Errors In Patient Care Delivery

The incidence of medication errors and their consequences on the quality of patient care delivery has been catching the attention of many. According to Flanders & Clark, 2010, “an average of 450,000 preventable medication errors are reported each year from the USA” (as cited in Hayes, Jackson, Davidson, & Power, 2015). As we go thru the daily routine at work, that includes passing medications, we tend to lose our focus and neglect to follow the step established to prevent us from making errors. We sometimes get distracted by a talkative patient or coworker. As a psychiatric nurse, this time is very challenging and stressful. Can you focus when your manic patient just keep on repeating the same thing over and over? Or when your psychotic patient is getting agitated or start fighting with you or another patient? Often we have to stop in the middle of medications pass and attend to other patient’s needs. All of those distractions are the main reason errors happened. …show more content…
2009, Westbrook et al. , 2010, “interruption or distraction of the administering nurse during the process of managing the six rights of MA has been widely acknowledged as a leading cause of error” (as cited in Hayes, Jackson, Davidson, & Power, 2015). No matter how chaotic the situation might be, nurses need to use their critical thinking at all times and analyze what is more important. If it’s not a death and life situation, I usually ask politely to my patients to pay attention and to wait until we are done with medication administration. It is also critical not to administer medications in a rush. Teaching and questioning patients about the medications they are taking are usually helpful and will help prevent errors. I have learned to always stop and listen to patients about their medications (Hayes, et. al,