Medication error

Medication error

Medication error is one of the safety quality issues in a healthcare setting that causes unintended harm to the patient’s safety. According to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention, a medication error is defined as any event that causes patient harm or inappropriate medication use during a time when a healthcare professional, family or patient is in full control of the medication. Despite being acknowledged across different healthcare disciplines, no universal agreement has been made among the disciplines on the approaches that can be used to mitigate medication errors in the clinical setting. Even in the best of circumstances, medication errors are inevitable due to the series of events required during medication administration, including activities of the monitoring and administering nurse, the dispensing pharmacist, and the prescribing physician. Given the seriousness and prevalence of medication errors, the need to identify best-practice and evidence-based solutions to mitigate medication error cannot be overemphasized.

Several studies have been conducted which have identified the various risk factors that increase the chances of medication error in a healthcare setting. Human factors have been identified as the dominant causal factor of medication errors in the clinical setting. Some studies have revealed some medication errors occur as a result of age, increasing number of medications, and specific medication for particular diseases (World Health Organization, 2016). The risk factors that contribute to medication errors can be classified into different categories, including those associated with the medical professional, the patient, the clinical setting, and the medicines. Under each category, numerous aspects contribute to the specific risk factor.

Obua (2019) postulates that although some healthcare professionals are certified, lack of therapeutic training and experience and knowledge relating to drugs has been identified as a prevalent factor that contributes to medication errors. Additionally, fatigue, emotional and physical health issues, poor communication, and inadequate perception of the risk have been identified as some of the risk factors falling under healthcare professionals that might risk the safety and health of the patient. Risk factors associated with the working environment, such as interruptions and distraction of the healthcare practitioner by both the patient and work colleagues is a common element that has contributed to medication errors in the healthcare (Rodziewicz & Hipskind, 2019). Whenever the healthcare professional is distracted while administering a dosage or performing critical procedures, they might end up causing errors since the working environment is not conducive. Time and workload pressure on the clinical officers is another factor that has significantly contributed to significant medication errors in the hospital.

On the other hand, patients have also significantly contributed to the increase in medication errors. For example, patient characteristics such as personality and literacy might hinder the medication process leading to errors. Language barrier between the medical professional and the patient leads to poor communication, which results in errors during the medication process (Series, 2018). Furthermore, complexities of the clinical case associated with the patient, including polypharmacy, several health conditions, and high-risk medications, have been identified as immediate risk factors that contribute to medication errors. Despite the working environment, the healthcare professional, and the patient being identified as primary contributors to medication errors, the packaging, labeling, and naming of the medicines is also another element that has contributed to wrong prescriptions of drugs (Rodziewicz & Hipskind, 2019). If one medication is stored in a container labeled the name of another different medicine, the probability of wrong prescription is higher.

One of the approaches for mitigating the challenge of medication error is through building a just culture environment in the healthcare setting. Healthcare organizations should eliminate the culture of shame, blame, and punishment whenever a medication error occurs in a medical facility and promote a culture that reduces anxiety and provides psychological safety to the practitioners when discussing medication errors (Obua, 2019). The management should address the issue by committing resources and personnel to build a safer and better system geared towards enhancing the safety and quality of patient care. Another significant error related to medication error is product packaging.

Consequently, another strategy that can be used to reduce the likelihood of this error is by conducting double checks of the medicines before administering them to the patient to identify any potential error and rectifying them in advance (Series, 2018). Also, creating product differentiation by purchasing the products from multiple manufacturers will aid in reducing the likelihood of medication errors. On the other hand, conducting educational programs is another technique that can help reduce the prevalence of medication errors in a clinical setting. Lack of experience and knowledge has been closely linked with medication errors in the healthcare setting, therefore, prompting the need to develop educational programs that educate both the healthcare professionals as well as the patient of different issues regarding medication errors.

Care coordination is one of the numerous roles assigned to nurses in any healthcare setting to reduce cost and enhance patient safety. Typically, care coordination entails sharing relevant information to the parties concerned with the care of the patient and organizing patient care to achieve more effective and safer care. Nurses play an essential role in care coordination, making them significant stakeholders. One of the approaches that nurses use to enhance care coordination is to assess the goals and needs of the patient and support the patient’s self-management goals. According to the World Health Organization (2016), nurses can monitor the patient’s recovery process and conduct follow-ups that will include responding to changes in patient needs, thus enhancing care coordination. Monitoring changes and conducting follow-ups is vital in ensuring the safety of the patient is enhanced.

Addressing the issue of medication error can impact several potential stakeholders in the healthcare setting who are concerned by the problem since it directly affects them. For example, medical directors who are mandated with the role of providing leadership and guidance on medicine use in healthcare organizations will need to cooperate with the nurses to drive safety enhancement. On the other hand, medical assistants, physicians, and pharmacists also need to work closely with nurses in the healthcare setting to ensure the patient’s safety is given priority and enhanced (Obua, 2019). Patients and the patient family also need to work closely with nurses to ensure that medication errors are limited and mitigated in healthcare. All the stakeholders need to provide the necessary information required and enhance collaboration and teamwork as a strategy of addressing medication errors.

In conclusion, medication error is one of the healthcare issues that has contributed to increasing numbers of unintended deaths. However, the problem can be solved using different best-practice and evidence-based solutions such as providing educational programs to healthcare practitioners and the patients, purchasing products from various manufacturers to prevent packaging errors, and conducting double checks. Some of the factors that lead to medication errors include lack of knowledge and experience, time and workload pressure, fatigue, emotional and physical health issues, poor communication, and inadequate perception of the risk, among other factors. Nevertheless, nurses can enhance quality improvement in the setting through care coordination, which involves assessing the goals and needs of the patient and supporting the patient’s self-management goal and monitoring the recovery process of the patient and conduct follow-ups.