Abstract
Bar-code medication administration (BCMA) was implemented by the FDA in 2004 as an effort to reduce medication errors. This would require every patient and medication to have a bar-code. To ensure the five rights of medication administration, the nurse would scan the patient’s wristband and then scan the medication. This allows the computer to pull up the patient’s electronic medical chart and verify the drug.
This piece explores BCMA reception by nurses, the effectiveness of the new process, and some of the problems that have arisen. Working with the devices and listening to the nurses will help with confidence in switching from paper-charting to electronic. Integrating this new technology into the medical field will require careful …show more content…
Although some nursing errors cause no harm, as many as 400,000 patients die annually in hospitals from fatal but preventable mishaps (James, 2013). In efforts to decrease these problems, on April 4, 2004 the FDA ruled in favor of making bar-code wristbands mandatory for medication administration. By using these bar-code wristbands patients admitted to the hospital are directly linked to their medical records. Nurses are able to scan the bracelet and open the computerized record with all of the patient’s prescribed drugs, allergies, etc. This system includes a safety setting that matches the scanned drug with the patient’s medical record to ensure that the correct drug is administered in a safe dosage through the proper route at the correct time. If any of the information is incorrect, the computer will send out a warning message saying the wrong drug has been scanned or allow the medication to be administered. After the drug has been administered correctly, it is documented into the patients chart …show more content…
These nurses had previously charted all medications without computer assistance. Initially, the study showed nurse dissatisfaction four months prior to BCMA, but six months after there was a 42% improvement in satisfaction (2003). This was probably because of nurse resistance to change their processes. Nurse satisfaction is crucial to the wellbeing and care of patients. Although there has been inconclusive evidence of dissatisfaction among nurses using BCMA, the fact that nurses are finding work-arounds does raise concern. If nurses are unsatisfied and do not trust the new system, medication errors are going to continue to
Bar-code medication administration (BCMA) was implemented by the FDA in 2004 as an effort to reduce medication errors. This would require every patient and medication to have a bar-code. To ensure the five rights of medication administration, the nurse would scan the patient’s wristband and then scan the medication. This allows the computer to pull up the patient’s electronic medical chart and verify the drug.
This piece explores BCMA reception by nurses, the effectiveness of the new process, and some of the problems that have arisen. Working with the devices and listening to the nurses will help with confidence in switching from paper-charting to electronic. Integrating this new technology into the medical field will require careful …show more content…
Although some nursing errors cause no harm, as many as 400,000 patients die annually in hospitals from fatal but preventable mishaps (James, 2013). In efforts to decrease these problems, on April 4, 2004 the FDA ruled in favor of making bar-code wristbands mandatory for medication administration. By using these bar-code wristbands patients admitted to the hospital are directly linked to their medical records. Nurses are able to scan the bracelet and open the computerized record with all of the patient’s prescribed drugs, allergies, etc. This system includes a safety setting that matches the scanned drug with the patient’s medical record to ensure that the correct drug is administered in a safe dosage through the proper route at the correct time. If any of the information is incorrect, the computer will send out a warning message saying the wrong drug has been scanned or allow the medication to be administered. After the drug has been administered correctly, it is documented into the patients chart …show more content…
These nurses had previously charted all medications without computer assistance. Initially, the study showed nurse dissatisfaction four months prior to BCMA, but six months after there was a 42% improvement in satisfaction (2003). This was probably because of nurse resistance to change their processes. Nurse satisfaction is crucial to the wellbeing and care of patients. Although there has been inconclusive evidence of dissatisfaction among nurses using BCMA, the fact that nurses are finding work-arounds does raise concern. If nurses are unsatisfied and do not trust the new system, medication errors are going to continue to