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Essay On Medication Errors

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Medication Errors and Preventions
What is a medication error? What happens if a medication error is made? Can they be prevented? A medication error is any preventable event that has happened involving medication . Whether thatIt could be administering too much or not enough of a medication, giving the medication via the wrong route, the wrong time, or even the wrong medication. So, how do we know if a medication error has been made, and what do we do after the error has occurred?
Common Medication Errors
Medication errors can happen as soon as the doctor prescribes the medication. If they do not write legibly it is possible that numbers can become misconfigured, and the patient be given the wrong dose. Another issue is patient turn over, that is when the first shift nurses leaves and delegates to the second shift of nurses. Words are lost between nurses, which is why it is important that everything we do is documented properly. Administering medicationDuring medication administration is where most ofmedication errors come fromoccur. Forgetfulness to check the patient after administration of medication is also an error. It is also important that when the patient is discharged that they fully understand their medications. If they take too much of a medication they could harm themselves. Medication errors happen more often then than we think. I think it is because as health care professionals we get in too big of a hurry and just go through the actions instead of thinking. (Creed, 2017). …show more content…

It could be a matter of life and death. If a health care professional makes a mistake and does not document it, and is no longer on shift, the other team members would have no idea what is going . Documenting errors have become easier to fill out. They should be filled out as soon as the health care professional realizes that an error has been made. (Creed,

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