Medication Errors Research Paper
Prevention of Medication Errors
Medication administration is one of the highest risks in health care, and the errors can occur in many ways. Medication errors occur at points of transition in care: admission to the hospital, transfer from department to another, and at discharge home or to another facility (Taylor, Lillis, & LeMone, 2015). It is at these times we see the greatest room for errors from communication between other departments and facilities. In 1999, medication errors were the 8th leading cause of death in the United States (Keane, 2014). It is the job of the nurse to promote health, prevent illness, and achieve optimal recovery by administering medications; and it is this process that can also cause injuries and death to these …show more content…
Medication errors can lengthen hospital stays and increase the expenses for the patient and hospital. Each error can cost around $2,000 to $8,750 (Anderson & Townsend, 2015). These errors can occur when nurses don’t check to see if they have the right drug, patient, time, dosage, route, and documentation. These are considered the six rights of medication administration. Following these six rights of drug administration is essential to the safety and accuracy of drug administration. Failure to do so can result in the nurse making an error that could have been …show more content…
There are four drug classes associated as high-alert medications-anticoagulants, sedatives, insulin, and opioids. With such high risks involved with the medications, independent double checks are used to ensure safe administration of the HAMs. With the use of independent double-checks, 95% of errors can be prevented before the meds are administered (Anderson & Townsend, 2015). An independent double-check requires a second nurse to verify the patient, drug, dosage, and route are all correct. It is also vital to limit interruptions during administration. According to Anderson and Townsend (2015), “the chance of making a medication error increased 12% with each interruption during a single administration episode” (p. 21). Isolating yourself from others while collecting meds and placing warning signs around medications carts about not interrupting the nurse can prevent
Medication administration is one of the highest risks in health care, and the errors can occur in many ways. Medication errors occur at points of transition in care: admission to the hospital, transfer from department to another, and at discharge home or to another facility (Taylor, Lillis, & LeMone, 2015). It is at these times we see the greatest room for errors from communication between other departments and facilities. In 1999, medication errors were the 8th leading cause of death in the United States (Keane, 2014). It is the job of the nurse to promote health, prevent illness, and achieve optimal recovery by administering medications; and it is this process that can also cause injuries and death to these …show more content…
Medication errors can lengthen hospital stays and increase the expenses for the patient and hospital. Each error can cost around $2,000 to $8,750 (Anderson & Townsend, 2015). These errors can occur when nurses don’t check to see if they have the right drug, patient, time, dosage, route, and documentation. These are considered the six rights of medication administration. Following these six rights of drug administration is essential to the safety and accuracy of drug administration. Failure to do so can result in the nurse making an error that could have been …show more content…
There are four drug classes associated as high-alert medications-anticoagulants, sedatives, insulin, and opioids. With such high risks involved with the medications, independent double checks are used to ensure safe administration of the HAMs. With the use of independent double-checks, 95% of errors can be prevented before the meds are administered (Anderson & Townsend, 2015). An independent double-check requires a second nurse to verify the patient, drug, dosage, and route are all correct. It is also vital to limit interruptions during administration. According to Anderson and Townsend (2015), “the chance of making a medication error increased 12% with each interruption during a single administration episode” (p. 21). Isolating yourself from others while collecting meds and placing warning signs around medications carts about not interrupting the nurse can prevent