Medication errors pose a significant threat to patients and are common in hospitals globally. As part of the risk management team, developing sound plans to prevent medication mistakes is essential, especially for new employees. It is essential to explore why medication errors often happen, how to use continuous quality improvement to reduce the mistakes, why it is essential to minimize them, and what nurses can do to help reduce errors. This helps in general health safety and promotion in hospital areas.
Most Frequent Causes and Incidence Rate of Medication Errors
Medication errors can arise from various circumstances, demonstrating the difficulty of administering medication within healthcare systems. Mistakes made by people, sometimes because they are tired, not paying attention, or have not been taught properly, are still a common reason for medication errors. Also, medication errors can be made when the equipment is not working correctly, or the technology is not good enough. It can be dangerous when doctors and nurses do not understand each other or do not give enough information when passing over a patient’s care (MacDowell et al., 2021). Also, if there are no set ways of doing things and rules to follow, it could make mistakes more likely when giving medication. Many medication mistakes happen when the wrong dose of medicine is given, the lousy medicine is given, the prescription is misunderstood, or the patient is not checked correctly (Meseret, 2023). Dealing with these complex problems needs a complete plan that combines new technology, set ways of doing things, different experts working together, and continuous training for healthcare workers.
Medication errors happen at different rates in European hospitals. The rates for mistakes in prescribing medication range from 0. 3% to 91%, while the rates for mistakes in dispensing medication range from 1. 6% to 21%About 29% of patients have problems with their medications when they come into or leave the hospital (WHO, 2023). This shows the complexity of managing medication and why we need good plans to reduce mistakes. Throughout the different stages of using medicine, like when it is prescribed, given to a patient, and checked, mistakes happen a lot. This shows how important it is to take specific actions to ensure medicines are used safely throughout the care process. These numbers show that we must use proven methods and strengthen rules to keep patients safe and provide good care. Recent studies show that 5% to 20% of medication mistakes happen in hospitals (Naseralallah et al., 2023). New workers make more errors because they are not used to the job and need to learn the rules better.
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Process
The CQI process should be vital in selecting, using, and measuring the impact of strategies devised to lessen medication errors. This approach calls for a constant watch, process analysis, and adjusting where necessary to ensure patient safety and better outcomes. Critical steps in integrating CQI into error reduction plans include: Key steps in integrating CQI into error reduction plans include:
Identification: Units of medication should regularly carry out assessments themselves and a root cause analysis to reveal the main reasons for infringements, including some workflow problems, poor training, or unclarified protocols (MacDowell et al., 2023).
Implementation: Programming data-driven innovations and standardization of medication management protocol through the use of barcode scanning systems and inter-professional communication, thus fostering patient safety.
Measurement: Creating clear and achievable milestones and measures to evaluate the effectiveness of the error-reduction efforts, which should include monitoring the error rates, close calls, and patient outcomes (MacDowell et al., 2023). Data collection and analysis often assist in identifying trends, measuring the efficacy of the intervened policies, and bringing the needed changes to enhance the results.
Rationale for Reducing Medication Errors
Ensuring that medication errors are mitigated is crucial for several compelling reasons. First of all, drug safety in terms of medication care leads to improvement in a patient’s well-being by reducing the possibility of adverse drug events, patient harm, and fatalities that are avoidable as well. Healthcare providers can substantially cut down on the mistakes they make, reducing the chances of patients having prolonged stays in the hospital and improving patients’ health outcomes by just minimizing errors.
Significantly, along with the concern of medication errors should be addressed of drug safety from legal-financial perspectives. Medical facilities might be held responsible for such events that may result in lawsuits, substantial legal expenses, and loss of reputation in society (MacDowell et al., 2021). Through this, patients are not at risk, and hospital authority is saved from lawsuits requiring you to bear the litigation expenses and compensation claims.
