Medication Errors Research Paper
Medication errors are made time and time again by health care professionals all around the world. Although these errors are accidental they can be life-threatening. There are several types of medication errors that can occur, such as prescribing errors, transcription errors, dispensing errors, administration errors, and monitoring errors (Clayton and Willihnganz, p. 73). In this reading, it will specifically talk about an administration error and how it ended the life of a mother-of-four. Arsula Samson died of a heart attack after her nurse overdosed her with potassium chloride. Samson came to the hospital for pneumonia. While there she had been prescribed potassium chloride. Her nurse, Lisa Sparrow, “… pumper her with 50 mL of the drug over
half an hour instead of over five hours… Instead of pressing the 10 mL per hour bottom, the nurse admitted to tapping 100 mL per hour on the drug infusion pump” (Daily Mail Report). Sparrow told authorities that no one oversaw her give the drug and that she did not expect the other nurse on duty to watch her administer the drug because “… ‘no-one ever did’” (Daily Mail Report). After the lethal dose of potassium chloride was given Samson had a heart attack and “… a potassium blood reading of 7.4, much higher than the norm of 4.5, which can cause heart problems… investigators ruled the death was due to ‘individual, human error’” (Daily Mail Report). Sparrow received “… a verdict of accidental death to which neglect contributed” (Daily Mail Report). She continued to work and Samson’s daughters were furious.
In the author Rebecca’s opinion, there were a several things that went wrong that could have easily prevented the death of Samson. First, Sparrow was not practicing medication safety. Second, nurse Sparrow was not knowledgeable about potassium chloride dosages or its effects if given too much. Third, she did not have the other nurse on duty double check the dosage and watch her administer the drug. Sparrow made careless mistakes that could have easily prevented the death of Samson.
This article has a huge impact on nursing because it deals with the safety issues of medication administration. It is extremely important that health care professionals remember how cautious they must be when administering medications to their patients. Since there are so many mediation errors made by health care professionals there have been rules and technology put into place to help prevent and minimize medication errors.
Rules include the seven rights of drug administration which are right drug, right indication, right time, right dose, right patient, right route, and right documentation. Another rule when administering mediation is the two patient identifiers. The two patient identifiers include asking the patient to state their name and birthday.
Technology includes individual prescription order system, unit-dose system, and the computer-controlled dispensing system or pyxis system. For example, the computer-controlled dispensing system or pyxis system uses bar codes. The nurse must scan her badge, the patient’s identification bracelet, and the medication being administered with the bar code. “If there is an error (e.g., wrong dose, wrong time of administration, wrong patient), an alert will pop up on the computer and the user is unable to continue until the error is corrected” (Clayton and Willihnganz, pp. 68- 69).
In conclusion, medication administration errors occur more often than they should. They can cause serious side effects and even result in death such as with Samson. As a nurse, it is important to be responsible and knowledgeable for the safety and wellbeing of your patients while administering their medications.
half an hour instead of over five hours… Instead of pressing the 10 mL per hour bottom, the nurse admitted to tapping 100 mL per hour on the drug infusion pump” (Daily Mail Report). Sparrow told authorities that no one oversaw her give the drug and that she did not expect the other nurse on duty to watch her administer the drug because “… ‘no-one ever did’” (Daily Mail Report). After the lethal dose of potassium chloride was given Samson had a heart attack and “… a potassium blood reading of 7.4, much higher than the norm of 4.5, which can cause heart problems… investigators ruled the death was due to ‘individual, human error’” (Daily Mail Report). Sparrow received “… a verdict of accidental death to which neglect contributed” (Daily Mail Report). She continued to work and Samson’s daughters were furious.
In the author Rebecca’s opinion, there were a several things that went wrong that could have easily prevented the death of Samson. First, Sparrow was not practicing medication safety. Second, nurse Sparrow was not knowledgeable about potassium chloride dosages or its effects if given too much. Third, she did not have the other nurse on duty double check the dosage and watch her administer the drug. Sparrow made careless mistakes that could have easily prevented the death of Samson.
This article has a huge impact on nursing because it deals with the safety issues of medication administration. It is extremely important that health care professionals remember how cautious they must be when administering medications to their patients. Since there are so many mediation errors made by health care professionals there have been rules and technology put into place to help prevent and minimize medication errors.
Rules include the seven rights of drug administration which are right drug, right indication, right time, right dose, right patient, right route, and right documentation. Another rule when administering mediation is the two patient identifiers. The two patient identifiers include asking the patient to state their name and birthday.
Technology includes individual prescription order system, unit-dose system, and the computer-controlled dispensing system or pyxis system. For example, the computer-controlled dispensing system or pyxis system uses bar codes. The nurse must scan her badge, the patient’s identification bracelet, and the medication being administered with the bar code. “If there is an error (e.g., wrong dose, wrong time of administration, wrong patient), an alert will pop up on the computer and the user is unable to continue until the error is corrected” (Clayton and Willihnganz, pp. 68- 69).
In conclusion, medication administration errors occur more often than they should. They can cause serious side effects and even result in death such as with Samson. As a nurse, it is important to be responsible and knowledgeable for the safety and wellbeing of your patients while administering their medications.