Healthcare organizations and personnel seek to establish safety and quality measures for patients. However, safeguarding patient safety can be difficult due to the healthcare system’s complexity. Nurses make up most of the healthcare personnel. Hence, they are responsible for maintaining patient safety. Medication administration errors (MAEs) are a significant safety and quality issue in the healthcare industry. This paper discusses MAEs, the contributing factors, evidence-based interventions, and the role of nurses and other stakeholders in improving safety and quality during medication administration.
Factors that Contribute to Medication Administration Errors
Medicine administration errors are any preventable mistakes that can occur during prescribing, dispensing, and administration, as well as medication storage and management errors. There are various types of MAEs, including using the wrong route of administration, administering the incorrect dose, giving drugs to the wrong patient, or taking medicine at the wrong time. These mistakes can have catastrophic implications, including worsened patient health outcomes or death (Wondmieneh et al., 2020). It is critical to take precautions to limit the risk of drug delivery mistakes.
Various factors, including inadequate communication between healthcare providers and patients, poor record-keeping and documentation, lack of information about pharmaceuticals, poor labeling and packaging of medications, unclear or incomplete prescription orders, and improper medication storage and handling, can cause medication administration mistakes. Poor communication between the nurses and doctors on the healthcare team frequently results in medication errors (Garcia et al., 2019). Hasty shift changes, unclear verbal or written instructions, incorrect acronyms, or a lack of attention to detail can all contribute to poor communication. Mistakes can also be made owing to a lack of knowledge regarding the drug being administered. This might be due to a lack of training, obsolete information, or a lack of experience with the medication. Inadequate or incorrect labeling, including wrong dosing instructions, obsolete information, or incorrect patient data, can cause confusion and errors. Other risk factors include inadequate supervision, staff burnout, and poorly designed drug delivery systems (Garcia et al., 2019).
Evidence-Based Practices of Preventing Medication Errors
Evidence-based and best-practice methods to improve patient safety can aid in preventing drug administration mistakes and thus reduce healthcare expenses. Implementing an electronic prescription system, for example, helps decrease pharmaceutical mistakes by assuring accuracy in transcribing drug orders. Electronic prescription systems can also save money by expediting the ordering process and eliminating the need for human checks and double-checking (Rodziewicz & Hipskind, 2020). Automated dispensing systems can also reduce medication by alerting the nurse when an incorrect pharmaceutical order is made. Furthermore, barcode scanning to guarantee that prescriptions are given to the proper patient is another best practice solution. By reducing the need for human record keeping, barcode scanning technology can also decrease expenses. Electronic medical records can also assist in preventing drug mistakes by allowing doctors to analyze patient data before making prescription decisions (Dirik et al., 2019).
Role of Nurses in Preventing Medication Errors
Nurses play a critical role in medication administration in healthcare settings. They are crucial in preventing medication errors and upholding patient safety. Nurses can assist in coordinating treatment to improve patient safety and minimize healthcare costs by ensuring that all medical personnel engaged in the patient’s care are informed of the drugs the patient is taking. This involves being aware of any allergies or hazardous responses to drugs that the patient may have (Tariq & Scherbak, 2022). Furthermore, nurses can ensure that the drugs recommended or delivered are cost-effective and appropriate for the patient’s condition. Nurses can educate patients on safe medication usage and check for adverse effects and drug interactions. Educating patients involves teaching them how to read labels, follow directions, and safely store medication. Also, by double-checking drugs before administration, nurses can avoid medication mistakes (Koyama et al., 2019). By carefully assessing patient information, nurses can discover possible medication interactions, allergies, and other contraindications. This decreases the possibility of an unpleasant response and helps to avoid excessive expenditures caused by medical errors (Escrivá Gracia et al., 2019).
Stakeholders Involved in Quality and Safety Improvement
Nurses collaborate with various healthcare professionals to ensure quality and safety in medication administration. The relevant stakeholders include doctors, pharmacists, patients and their family members, Information Technology (IT) staff, and healthcare administrators. Pharmacists assist in the correct storage and administration of pharmaceuticals and provide guidance on proper doses and drug interactions (Tariq & Scherbak, 2022). Nurses interact with patients to ensure they understand the medications they are taking and any potential adverse effects. Family members can help monitor drug adherence and give helpful information about the patient’s medical history. IT staff may assist in implementing and maintaining electronic health records, barcode scanning, and automated dispensing systems. Healthcare administrators establish rules, provide resources and ensure that safety requirements are followed (Dirik et al., 2019).
Conclusion
Medication errors have detrimental effects on the patient and healthcare organization. Poor communication, inadequate documentation, and staff burnout are some causes of MAEs. Nurses have a crucial role in coordinating treatment to improve patient safety and save costs with drug delivery. Nurses can help prevent MAEs by ensuring that pharmaceuticals are administered safely and effectively, carefully reviewing patient information, educating patients, ensuring medications are correctly ordered, and monitoring patient reactions. Nurses collaborate with other healthcare stakeholders to improve safety and quality in medication administration.
References
Dirik, H. F., Samur, M., Seren Intepeler, S., & Hewison, A. (2019). Nurses’ identification and reporting of medication errors. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 28(5-6), 931–938. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14716
Escrivá Gracia, J., Brage Serrano, R., & Fernández Garrido, J. (2019). Medication errors and drug knowledge gaps among critical-care nurses: a mixed multi-method study. BMC Health Services Research, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4481-7
Garcia, C., Abreu, L., Ramos, J., Castro, C., Smiderle, F., Santos, J., & Bezerra, I. (2019). Influence of burnout on patient safety: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicina, 55(9), 553. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina55090553
Koyama, A. K., Claire-Sophie Sheridan Maddox, Li, L., Bucknall, T., & Westbrook, J. I. (2019). Effectiveness of double checking to reduce medication administration errors: a systematic review. BMJ Quality & Safety, 29(7). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2019-009552
Rodziewicz, T., & Hipskind, J. (2020). Medical Error Prevention. http://www.saludinfantil.org/Postgrado_Pediatria/Pediatria_Integral/papers/Medical%20Error%20Prevention%20-%20StatPearls%20-%20NCBI%20Bookshelf.pdf
Tariq, R. A., & Scherbak, Y. (2022, July 3). Medication dispensing errors and prevention. National Library of Medicine; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519065/
Wondmieneh, A., Alemu, W., Tadele, N., & Demis, A. (2020). Medication administration errors and contributing factors among nurses: a cross-sectional study in tertiary hospitals, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. BMC Nursing, 19(4), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-020-0397-0
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