Equally important, adequate fulfillment of the regulatory requirements and accreditation standards is mandatory for the healthcare community. Through these regulations, the authorities provide for patient safety procedures that include ways of minimizing medication administration mistakes. The standards become the pillar one relies on to stay in line with licensure, accreditation, and the trust of patients and stakeholders.
In addition, the error of medication remediation lends to creating a favorable work atmosphere and motivating the staff and morale within the health community. Through developing a culture of accountability, transparency, and ongoing learning, healthcare providers allow staff to actively search for and solve possible errors (MacDowell et al., 2021). This contributes to mutual understanding, teamwork, and the final result – safe, highly qualified patient care provision. In the long run, the medication safety approach protects patients’ health and shields healthcare industries from liabilities, financial losses, and regulatory issues while building up a culture of good practice and innovation in patient care.
Actions for Nurse Involvement in Error Reduction
As part of the frontline, nurses play a crucial role in preventing and detecting errors in the healthcare environment. Nurses can contribute to preventing medication errors only by using activities and a culture of safety that precedes the errors.
However, communication, above all, should come first. Nurses must effectively partake in the interdisciplinary process, a crucial element of patient care, using constant information exchange among the entire healthcare team (Naseralallah et al., 2023). Nevertheless, teamwork is one of the hallmarks of the professionals as they take part in handing over batons and medication reviews, thus lowering the chances of medication errors due to miscommunication or missing information.
Besides, the nurses must ensure medication safety by strictly sticking to the procedures and better practices. In terms of medication administration, the five rights principle is indispensable; this entails correctly identifying the patient, the drug administered, its dose, the route of administration, and the time of administration (Gilavand et al., 2023). Nurses should ensure that all prescriptions are matched, dial up all calculations, and use technology tools that increase accuracy and reduce mistakes like barcode scanning. With these deliberate strategies, the nurses make an outstanding contribution to reducing errors and consequently better the health outcome of the patients and the general care results. This zeal and steadfastness consistently present primary conditions for establishing a security culture in healthcare settings, which contribute to providing the best patient care possible.
Conclusion
Medication errors can pose a significant risk to a patient’s well-being. So, we must have good plans to stop these mistakes and make them less harmful. Incorporating the CQI process is essential for dealing with these problems effectively. Healthcare organizations can make medication safer and better for patients by looking at and fixing medication-related processes. This can lower the number of mistakes and make patients healthier. Involving nurses in reducing mistakes is essential because they give out and watch over medications. Their participation helps ensure that healthcare workers have the most up-to-date information and follow the best procedures to keep patients safe and maintain high-quality healthcare. Making sure to prevent mistakes and creating a safe environment in healthcare organizations is essential for giving the best care to patients. By constantly trying to get better and ensuring patients come first, hospitals can lower the chances of mistakes, ensure medicines are safe, and keep their promise to give excellent care.
References
Gilavand, A., Jafarian, N., & Zarea, K. (2023). Evaluating medication errors in nursing during the COVID-19 pandemic and their relationship with shift work at teaching hospitals: a cross-sectional study in Iran. Frontiers in medicine, 10, 1200686. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2023.1200686
MacDowell, P., Cabri, A., & Davis, M. (2021, March 12). Medication administration errors. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer/medication-administration-errors
Meseret, F., (2023). Incidence and root causes of medication errors by anesthetists: a multicenter web-based survey from 8 teaching hospitals in Ethiopia. 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13037-023-00367-8
Naseralallah, L., Stewart, D., Price, M. J., & Vibhu Paudyal. (2023). Prevalence, contributing factors, and interventions to reduce medication errors in outpatient and ambulatory settings: a systematic review. International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-023-01626-5
World Health Organization. (2023). WHAT IS A MEDICATION ERROR?https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/librariesprovider2/country-sites/medication-error-wpsd-final.pdf?sfvrsn=e5853e2a_1&download=true#:~:text=29%25%20of%20patients%20have%20unintended
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