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 …show more content…
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
Case Study: Medical Error Kills Hopkins Cancer Patient
1123 Words | 5 PagesAfter surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and a marrow transplant, an improperly mixed intravenous solution apparently stopped Brianna Cohen's heart. Hence, this case shows that there is an unintended act either of commission or omission, does not achieve its intended outcome, failure of a planned action to be completed for instance an error of education which was the mixed solution, potassium, which caused the heart rhythm to regulate. Furthermore, there was a wrong plan to achieve an error like an error of planning and deviation from the process of care. Therefore, receiving the incorrect medication, or missing a diagnosis that is evident on a lab test or imaging study is a medical
Medication Error In Nursing
1174 Words | 5 PagesVarious errors invent from natural process of cognitive and behavioural adaptation (Marc, 2004). Medication is an important medical order for healing process and patient care. Administration of medication is known to be one main component in nursing performance and it is an important role in patient safety. Medication errors drastically have an effect on patient safety as well as treatment cost resulting in hazards to patient and families. Administrating medication is indeed one of the most important roles of nurses as errors may inadvertent lead to serious outcome for the patient.
Article Summary: Improper Verification In Nursing
613 Words | 3 PagesThere are several ways these errors could have been prevented. The nurses should have done three different checks on the drugs with the medication administration record (MAR) and the patient. If they had done those checks properly, then the error could have been caught early. According to the report, the problem with the situation with the second patient was the doctor’s handwriting on the prescription. If the doctors would have made make sure their handwriting iwas legible, thanthen the second patient in this sad case may not have been a victim at all.
Medication Error In Nursing Practice
914 Words | 4 PagesWhen I read this guideline I realize my hospital don’t even have a Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) on administration of medication. I strongly believe this is one major contributing factor why the medication error took place in my practice area. A key point that I notice in this guideline is that, the nurse who is administrating medication should have knowledge especial the risk involved in this group of drugs and must have had read the guidelines on Medications
Medication Overuse Essay
926 Words | 4 PagesIn today's fast-paced world, it's all too easy to pop a pill for every ache and pain, from a headache to a hangnail. We've become a society that's quick to reach for the medicine cabinet instead of taking the time to understand what's truly ailing us. While medication can be a lifesaver for those suffering from serious illnesses or chronic pain, the overuse of medication has become a growing concern. It's time to take a step back and ask ourselves: are we really taking care of ourselves, or are we simply masking our problems with a quick fix? Historically, medication is the major instrument for treating illnesses and managing symptoms in the healthcare business.
Medication Administration Error Essay
449 Words | 2 PagesMedication administration errors occurs 34 percent more often than any other preventable error. These errors directly impact patient safety. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), there are approximately one million patients harmed in hospitals across the United States. Studies support barcode scanning medication during medication administration can prevent this type of medication error (Marx, K., Stoudenmire, L.L., & Manasco, K.B., 2013).
Pharmacy Technician Essay
487 Words | 2 PagesEmily’s mother did not put the blame only on that one pharmacy technician but she believed it was multiple system flaws and the fact that the hospital was short-staffed that day. When working in the field I will always make sure be aware of the medication I will be preparing and be sure to go over it more than just one time. I will also be mindful that my mistake could put another person’s life at risk.
Heart Failure
1743 Words | 7 PagesIt is not only a problem for outpatients; inpatients are victims of human error as well. Oftentimes when hospitals are understaffed and over worked, healthcare workers tend to make simple mistakes that cause not so simple problems for the patients’ wellbeing. In addition to polypharmacy, medication mix-ups are common. For example, in his article, “Medication Errors”, Michael Cohen explains how similar packaging can appear for prescription medications.
