Medical mistakes are one of the most common quality issues in the healthcare environment. Even though drug errors are becoming more common, they can be prevented through quality improvement measures. When a patient is under the care of a practitioner and an error occurs due to improper medication use, it is considered a medication error (Arrington, 2021). An error is made when one or more of the five pharmaceutical rights are breached. Included in this list of five rights are the following: drug, timing, method, appropriate patient, and dosage. There has been an increased focus on system design to support the administration of medication. Inadequate healthcare professional training, complicated processes, diversions, and system misconfiguration contributed to errors in medical administration.
Though numerous new technologies have been developed to improve healthcare delivery, drug errors continue to be an issue in the United States. Many mistakes are made in pediatric weight-based dosing, in which dosing is based on weight and height measurements. The risk of administering the wrong dose is increased by the use of inaccurate weight calculations. Missing doses, improper dosages, and inappropriate medications are the most prevalent causes of pharmaceutical errors. Insufficient patient health literacy, a lack of healthcare practitioners, and an inadequate pharmaceutical safety policy are among the most common causes of these errors (Arrington, 2021). CDC efforts to improve patient care should focus on reducing the root causes of the problem.
In order to improve patient outcomes, a wide range of healthcare stakeholders must work together to reduce medication errors. Healthcare leaders, nurses, and patients can only address this quality problem. Poor patient health literacy has been identified as a major contributor to prescription mistakes. Patients and nurses can work together to find a solution to this problem. Knowing the medication’s purpose, dose and possible adverse effects is important to the patient’s responsibilities (Allen, 2013). This information will empower patients to participate more actively in their own care. As a result, the nurse’s job here is to ensure that the patient receives the proper medication administration instruction (Blendon et al., 2022). The patient’s responsibility also includes advising them of any changes to the applicable drug regulations and providing them with clear instructions on how to take the prescription.
Distraction among healthcare providers is another major contributor to errors in medication administration. This healthcare shortfall can be alleviated with the help of healthcare leaders and nurses. Executives in the healthcare industry have the power to develop and enforce regulations aimed at streamlining operations. The goal of the policy is to keep nurses from being distracted when administering medication so that they may complete their treatment for a specific patient without interruption (Allen, 2013). The use of monitoring and surveillance programs can help guarantee that nurses adhere to safety protocols even in settings where interruptions are unavoidable.
Medication errors can be reduced with the help of fast-expanding technology, which healthcare companies should take advantage of. Barcode scanning, patient armbands, and smart infusion bracelets are examples of high-tech methods for reducing drug errors. Patients can be linked to the correct medication using barcodes in barcode medication delivery systems. Predicting and prescribing medication to the correct patient dramatically decreases medical errors. Barcodes were found to reduce medical errors by 41% and adverse medication responses by 51% in one study (Kohn et al., 2000). This shows that barcodes are an excellent method of preventing prescription mistakes. Smart infusion pumps are also being used in many hospitals in the United States, as evidenced by this graph.
However, it has been observed that technology might facilitate pharmaceutical errors rather than aid in reducing them. It is because doctors do not know how to use the most advanced medical equipment and systems. Medication errors can also be caused by a lack of clear norms and guidelines for the use of medical technologies in the workplace. Patients’ safety is a primary concern of healthcare executives, who are responsible for creating regulations that regulate the use of new therapeutic treatments in the healthcare system.
Even though medication errors are common in many healthcare settings, they can be averted by evidence-based interventions and by the implementation of medication safety guidelines in the workplace. Consequently, this is a complicated issue, and implementing evidence-based solutions will necessitate the involvement of multiple healthcare professionals. In health facilities and hospitals, administering medication is not an easy task. As a result, several subtleties must be taken into account. Patients’ health and well-being can be jeopardized by a lack of attention to a specific issue related to the administration of drugs. Patients are at risk because hospitals and health centers do not update their central database, which is a major cause of patient safety issues related to drug delivery (Kohn et al., 2000). There are also issues with nurses failing to accurately track patient data that is housed in a centralized database. Many issues relating to medicine administration can arise as a result of this.
The nursing and midwifery workforce has the experience, knowledge, and capacity to enhance public health. Case studies have indicated that educational standards and supportive administration practices are required to encourage nurses and midwives to realize their full potential (Kohn et al., 2000). Prototypes make it more manageable for nurses to consider individual characteristics and analyze information to find the proper treatment at an acceptable cost. Nurses can make care plans and discuss them with patients and physicians to provide comprehensive care and coordinate activities. Doctors and patients are the main stakeholders with whom cooperation is necessary to achieve comprehensive treatment.
References
Allen, M. (2013). How many die from medical mistakes in U.S. hospitals?
Arrington, L. A. (2021). Launching the reduction of peripartum racial/ethnic disparities bundle: A quality improvement project. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 66(4), 526-533. R
Blendon, R. J., DesRoches, C. M., Brodie, M., Benson, J. M., Rosen, A. B., Schneider, E., & Steffenson, A. E. (2022). Views of practicing physicians and the public on medical errors. New England Journal of Medicine, 347(24), 1933-1940. doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa022151
Kohn, L. T., Corrigan, J., & Donaldson, M. S. (Eds.). (2000). To err is human: Building a safer health system. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.