while others take on other roles. Skill mixing establishes boundaries between staff weakening team work in a hospital setting. Furthermore, some patients may have concerns about being treated by low grade staff thereby increasing chances of medication errors. Motivation drives people to perform certain actions. Motivation and health are the main causative factors that explain how medication errors arise as a result of individual factor. Medical practitioners need to be of sober mind to effectively offer quality care. An unmotivated nurse increases the chance medication errors as they compromise on quality of care they offer. Nursing entails pure assessment of the patient in order to facilitate recovery. Underpaid nurses will be less motivated and more likely to offer low quality care. Health care systems consist of anonymous reporting systems that increase risk of medication error. Furthermore, deviation from procedures is also entertained in health systems (Koppel, et al, 2005, p. 1199). Deviation from normal procedures in the event of emergencies exposes the patient to errors since interruption can occur when administering medication. Mix-ups are the effect of anonymous reporting as different nurses’ record information thereby compromising accuracy of the data entered. Prevention Strategies for Factors increasing Risk of Medication Errors Nurses ought to use at least two patient-specific identifiers to prevent communication breakdown that occurs as a result of team factors. This will effectively tackle the errors that lead to administering drug to an anonymous patient. Furthermore, name alerts are important to notify health practitioners on patients with same names to be cautious when handling such patients (Jenkins and Vaida, 2007, p. 41). A computerized system is likely to be more effective to counter medication errors caused by system factors. Computerized system will effectively store a lot of information paying attention to detail to ensure all aspects of the patient are considered. More often than not, small details concerning the patient are overlooked yet they cause major blunders. For example, medication can be issued to a lactating mother and affect the baby. Details such as whether the patient is pregnant, lactating or suffers from lifestyle diseases is crucial and can be easily recorded on computer system. Health centers should incorporate a practice that ensures team members are treated equally. Though medical practitioners have different skills all staff should be appreciated and their services rendered important. Subsequently, every medical practitioner that is involved with prescribing and administering drugs to patient should have access to drug information. Doctors ought to ensure their handwritings are eligible to avoid medication errors. A computerized system should ensure they type in drug detail to avoid these vice (Sokol and Hettige, 2006). A computerized system ought not to be complicated but simple to ensure instructions are clear. Furthermore, there should be two members of staff performing similar task to avoid and identify faults. It is improbable for two different persons to enter identical error especially in the administration of medications to patients. Research on preventing medication error and adverse drug events in pediatric inpatients led to the realization that pharmacists doing rounds in wards prevent medication errors (Fortescue, et al, 2003, p. 728). Environmental factors ought to be suitable for both patient and medical practitioners. Good working conditions in health centers offer nurses a favorable condition and make them more motivated. Nurses should also be paid well to ensure they are more effective thereby preventing medication errors. Moreover, medical practitioners should not be understaffed resulting in more work rendering them ineffective. It is important for nurses to have sufficient time to handle patients as a strategy to minimize and detect errors. Use of Warfarin Medication Warfarin is a drug that prevents clotting of blood and is often used in the treatment of thrombosis in certain ailments. Coumadin, Jantoven, Marevan and Uniwarfin are some of the brand names of this drug (Baker, Nikolic and OÇonnor, 2008, p. 230). This drug is used in management of stroke for person over the age of sixty five. 5 to 10 mg is administered on the commencement of the dose then two more doses of 5mg. The drug is taken orally as it is required to work on different systems in the body. Pharmacokinetic relates to happenings from the moment a drug is administered to the point it is eliminated. The drug lacks protein binding agents making it have a short half-life. Warfarin has biochemical and physiological effects on the body. Since the drug lacks protein binding agent it corrodes with vitamin K that is essential for protein synthesize in the body. In the absence of proteins that transport processes, the neurotransmitters fail to facilitate blood clotting (Webster, 2001, p. 12). Warfarin medication has adverse effects because they inhibit production of hormones responsible for protein synthesize. This can cause hemorrhage and anorexia. It is essential for the nurse to note the age of patient when administering this drug to prevent