Current Medication Administration Workflow
One of the major problems and erred modern mal administration established in the medical-surgical units of my hospital are the constant interruptions and distractions that occur when nurses are in the midst of administering medications to patients. The episodic nature of the current workflow leaves plenty of opportunities for disruptions to take place at various stages, derailing the concentration of the nurse.
The procedure commences with medication orders mounted by the nurse for each patient allocated to them at the commencement of any shift. The orders may be either outrider drugs or repeat regular continuing medications. Then, the nurse has to prepare and organize prescribed medications for administration at appropriate periodic time intervals. This includes the availability of supplies, correct dosages, preparation of oral medications and IV drugs, and as well as their good arrangement by the patient. Such preparation typically takes place at a nurse station area.
There are a number of sources of interruptions during medication preparation, phone calls about patient queries, call lights and requests from patients, questions from families in the nurses’ station, pages or messages about new orders or lab results, pulled away for other patient care tasks, monitoring equipment alarms, loud noises and conversations in shared work areas that are some of the significant types (Hanson & Haddad, 2022). By breaking the concentration repeatedly
Also, the medication administration at patient bedsides involves constant interruptions. At the same time, nurses walk in the hallways towards the room of patients. During administration, families can converse with nurses. Call lights and monitors for other patients disturb focus even more. Other staff members may also call the nurse away to attend to another patient who is considered to be in a life-threatening situation, leading to aggravation of the need for help.
All these interruptions and distractions that are majorly clinically necessary derail from the train of thought of the nurse and ability to concentrate fully on safe medication verification, dosage checks, and so on the evaluation of the patient’s reaction after giving (Hanson & Haddad, 2022). This may pose a risk for admin oversights or catching errors before they latch onto patients. It also often postpones the timely ability to administer medications within their administration time frame. Patients go without appropriate medication for extended periods, which can affect either the effectiveness or therapeutic approach.
Proposed Improved Medication Administration Workflow
In order to improve the safety and efficiency in the administration of medications, I recommend the implementation of a designated quiet zone around the area for the preparation of medication clearly marked and, furthermore, the secure administration of medications in each unit. The improved workflow is shown below:
The designating of the quiet zones and protected admin times has resulted in the minimizing of the interruptions thus helping the nurses to concentrate on the preparation and administration stages without any breaks. This will minimize the risk of errors as well as enable early detection of errors before administration to the patient. It also dishes out medications with regularity so as to deliver the drugs at the right time as per the schedule.
Impact on Healthcare/Hospital Design
Workflow mapping allows for the simplification of complex healthcare processes through revolves in order to allow for a better understanding from beginning to end. Visualizing workflows enables the identification of redundant elements, improved inefficiency steps, and chances for betterment (Techie-Menson et al., 2020). Maps also support better designs of optimal hospitals and care units by showing the best process flows of activities such as medication administration and patient transport routes. Ensuring that workspaces and layouts meet the clinical workflows will improve nursing productivity as well as satisfaction (Techie-Menson et al., 2020). Workflow mapping should be part of the usual healthcare planning and technology implementations for the benefit of the patient and the success of the planned move.
References
Hanson, A., & Haddad, L. M. (2022). Nursing rights of medication administration. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560654/
Techie-Menson, H., Essel, D. D., Bada, G. K., & Adablanu, S. (2022). Fast-tracking Healthcare Services for Students through the Design of a Hospital Information System. JEP, 13(23).https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Henry-Techie-Menson/publication/363370712_Fast-tracking_Healthcare_Services_for_Students_through_the_Design_of_a_Hospital_Information_System/links/6319f3bd70cc936cd3f1dca5/Fast-tracking-Healthcare-Services-for-Students-through-the-Design-of-a-Hospital-Information-System.pdf
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