Nursing Drug Shortage Research Paper

Nursing Drug Shortages
Kristen Lawton
Nursing 531
March 18 2013
Annette Margaret

Nursing Drug Shortages
Drug shortages have become a hardship for hospitals and pharmacies across the country. This hardship has been felt especially by nursing personnel who have voiced their concerns regarding patient safety and medication management. “One factor contributing to patient safety concerns arises when a substitute drug must be used in place of the customary product and requires dosage strength or dosage form - the need for those adjustments may heighten the risk for errors”. (Alspash, February 2012) The American Hospital Association has been surveying hospitals across the country to try and gather what other issues health care providers are
Emergency rooms and doctor 's offices were at times overwhelmed by the numbers of patients, especially children, with flu symptoms, including dangerously high fevers, nausea, vomiting and dehydration. The deaths of twenty children are unacceptable and as the Director of a moderate sized Emergency Department I believe that the numbers have probably not peaked yet. Adding insult to injury there have been hard to confirm rumors of flu vaccine shortage, but more importantly, according to an article in the Huffington Post on January 10, 2013, " this year 's early and potentially severe flu season has created shortages of the children 's formulation of the leading treatment (Tamiflu) and most forms of the top-selling U.S. vaccine, according to their manufacturers". Tamiflu is marketed as " a prescription medicine used to treat the flu (influenza) in people 2 weeks of age and older who have had flu symptoms for no more than 2 days. The shortage of such an important drug as Tamiflu could have and should have been prevented. Most health care professionals, hospitals and pharmaceutical manufacturers were warned early on that this year 's flu could be very dangerous. The public was advised to "get your flu vaccine early" with news broadcasts, television ads and posters distributed throughout the medical industry - doctors ' office, emergency rooms etc. And yet, the ball was dropped not only by parents and pediatricians but by the makers
In 2011 President Obama issued an executive order requiring that drug companies alert the FDA of imminent drug supply shortages. This order was a direct result of many cancer coalitions coming together in respect to the projected loss of life directly related to this shortage. Hospitals and doctors ' offices are the first line of defense in any epidemic. The Emergency Department and the Primary Medical Doctors see that the flu season has begun early and that the number of patients, especially children, has started to increase and if the medical professionals communicated with the drug manufacturers more effectively and IF the drug manufacturers made sure they have the components for increased production on hand then a shortage could be handled more efficiently and in a more timely manner. As usual poor communication creates the "emergency" situation and better communication would be an invaluable tool of prevention of the situation. As with any consumer product supply and demand are the keys to success, so those of us in the know - medical professionals communicate the demand to the manufacturers and the manufacturers deliver the supply whether Tamiflu or any other medically necessary drug needed in today 's healthcare market. In the end together we save