Topic 3-Medication Errors
A medication error refers to a preventable adverse consequence of a patient who takes the wrong dosage or medication. Such errors have grave consequences, including the possibility of the death of a patient. Medication errors are often attributed to poor communication between physicians and physician burnout. The high number of patients affected by medical errors and the severe impact it can have on associated healthcare workers and the healthcare organization, in general, has triggered my interest in this topic. I have observed various medical errors in my unit, and some of them have resulted in a lawsuit that cost the organization thousands of dollars, whereas others resulted in the laying off of some healthcare workers. This shows the seriousness of the issue and the importance of addressing it.
Tariq, R. A., Vashisht, R., & Scherbak, Y. (2020). Medication errors. StatPearls. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519065/
This article outlines the definition, types, causes, and solutions to medication errors. The authors claim that approximately 9000 individuals in the US die as a result of medication errors, whereas hundreds of thousands experience adverse effects and complications from medication errors but fail to report. The article highlights the high cost of such errors, claiming that over $40 billion can be lost to medication errors, and over 7 million patients are affected annually. Such errors also result in major physical and psychological suffering and pain for patients and result in reduced patient satisfaction and increased distrust for the health care system. The major causes of medication errors have been cited as poor communication drug orders, wrong drug selection, confusion over drugs with similar names, illegible handwriting, and human errors such as distractions and poor communication. This article will be highly essential as it outlines all the relevant issues that will be discussed regarding medication errors.
Hayes, C., Jackson, D., Davidson, P. M., & Power, T. (2016). Medication errors in hospitals: a literature review of disruptions to nursing practice during medication administration. Journal of clinical nursing, 24(21-22), 3063-3076. doi: 10.1111/jocn.12944
This article explores the issue of distractions and interruptions and their effect on medication administration. Twenty percent of all medication administrations are said to lead to errors, resulting in prolonged hospital stays, patient mortality, readmissions, emotional distress for the patient, and post-discharge disability. Medication errors are most likely to occur during medication administration but could also occur during transcription, prescription, dispensing, and documentation. The authors claim that interruptions to medication administration are considered the major cause of medication error. Some of the interruptions have been considered unavoidable, hence the need for proper education and training on managing such interruptions, particularly among undergraduate nurses. The article will be useful to the topic as it can help inform clinical practice, especially for nurses who spend about 16 to 40 percent of their time administering medication. By better preparing nurses to safely administer medication in the clinical environment with heightened confidence during interruptions, there is the possibility of lessening errors and improving patient safety.
Prgomet, M., Li, L., Niazkhani, Z., Georgiou, A., & Westbrook, J. I. (2017). Impact of commercial computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) on medication errors, length of stay, and mortality in intensive care units: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 24(2), 413-422. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocw145
This article introduces technologies that can be used to lessen medication errors in hospitals. The article specifies the need to use such technologies in highly complex and critical units such as the intensive care unit. Compared to general wards, medication errors in the ICU are likely to cause more adverse and highly severe patient outcomes. Clinical decision support systems and computerized provider order entry are some of the technologies that can be used to minimize medication errors. Barcoding and automated medication administration records can also help lessen medication errors. These technologies can also help lessen the length of stay, reduce patient mortality and other adverse effects from medication errors. Implementation of such technologies should be done with care, and proper training needs to be administered to ensure proper use and prevent further preventable and more complicated errors. This article will be useful as it will help determine new technologies that can assist healthcare organizations in minimizing medication errors and the associated costs.
References
Hayes, C., Jackson, D., Davidson, P. M., & Power, T. (2016). Medication errors in hospitals: a literature review of disruptions to nursing practice during medication administration. Journal of clinical nursing, 24(21-22), 3063-3076. doi: 10.1111/jocn.12944
Prgomet, M., Li, L., Niazkhani, Z., Georgiou, A., & Westbrook, J. I. (2017). Impact of commercial computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) on medication errors, length of stay, and mortality in intensive care units: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 24(2), 413-422. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocw145
Tariq, R. A., Vashisht, R., & Scherbak, Y. (2020). Medication errors. StatPearls. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519065/
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Question 
Topic 3-Medication Errors
- Outline/introduction of Medication Errors
- Summarize the health care problem or issue.
- Describe your interest in the topic.
- Describe any professional experience you have with this topic.
- Annotated bibliography
- Identify the purpose of the article.
- Summarize the information.
- Provide rationale for inclusion of each article.
Topic 3-Medication Errors
- Include the conclusions and findings of the article.
- Write your annotated bibliography in a paragraph form. The annotated bibliography should be approximately 150 words (1–3 paragraphs) in length.
