Medication Error Essay

Medication errors are defined as faults in drug prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, monitoring, ordering, and/or administration. These errors have significant potential for injuring or even killing a patient. Discussed below is an article that highlights the dangers of inaccurate drug administration. A case was reported of a 7-year-old boy with Fanconi’s anemia that underwent a successful bone marrow transplant and months later returned to the hospital for a minor febrile episode. The night before his discharge he was given 3.5 gm/m 2 of cytarabine over 2 hours, which the nurse calculated according to his surface area. It was given in the right route and documented, yet it was not the appropriate drug or patient. The cytarabine was intended for another patient on the unit who was preparing for a transplant. Luckily the mistake was caught 7.5 hours later and appropriate restorative procedures were taken, however the

Goal one and three set by the JC in regards to hospitals, relates seamlessly to the said article. Goal one aims to improve how patients are identified. They recommend that each patient be identified by two identifiers whether name, date of birth or identification number. Next, the treatment for that individual must be matched to patient. Goal three enforces the safety of using medications. A segment of this goal addresses mandatory verification of all medication or solution labels both verbally and visually with two people (The Joint Commission, 2014). If two nurses crosschecked the right name of the medication along with the name of the patient in the case of the young boy he would possibly be alive today. It is a harsh reality, but undoubtedly; with these guidelines followed thoroughly error would be