Nurses have many daily duties throughout their strenuous schedule, however the administration of medication to patients is of the up most importance since errors could result in death. Many safety and quality issues have surfaced since then the, To Err Is Human: Building a safer Health System, was released in 2000 (Maurer, 2000). A nurse must take this responsibility seriously, while needing to possess qualities that ensure accuracy and integrity during the administration process (Reid-Searl, 2010). To aid in the barriers that have been set in place throughout the administration process involves more health care professionals than just the nurse (Ross, 2008). Since medication errors happen even though safeguards are implemented throughout the …show more content…
However, the reasons regarding these errors can be improved the truth is that errors do occur, and that is tragic although solutions can be made. Some factors contributing to these errors include polypharmacy, constant interruptions while medication preparation or administration is being conducted, along with under reporting incident slips which lead to future errors of the same nature since correction did not occur (Anderson, 2011). The nurse has a responsibility to progress improvements in risks that could impact patient safety by reporting any and all ineffective protocol that has been applied. However, this may not be completely followed through by the nurse due to fear of disciplinary action, guilt, liability of lawsuits, along with having lack of recognizing a medication error or an anonymous error-reporting system (Anderson, 2011). As many more safety and quality problems have surfaced over time some improvements have been created to secure patient safety, yet these improvements are also constant analysis to fine tune any future breaks in the …show more content…
The thinking this abundance is to educate those in the nursing career by evidence based practice improvements. This is important since nurses are the final defense in the process, and that forty percent of their work day revolves around medication administration (Karavasiliadou & Efstratios, 2014). Being the last step in this process a nurse must maintain a keen eye, sharp mind, and pay attention to detail to eliminate hazards. A nurse that understands individual and organizational risk factors can realize errors by keeping constant vigilance through the medication delivery (Karavasiliadou & Efstratios, 2014). This is the logic of constant stress of medication error education and awareness is at the forefront whether the nurse be a novice or
Most undergraduate nursing students are not being properly educated on proper medication administration. Clinical instructors and registered nurses need to be updated on medication administration reporting, so students do not develop bad habits when they become registered nurses. Registered nurses must also continue their education on med error prevention to prevent future errors. Another significant problem with registered nurses was that they did not have positive attitudes when reporting an error. Once these negative attitudes were changed, more errors were reported (Harding & Petrick, 2008). The three main problems that cause medication errors...
The most common kind of medication error is administering the wrong medication or giving wrong doses. A medication error is any error that happens to patients whether they suffer any harmful results or not. Inappropriate nurses-to-patients ratio should be taken into consideration because it can cause medication errors. A new study shows that every year about 210,000-400,000 people who were admitted to the hospital die due to medication error; it also shows that is is “the third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer”(MacDonald). For instance, an interview was done with Nurse Carol, a retired nurse; she said that she made a medication error while administering medication to one of her patients. She said that she was rushing and accidentally gave Cozaar to one of her patients instead of Colace. Cozaar is often used for high blood pressure and Colace is for constipation. She said her patient’s pressure dropped very low after taking the medication; she realized then that she gave the patient the wrong medication. Nurse Carol also said that if she did no...
For many patients the scariest part of being in the hospital is having to rely on other people to control their life changing decisions. There are multiple causes of patient harm, one of the major contributors are medication errors made by health care professional. Medication errors are inappropriate dispensing and administration of drugs which cause harmful effects such liver damage and excessive bleeding. Most cases of medication errors in hospitals occur as a result of wrong diagnosis by the doctors leading administration of inappropriate drug, poor communication between doctors and nurses and between patients and nurses who issue the drugs. However in an article by the International Journal of Nursing practice, in Australia many occurrences
Furthermore, short staffing affects the quality direct care each patient receives. The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (2012) states an estimated 98,000 individuals die every year from medical errors in the United States. One out of many significant tasks nurses do within their scope of practice is medication administration. Research shows a relationship between short staffing on medication errors: the longer the hours nurses work, the higher the chances of medication errors (Garnett, 2008). (include definition of medication error) Administering medications requires knowledge of patient rights, pharmacological information on the drug, adverse effects, proper dosage calculations, and hospital protocols. When nurses are assigned more patients, they are pressured to give due medications on time. Sometimes due to hunger or fatigue, nurses give the wrong medication to the wrong patient (Frith, Anderson, Tseng, & Fong, 2012).
Medication errors made by medical staff bring about consequences of epidemic proportions. Medical staff includes everyone from providers (medical doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants) to pharmacists to nurses (registered and practical). Medication errors account for almost 98,000 deaths in the United States yearly (Tzeng, Yin, & Schneider, 2013). This number only reflects the United States, a small percentage in actuality when looking at the whole world. Medical personnel must take responsibility for their actions and with this responsibility comes accountability in their duties of medication administration. Nurses play a major role in medication error prevention and education and this role distinguishes them as reporters of errors.
Baccalaureate nurses are responsible for providing and ensure our patients safety. The knowledge from others mistakes can help informs nurses of extra precautions that we can take to ensure our patient’s safety. Risk Analysis and Implication for practice course helped me understand the steps I as a nurse can take as well as the facilities I work for to help reduce the number of medication errors that occur. Interviewing the pharmacist help me get a better insight to what facilities already have in place to help prevent medication errors. However like most things you have to have educated and compassionate caring staff to enforce and follow the guidelines set in place.
