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Medication Errors Research Paper

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Unfortunately, there are many ways a patient can be injured or harmed while staying at a hospital. Even though there have been several attempts to make a hospital visit one hundred percent injury preventable, accidents and mistakes still happen. The three leading types of patient injuries are medication errors, patient falls, and pressure ulcers. However, if the entire health care team, such as: health care providers, pharmacists, nurses, etc, work together then hopefully the percentage of patient injury will decrease each year. (Berman, A. 2011) Medication errors are the leading cause of patient injuries in hospitals today. These preventable mistakes lengthen hospital stays, increase inpatient expenses, and cause over seven thousand deaths …show more content…

Interruptions disrupt the nurse’s concentration and therefore making it easier for an error to be made that could harm the patient. Another aspect that can cause a medication error is when some drugs look alike. For example, Diprivan and Diflucan are easily mistaken for the other because they are spelled similarly. One way to prevent giving the wrong medication in this situation would be to use the tall-man method. Instead of looking at the words normally, write them out as DIPRIvan and DIFLUcan. This helps to cut down on the mix up of medications. (Anderson, P. …show more content…

Improper foot wear can cause a patient to slip or loose balance and fall. Several medical conditions like; delirium, cardiac, and neurological conditions, can lead to an increased risk of falling. (Healey, F. 2010) The best way to help prevent patient related falls is to ask the patient at admission if they have had a history of falling, dizziness, lightheadedness, and certain medical conditions. For people at risk for falls; make sure the call bell is always close by, check on the patient regularly, and assist with trips to the bathroom if needed. Nurses should always check the floors to make sure there is nothing the patient can trip over or anything that could cause the patient to slip like water. (Healey, F

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