Introduction
Healthcare facilities aim at offering the best services to their clients, who are patients. Patients believe that they will receive quality services from hospitals. However, medication errors happen (Choo, Hutchinson & Bucknall, 2010). These errors threaten patient safety in healthcare industry. If the errors are so rampant, then patients are at risk of losing their lives. This essay will analyze medication errors that threaten patient safety. It will also propose protective measures that should be adopted to promote patient safety.
Body
It has been reported that, on average, a patient experiences at least one medication error annually in the U.S. However, 4% of inpatients are subjected to medication errors (Athanasakis, 2012). The outcome of continuous medication errors is huge financial costs incurred by patient and hospitals, and high morbidity. It has been found that medication errors in the United States of America result in 7000 mortality cases annually (Athanasakis, 2012). On average, the probability of medication errors resulting in death is 0.1%. The nursing profession is important in promoting patient safety in all healthcare facilities worldwide. The medication errors by nurses are related to wrong administration of doses, wrong calculation of dosing and low level of nursing education. Nurse training is essential for administration of medication to patients. The education ensures that they are exposed to real world situations where they familiarize themselves with dosing preparations and administration. Also, poor collaboration in a healthcare facility among nurses and poor supervision by the manager nurses result in medication errors (Athanasakis, 2012). It has been said that nurses who work without being supervised may make medication errors either knowingly or unknowingly (R. Kate, personal communication, September 5, 2013).
Patient ignorance and level of education have been cited as sources of medication errors in the healthcare industry. Patients who are not able to read and strictly follow their prescriptions are at high risk of encountering medication errors. Such patients may overdose themselves, resulting in pharmacological adverse effects. Patients may also take amounts of medication below the required ones, resulting in deterioration in their health. Patients who self-prescribe their medication are at risk of experiencing medication errors that will influence their therapy (Gridina, 2013).
Healthcare administrators need to understand the sources of medication errors so that they can put in place protective measures. Computerized medication systems have been introduced into healthcare facilities. The systems reduce errors in preparation of dosing and dosing calculations. However, for such systems to work, nurses have to be involved in their design because they will be the end-users. This way, they will fully understand how they work and ensure that there are no medication errors encountered by patients. Nurse education will also go a long way to ensuring that nurses have the right knowledge and practical skills in providing medication to patients. According to Choo et al., (2012) “competent medication administration requires that nurses are able to assess the appropriateness of the medication for a particular patient” (p. 854). Patients also need to be educated on the demerits of self-medication and importance of following prescriptions.
Conclusion
This essay has discussed the medication errors that interfere with patient safety. Among these are poor dosing preparation and administration, ignorant patients and low nurse education. The outcomes of the medication errors are huge costs and deaths. Finally, the essay has proposed protective measures to promote patient safety.
References
Athanasakis, E. (2012).Prevention of medication errors made by nurses in clinical practice. Health Science Journal, 6(4), 773-783.
Choo, J., Hutchinson, A., & Bucknall, T. (2010). Nurses’ role in medication safety. Journal of Nursing Management, 18(7), 853-861.
Gridina, R. (2013). AACN Kicks off the 2013 Fall Faculty Webinar Series on September 11!