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Med Error Paper

This document discusses preventing medication errors in a hospital setting. It defines medication errors as preventable errors that can harm patients or lead to inappropriate medication use. Medication errors are common and can have serious consequences, including death. The most errors occur during medication administration when the wrong dose, medication, time, or omission occurs. The author discusses an example of almost giving the wrong dose of Lisinopril and emphasizes following the six rights of medication administration and using electronic medical records to help prevent errors. Timely medication administration is also important to avoid toxicity, so nurses should get early reports and work efficiently. Overall, while mistakes happen, following precautions can help prevent medication errors.

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395 views

Med Error Paper

This document discusses preventing medication errors in a hospital setting. It defines medication errors as preventable errors that can harm patients or lead to inappropriate medication use. Medication errors are common and can have serious consequences, including death. The most errors occur during medication administration when the wrong dose, medication, time, or omission occurs. The author discusses an example of almost giving the wrong dose of Lisinopril and emphasizes following the six rights of medication administration and using electronic medical records to help prevent errors. Timely medication administration is also important to avoid toxicity, so nurses should get early reports and work efficiently. Overall, while mistakes happen, following precautions can help prevent medication errors.

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api-314062228
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Running head: PREVENTING MEDICATION ERRORS

Preventing Medication Errors


Ardy N. Emile
University of South Florida
College of Nursing

Preventing Medication Errors


Medication Error (ME) is defined as any preventable error that may cause or lead to
inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health
care professional, patient, or consumer (Sahithi et al., 2015). As healthcare professionals, we
want the best for our patients and want to provide them the proper medication that will help
enhance their well-being. So preventing medication errors should be a paramount of importance
to nurses. If fortunate enough, a medication error may not even have an effect on the patient.
Nevertheless, medication errors can cause several complications and have catastrophic effects on
the patients health. This can even result in death (Choo, Johnston, & Manias, 2014). Not only
can medication errors harm the patient, they can really cost the hospital and can result in a
nurses termination, loss of licensure due to negligence as well. In a study to estimate the costs,

PREVENTING MEDICATION ERRORS

types, incidences, and causes of medications errors, it was found that the incidence of MEs
occurred at a rate of .8 per 100 admissions or at a rate of 1.6 per 1000 patient days. The costs
attributed to medication errors was found to be in a range from $8,439 to $8,898 (Choi et al.,
2015). Today I will be discussing the potential of giving the wrong dose of a medication to a
patient.
In a hospital setting, there are numerous instances where a medication error can occur. It
is up to us healthcare professionals (Doctors, pharmacists, nurses and etc.) to create an
interdisciplinary system where we are able to work together and be able to prevent these
medication errors from happening. It has been found that most medication errors happen in the
administration phase of the medication administration process. And the most common errors
were when the wrong medication was given, when it was given the wrong time, when the wrong
dose was given, and when there were omissions to medication (Choi et al., 2015). In my short
clinical experience of giving out medication, I have seen numerous instances where there was the
possibility of giving the patient the wrong dose. For instance, let us say I had to give a patient 5
milligrams of Lisinopril. When retrieving the medication from the Pyxis; the drawer opens and it
gives me a 10 milligram tablet. If I, or any nurse was not paying attention, we would have given
the patient a double dose of Lisinopril which could have had drastic effects. Lisinopril is an ace
inhibitor and an antihypertensive; the patient could have been on numerous other drugs and
numerous other antihypertensives. Just because a nurse did not realize that he/she had to cut the
tablet in half, the patient could have had a drug toxicity that could have led to more adverse
effects. The patient could have developed dyspnea, angioedema, or even bottomed out because
his/her blood pressure was dropped so low. This is why it is very important to practice the six
rights of medication administration (Right patient, right dose, right cite, right time, right
medication, and right documentation) to help prevent these errors. It is beneficial to check these

PREVENTING MEDICATION ERRORS

six rights at the Pyxis, in the hallway, and at the bedside before medication administration. When
in doubt, always contact the provider/doctor! Even by just using the electric medication records
is a great nursing intervention to prevent errors, especially the fact that a nurse has to scan in
every medication as well as the patients hospital band before medication administration. A nurse
can organize all medications to be administered at the right time and be able to analyze all
medications and know what necessary actions the nurse needs to take.
Speaking of the right time, giving a patients medication at the wrong time is an error
that I fear I will commit. Nurses have a lot of responsibilities and tasks that need to be completed
and sometimes they can lose track of time because they are so busy. But giving a medication at
the wrong time can be really detrimental. This can lead to the patient getting doses that are too
close in proximity and can lead to drug toxicity. As mentioned above, to prevent this, it would be
great for the nurse to make good use of the electronic medication records. Some other
interventions include getting to work a little early so the nurse can get a timely report on all
patients, be able to work effectively and assess all patients, document all findings, and be able to
give medications at the right time.
To conclude, medication errors are possible and are a part of the healthcare system.
Nobody is perfect and mistakes happen, but medication errors could be dangerous. Luckily, they
are highly preventable. By taking the necessary precautions and administering the necessary
nursing interventions, it would be very arduous to commit a medication error. By following these
precautions, I believe I will be able to prevent administering the wrong dose of medications and
prevent administering the medication at the wrong time.

PREVENTING MEDICATION ERRORS

References
Choi, I., Lee, S., Flynn, L., Kim, C., Lee, S., Kim, N., & Suh, D. (2015). Original Research:
Incidence and treatment costs attributable to medication errors in hospitalized patients.
Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2015.08.006
Choo, J., Johnston, L., & Manias, E. (2014). Effectiveness of an electronic inpatient medication
record in reducing medication errors in Singapore. Nursing & Health Sciences, 16(2),
245-254. doi:10.1111/nhs.12078
Sahithi, K. H., Mohammad, I., Reddy, J. M., Kishore, G. N., Ramesh, M., & Sebastian, J. (2015).
Assessment of medication errors in psychiatry practice in a tertiary care hospital.
International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, (1), 226.

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