Nurses are expected to provide a competent level of care that is indicative of their education, experience, skill, and ability to act on agency policies or procedures. In a study of 1,116 hospitals Bond, Raehl, and Franke (2001) found, “Medication errors occurred in 5.07% of the patients admitted each year to these hospitals. Each hospital experienced a medication error every 22.7 hours (every 19.73 admissions). Medication errors that adversely affected patient care outcomes occurred in 0.25% of all patients admitted to these hospitals/year”(p. 4). This means at least one medication error occurs every 24 hours in those facilities studied, and these are preventable errors. The main responsibilities of nurses when administering medications are to prevent or catch error, and report such error. Even if the physician or prescribing health care professional has made a mistake in the order, it is the nurse’s job to question the
Omission of medications is a common issue in the field of nursing. When patients miss their scheduled dosage of medication, it can cause harm. Nurses take an oath to do no harm to their patients. When a nurse purposely omits a medication, they are not properly acting within their nurse’s scope of practice. A nurse cannot make the decision to hold a medication based on ones believes, because they were interrupted, or because of time constraints. “The administration of medications is a major part of the role of the clinical nurse and is an activity prone to error” (Johnson, Tran, & Young, 2011 p. 553).
Ethical dilemmas are the issues that nurses have to encounter everyday regardless of where their workplaces are. These problems significantly impact both health care providers and patients. Patient safety is the most priority in nursing and it can be jeopardized by a slight mistake. Medication errors and reporting medication errors have been major problems in health care. Errors with medications have been found to be the most common cause of adverse drug effects (Brady, Malone, Fleming, 2009). Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago conducted a research in 2012 that approximately forty percent of the hospitalized clients have encountered a medication error (Lahue et al., 2012). A nurse’s role is to identify and report these medication errors immediately in order to stop or minimize any possible harm to the patients. Ethical moral dilemmas arise when reporting the mistakes that have been made by one’s own colleagues, acquaintances, peers, or physicians.
Physicians ultimately decide what dose and drug will benefit the patient and restore them back to health. Held by the standards set by The College of Physicians and Surgeons, Physicians must abide by the Health Professions Act. Physicians are responsible to prescribe the right medication and right dosage. It is thought that physicians and other prescribers are ultimately to blame for medication errors. Although malpractices do occur among physicians, nurses are responsible to have a thorough understanding of the medications one administers to their patients. A nurse does not just simply do what they are told and administer drugs without having a thorough understanding and background knowledge. Nurses are to know the purpose of each drug they administer, the therapeutic effects, side effects which can be harmless or injurious, and adverse effects which is a severe negative response to the drug (2009). In reference to the previously mentioned scenario, the physician’s handwriting was careless and illegible. Although the Physician demonstrated lack of clarity, the nurse noticed the hastily written sentence signed by the physician and continued to administer the drug as she had routinely done the past couple days. Nurse’s should have a strong pharmaceutical knowledge background and be aware of the potential harm a medication could cause. In the process of medication administration, registered nurses are responsible to “determine that each medication order is clear, accurate, current and complete. Medications should be withheld when a medication order is incomplete, illegible, ambiguous or inappropriate; with concerns being clarified with the prescriber (CNO, 2015)”. The critical care nurse demonstrated ineffective communication, which was shown by failing to ask the physician for clarification. Another instance of miscommunication is during medication
...estions if not 100% sure of something or use a double checking system. When a nurse is administrating medication, they should use the ten rights of medication administration (right patient, right drug, right route, right time, right dose, right documentation, right action, right form, right response, and right to refuse). Nurses should always keep good hand hygiene and always wear appropriate clothing to prevent from the spread of disease. Good communication with patients and healthcare team members is also key to success. Keeping on the eye on the patient within an appropriate time is important. If the patient ever seems to be looking different than their usual self vitals should be taken immediately. Encouraging patients to ask questions if they are unaware of something can prevent errors as well. Nurses should make sure the patient is on the same page as they are.
Tzeng, H., Yin, C., & Schneider, T. E. (2013). Medication Error-Related Issues In Nursing Practice. MEDSURG Nursing, 22(1), 13-50.
O’Shea, E (1999) Factors contributing to medication errors: a literature review. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 8, 5,496-503.
In the healthcare industry, nursing errors exemplify a serious public health dilemma and present a critical threat to the safety of patients. The IOM [1] (Institute of Medicine) report entitled “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System”, suspected that between 45,000-98,000 Americans die each year as a result of medical errors. This report induced arguments in the medical community of how to decrease nursing errors and increase patient safety in the best way possible.
I was also responsible for monitoring medication orders and reviewing patient profiles to ensure that the proper drugs and dosages were prescribed and that the pharmacy technician had prepared them properly. In many instances there were mistakes made in the preparation phase and sometimes even before, with incorrect dosages or drugs being prescribed and prepared, which could result in serious adverse effects for the patient. A clinical pharmacist’s role, however, is to make sure that these mistakes never reach the