Aspects of the professional process contribute to medical errors, safety measures, and policy violations. We can define the following elements of the problem according to human factors: time management, unsteady workload, burnout, and stress. Obstacles can result in a nurse’s wrong dose or medication, causing side effects or severe consequences for patients. The core is that patients must completely trust nurses and other health professionals to achieve a safe recovery. However, if this trust is broken through medication error based on the human factor, it becomes problematic for the patient to rely on the nurse’s advice and prescriptions. The cause of burnout and inattentiveness may be the lack of proper motivation, understanding of the responsibilities, and ineffective time management. These reasons can be avoided by applying additional steps, and even the most severe medication errors can be preventable.
Many researchers study the problem of the human factor in errors; through their works, we can define the statistical data. According to White et al. (2019), burnout was detected among 30% of respondents, 31% suffered from dissatisfaction with their profession, and 72% faced errors due to the lack of time or resources. Nurses experiencing burnout are five times more likely to leave some task undone while working in a nursing home. Among such tasks are activities with patients, providing patient surveillance, and care planning (White et al., 2019). The evidence proved that nurses are more satisfied and experience less burnout when there is a healthy workplace environment, including staff, supportive managers, and productive colleague relationships (White et al., 2019). Hence, while considered less severe, the errors in the patient’s care system can lead to harmful experiences for the people in the nursing home.
There is a connection between the nurses working conditions and the quality of their work. Garrett (2018) studied the human error component and described how staffing patterns could affect the situation. Causes of chronic fatigue, burnout, and other errors among hospital nurses can be a heavy workload and overtime shifts. The study showed the statistics of “40 hours per week and more prolonged than nurses scheduled shifts: 39% of the changes worked lasted 12.5 or more consecutive hours, and the most extended shift reported was 23.6 hours” (Garrett, 2018, p. 1196). Nurses who worked overtime after long shifts increased the risk of making at least one medication-related error. Therefore, to avoid preventable medication errors, healthcare facilities must invest in staffing to reduce the need for additional long shifts of hospital nurses.
Other researchers explored the problem of medication issues and their causes based on the student’s experiences. Inexperience and distractions were the most frequently identified factors contributing to error (Asensi-Vicente et al., 2018). The study also focused on the application of informatic technologies as a method to prevent medication errors. It means that technologies have the potential to reduce the mistakes based on the shared database, promote patient safety, and increase accuracy.
The context of the human factor in medication errors was described in all mentioned above scholarly articles. It is essential to point out that the problem concerns all groups, including students, nursing home workers, hospital nurses, and rehabilitation center nurses. Consequently, every patient can be subject to medication errors and their results. The setting is mainly centered around the outer influence on the operational performance of the nurse; it combines overtime operating hours, resulting in burnout and chronic fatigue, and lack of technological support in the field, which makes the tasks more time-consuming. For instance, lack of sleep due to overwork can lead to confusion of patients’ names and medication names. Moreover, nurses cannot respond to the patient’s needs in time due to the heavy workflow with limited resources. I must understand and find the solution to the problem due to my involvement in the professional sphere of a long-term care rehab center. Working as a director of nursing, I am confident that I need to do more concerning reducing medication errors.
A search for the solution to the issue requires a complex approach that will address the personal and organizational aspects. However, medication errors are preventable, and one of the first steps to applying a solution is to double-check and re-read the instructions by nurses. It is the most simple and short-termed solution, but this step is essential for every professional to adhere to the six rights of medication administration. Healthcare establishment is accountable for the working conditions of their staff. Hence, in long-termed practice, to reduce the risk of errors, there must be more open positions for the nurses to decrease the need for overtime work, which would lower the fatigue level of nurses. Additionally, the integration of more technological practice can improve the time management of the staff, providing valuable data for every patient and medication.
In the case of ignore of the problem, there is an increased risk of worsening the situation and lowering the rate of the patient’s safety. First of all, further overtime work would deepen the condition of fatigue and burnout among nurses in every healthcare environment. Constant stress at the same time can cause inattentiveness, medication confusion, etc. Second, a lack of informatic technology would decrease students’ performance and adaptation process to the workflow. Consequently, most nurses would not be prepared for the actual conditions of the job in a rush with a quick flow of patients with different needs.
The technology application includes both advantages and disadvantages. Among the main pros, we can highlight the electronic system of encyclopedias, dictionaries, web accounts, and other tools for accuracy, which can be helpful for professionals and students. Increased application of new technologies enhances the easy retrieval of information. Nurses can access accurate patient data and history more quickly, without additional stress. Prescribed medications, doses, and patients’ allergies and special conditions will also be constantly on display. Nevertheless, this system is not perfect because the technological solution requires additional measures such as encryption of data to avoid breaches of information. Additionally, the software is constantly evolving, and it is crucial to transfer all data without damage during the update procedures safely. The implementation requires the state’s further investment in the technological development of healthcare establishments and software maintenance. Thus, the best decision is to transmit data to technology while having written copies to secure the information, but improve the performance of nurses and reduce human errors.
Ethical principles remain a vital element of the professional activity during the solution implementation. Among them, veracity is present, meaning nurses must not withhold the whole truth from clients. It is crucial to address the error if it is made, even if nurses take preventive measures. Non-maleficence must be considered a decision-making mechanism in the technology application approach. It can be proved in the work of Asensi-Vicente et al. (2018), who showed that if there is a risk of potential leak or damage of data, it is the core principle. Therefore, ethical principles are a part of understanding the problem and solution.
Thus, various human factors can cause medication errors provoked by personal experience of overwork, stress, and external resources. Scholars studied different approaches to mistakes, the main reasons for which they stated burnout, constant fatigue, and stress alongside time-restricted professional activity. The solutions may include applying simple techniques of personal attentiveness, such as double-checking, steps for establishment improvement, and technological involvement. Only the use of complex measures can resolve burnout and overwork issues.
References
Asensi-Vicente, J., Jiménez-Ruiz, I., & Vizcaya-Moreno, M. F. (2018). Medication errors involving nursing students: A systematic review. Nurse educator, 43(5), E1-E5.
Garrett, C. (2018). The effect of nurse staffing patterns on medical errors and nurse burnout. AORN Journal, 87(6), 1191–1204.
White, E. M., Aiken, L. H., & McHugh, M. D. (2019). Registered nurse burnout, job dissatisfaction, and missed care in nursing homes. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 67(10), 2065-2071.