inter-cerebral bleeding (Baker, Nikolic and OÇonnor, 2008, p. 230). Health practitioners administering this drug should perform relevant tests to ensure the patient is not internally bleeding which can result in blood clotting in the bleeding area. For example, usage of this medication in a patient suffering from bleeding in the stomach lining will lead to blood clotting in stomach area. Though the drug is effective for managing strokes in elderly people it can cause untimely death if not administered appropriately. Checking blood work is crucial to ensure the drug inhibits blood clotting. Educating Patients on how to use Medication Safely As a nurse, it is essential to build rapport with the patient in order to notice medication errors immediately they occur. Furthermore, patients ought to understand the drug route to understand purpose of medication in the treatment of diseases. Encouraging patient to ask questions regarding medication aids in the prevention of medication errors. Most nurses especially those handling outpatients barely have time to explain and provide contacts in the event a patient has a query. Explaining the effect of the drug to Mr. Davic is crucial to ensure the drug is not abused. Prior to explaining this information to the patient it is important to run tests to ensure his body will respond accordingly to the drug. Effective communication between the patient and nurse is one of the major ways of preventing medication errors. As a matter of fact, there are cases where patients have questioned administration of a drug leading to earlier detection of medical error (Cohen, 2007, p. 270). Such patients prevent medical errors as they are conversant with their medication. Labeling of the medication will be the final procedure after the patient is well informed on the role of the drugs and when to take it. There are a number of risks that arise as effects of using drugs. Patients have the right to look out for common side effects and report severe effects that compromise on health. The benefits of taking medications should also be highlighted for the patient to take required dosage. Educating patients on how to use medication safely focuses on promoting health literacy. Health literacy ensures patients are able to recognize warning sign labels that are indicated on the drugs by manufacturers. Though medical terms are ambiguous leading to health illiteracy, it is the duty of the nurse to thoroughly explain drugs to be administered. Conclusion Medical practitioners are important personnel in medication cycle. Nurses, doctors, and pharmacists have defined roles and responsibilities to ensure medical errors are minimal and prevented before occurring. These personnel need to elaborate the effect of medications to patients to ensure patient related medical errors do not arise. There are a number of organizations that have homogeneous procedures that ensure drugs are not abused and are available on request. TGA and PBS are such organizations that collaborate with health centers to diminish errors. Incorrect dosage and administering wrong medication to a patient are the most common medical errors witnessed in health centers. Promoting health literacy is paramount for medical practitioners to diminish medical errors in this industry. References Baker, T., Nikolic, G. & O’Connor, S. (2008). Practical Cardiology, Australia, Elsevier. Biswas, K. (2013). Pharma’s Prescription: How the Right Technology can save the Pharmaceutical Business. USA, Academic Press. Cohen, M. R. (2007). Medication Errors. Washington, American Pharmacists Association. Drennan, G., Casado, S., & Minchin, L. (2014). Dilemmas and Ethical Decision-Making. Forensic Practice in the Community, 40. Forrester, K. & Griffiths, D. (2010). Essentials of Law for Medical Practitioners. Australia, Elsevier. Fortescue, E. B., Kaushal, R., Landrigan, C. P., McKenna, K. J., Clapp, M. D., Federico, F., Goldmann, D. A. & Bates, D. W. (2003). Pritiorizing Strategies for Preventing Medication Errors and Adverse drug use in Pediatric Inpatients. Available at http://net.acpe.org/Current_Materials/AdvQuality/Reference/Fortescue_Prioritizing-Strategies.pdf [Accessed on 10th September, 2014]. Jenkins, R. H. & Vaida, A. J. (2007). Simple Strategies to avoid Medical Errors. Fam Pract Management, 14(2), 41-47. Koch, S., Gloth, F. M. & Nay, R. (2010). Medication Management in Older Adults: A Concise Guide for Clinicians. USA, Springer. Koppel, R., Metlay, J. P., Cohen, A., Abaluck, B., Localio, A. R., Kimmel, S. E., & Strom, B. L. (2005). Role of computerized physician order entry systems in facilitating medication errors. Jama, 293(10), 1197-1203. Roughead, E. E. & Semple, S. J. (2009). Medication Safety in Acute Care in Australia: where are we now? Part 1: a review of the extent and causes of medication problems 2002-2008, Australia and New Zealand Health Policy. Available at http://www.anzhealthpolicy.com/content/6/1/18 [Accessed on 9th September, 2014]. Sokol, D. K. & Hettige, S. (2006). Poor Hanwritting remain a Significant Problem in Medicine. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1676338/ [Accessed on 10th September, 2014]. Webster, C. (2001). Clinical Pharmacology. USA, Teton New Media. Read More