Medication Error Reduction Research Paper
255 Words | 2 PagesThe rank order of medication error reduction strategies, starting from the least effective, are the following: to be more careful and more educated, use auxiliary labels, obey rules, include time out, checklists and double check systems, comply with standardization and protocols, utilize new technology, and incorporate forcing functions and constraints. Although becoming educated and making an effort to be more careful are essential in the attempt to reduce medication error rates, they are the least successful. Whether or not visual warnings and checklists are exercised, most medication- related patient harm occurs due to administration errors. Therefore, the use of innovative equipment optimizes drug safety. For example, a smart pump assists
Summary: The Problem With Medication Administration
126 Words | 1 PagesMedication administration is one of the highest risks in health care. The problem with medication administration is that is is very easy to have medication errors occur. It is the role of the nurse to promote health, prevent illness, and achieve optimal recovery by administering medications; and it is this process that can also cause injuries and death to these patients from errors that could have been prevented. Medication errors occur at points of transition in care: admission to the hospital, transfer from department to another, and at discharge home or to another facility (Taylor, Lillis, & LeMone, 2015). While it may be difficult to completely eliminate medication errors, we can examine what causes these errors to occur and find solutions
Why Medication Error Is Important
154 Words | 1 PagesA medication is considered a blessing when it is prescribed, dispensed and administered correctly, however medication errors are encountered everyday all over the world regardless of the best efforts (1). Medication error is a potential cause of morbidity and mortality of hospitalized patients as reported by the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP), which showed that approximately 0.1 million people die annually from medical errors that occur in hospitals and the resulting death toll/year due to medication errors is higher than that of work place injuries (2). Furthermore, it was estimated that hospitalized patients are subjected to expensive and sometimes harmful medication error during their
Medical Error Prevention In The ICU
173 Words | 1 PagesThe definition of medication error is any preventable incident that may lead to inappropriate medication use or cause patient harm (Manias, Williams, & Liew, 2012; Pop & Finocchi, 2016). Medication errors may occur during any stage of the medication management process, which includes prescribing, transcribing, preparation and administration (Manias et al., 2012). Statistical data suggests that a hospitalized patient experiences one mediation error per day (Kruer, Jarrell, and Latif, 2014). Medical error prevention in the ICU can be especially challenging due to it’s dynamic and fast paced environment, making it more prone to errors (Garrouste-Orgeas & Valentin, 2013; Kruer et al., 2014). In the ICU, the patient population
Preventing Medication Error
521 Words | 3 PagesThe Role of a Pharmacist is often underestimated to only being a pill dispenser or drug interaction expert. Yet there is so much more to the Role of a Pharmacist. Pharmacists are advocates for patient’s safety, health and efficacy. Their job is to ensure that people live more comfortable, easy, and well managed lives by making sure their medications are accurate and in the patient’s best health interest. Preventing medication error is one of the essential keys to saving lives and being a Pharmacist Medication errors are often classified into different types of categories to assist with medication reporting and determining the root cause of an error to take steps toward future error prevention.
The Importance Of Medication Errors In Nursing
792 Words | 4 PagesPrevention of medication errors is an ongoing initiative in the field of nursing. Medication errors jeopardize a patient’s safety, which results in vast costs to correct the effects of the error and it could potentially prevent the reimbursement from insurance companies to the hospital. Often times the nurse is the only person to catch an error with a written prescription or the incorrect dose sent to the nursing unit from the pharmacy. As a result, it is usually the nurse’s responsibility to speak up when an error is identified rather than administering a medication due to the mere fact that an order was written by the physician. While there are many medication errors which occur in the hospital setting, most of those errors, however occur after a patient has been discharged to home (“Severe Harm and Death,” 2016).
How To Reduce Medical Error In Research
1375 Words | 6 PagesREVIEW OF LITERATURE Benjamin DM: according to him reducing medication errors and improving patient safety have become common topics of discussion in United States. Federal and state legislators, the insurance industry, pharmaceutical companies, health care professionals, and patients are worried about the error scenario in the country. According to him improving the judicious use of medications and minimizing adverse drug reactions have always been key areas of research and study for people working in clinical pharmacology, added to the older terms of adverse drug reactions and rational therapeutics, the now politically correct expression of medication error has emerged. The word error has drawn attention to another term "prevention" and all
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