Professionals like doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and others are well prepared on when to medicate patients. It is important to be familiarized and understand about the pharmacodynamics of the medication. Also, it needs to be understood medication need, how and when to give it, dosage and possible side effects. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, 2009), medication error accounts for 1.3 million injuries each year in the United States due to the wrong drug, dose, timing of administration, or wrong route of administration. Always keep in mind that route of administration varies depending on health conditions.…
Medication errors compromise patient safety. Factors that relate specifically to nursing medication errors include acuity of patients and workload of nurses, distractions, and interruptions that can occur during medication administration. Medication errors underlying causes are inadequate staffing, time restraints, unit atmosphere, and exhaustion. Administering medications is one of numerous responsibilities of a registered nurse and is regularly fraught with disruptions. It was reported that every medication pass was disturbed because of other staff members, absent medications, and further patient care requirements.…
The patient must be given information on the medications they should be taking when the patient is discharged from the hospital. The Rosa Parks Wellness Institute for Senior Health (RP-WISH) created a program that focused on improving the safety of care by making an increased effort to schedule follow-up appointments and medication reconciliation within 1 week of discharge. They wanted to make this program because the RP-WISH office manager wanted clinical pharmacy specialists and inpatient pharmacists to be directly involved with medication reconciliation which they were never part of before. The plan was to help in care transitions in regards to medications by reconciling patients’ home medication use with primary care and hospital records (Liu & Garwood, 2015). They intended to call patients that were discharged home when the pharmacy finds medication-related problems and to intervene to resolve those problems to avoid adverse drug effects.…
This is because there is no clear understanding when the outpatient physician assumes responsibility of the patient. In the event of a complication with medication prescribing or monitoring errors, the patient is more likely to return to the hospital. Bridging the gap between hospital and outpatient physicians would reduce Medicare spending on readmission. Numerous methods to expand transitions of the elderly populations from an inpatient to an outpatient setting have been developed. However, these methods require considerable and continuous commitments from healthcare personnel.…
Of all these medication errors 400,000 of these errors yearly have been reported that they could have been preventable (Hunter, 2011). The advantages of electronic medication administration records are that the five rights of medication administration are verified; when a medication that requires lab work the patient’s lab work will appear allowing the nurse to view the value before administering the medication; warning boxes appear when information does not match, for instance: “medication is for a different patient” (Hunter, 2011). During a study conducted by Karen Hunter published in the Online Journal of Nursing Informatics electronic medication administration records as well as barcoding systems where placed in hospitals. Sixty-two percent of the nurses stated they felt safer using the system and that the system actually prevented them from making a medication error (Hunter,…
Electronic Medication Administration Record and Patient Safety One of the reason medication related deaths occur are due to medication errors (Karen, 2011, p. 1). In fact, within the United States, approximately 7,000 people die each year due to medication errors (Karen, 2011, p. 1). According to Karen (2011) 1.3 million medication errors occur yearly, which relates to several injuries and approximately one death a day related to medication errors in the Unites States (Karen, 2011, p. 1). One major cause of medication errors can be explained using the medication administration process (Mccomas, 2014, p.590). When a health care provider is responsible to administer a medication, there are approximately 50 to 100 steps involved in this process…
Statistics also state that nearly 1% of hospital admissions have an adverse drug event (Runciman, Roughead, Semple, & Adams, 2003)As a graduate nurse looking to continually improve and develop my practice I need to develop strategies that will help me progress towards this goal. This goal will help to prevent some of those adverse drug event and prevent some of the medication admissions entirely. Being in a position that is directly responsible and accountable for the administration of the medications in a lot of the cases means that I need to continually strive to improve and maintain a high level of medication management. I have already mentioned a few strategies that I believe will help me to continually develop those skills to a desired level. familiarising myself with the medication will help to reduce the risk of a medication error slipping through and effecting the patient.…
Physicians who understand how to implement the new detailed practices and help patients manage their illness more efficiently, can help push the changeover more quickly. Furthermore, the physicians and nurses need to have an ability to proficiently help patients manage their own illness; which includes proper medication usage, and help patients navigate throughout the health care system. It is also crucial that all the health professionals recognize the importance of delivering care in a uniform fashion. Additionally, health care professionals need to be committed to following the specific guidelines in order to deliver consistent care to a large number of patients efficiently.…
Medication error is defined by many different things, whether it is administering medication to the wrong patient or giving a patient too much of the medication ordered (Xu, C., 2014, p. 286). All medication errors should be held as an emergency and should always be reported. The use of technology is starting to be used to help minimize the amount of medication errors, but the nurse should not assume that the technology will not make mistakes (Xu, C., 2014, p. 286). The registered nurse should always double check the medication being dispensed is the medication on the written…
Medication reconciliation must be completed by a nurse, physician or pharmacist on admission and discharge to avoid medication discrepancies. Perform medication reconciliation on every patient and if the patient is unsure of the medications they take then contact their caregivers or their pharmacy to obtain an accurate list. Then teach patients how to manage their own medications. Recommend pill boxes or charts for those with memory impairments. Enlist spouses and children to help ensure patients are taking their medications as directed.…
Hospital readmission, a growing health concern, tallied in a whopping $17 B in Medicare cost for unplanned hospitalizations. With a variety of trends that account for the increasing cases of the elderly population at risk for hospital readmission, the authors discuss an in-depth evaluation on why this occurs. Readmission, refers to a return to the hospital after discharge from a recent stay where rates are reported at 30, 60, and 90-day intervals after discharge. Even though the elderly, aged 65 years or older, according to a study conducted in community hospitals and the veterans administration from 1990 - 1993, unfailingly represent the highest rate of hospital readmission compared to other age groups. According to the authors, readmission…
REASON CHIEF COMPLAINT: Re-evaluation initiated; however, patient being discharged. S Patient has no showed for the last two weeks of speech therapy. SLP met him at his room today and he stated he did not want to do speech therapy any longer.…
My preceptor IPPE consisted of visits to Sanford Hospital’s cardiology floor where I got to shadow Dr. Kirsten Johnson. My first experience occurred on October 6, 2016 from 0800 – 1100, and the second work period was October 20, 2016 from 1630 – 1930. I enjoyed each visit to the hospital and felt very welcomed by Dr. Johnson. The only hospital setting experience I had was my IPPE II at Avera Queen of Peace in Mitchell, SD.…
Medication Reconciliation in the Hospital Setting The transition of patients from an acute care setting to a home setting is often challenging and stressful. It can be complex for the patient to understand the instructions for discharge and, more importantly, it can be challenging and dangerous when it comes to ensuring the patient understands the medication reconciliation process. Successful transition to home is multifaceted and depends partially on an accurate and complete overview of all medications with the patient. This is an imperative safety measure across the continuum of care (Ruggiero, Smith, Copeland, Boxer, 2015).…
Be mindful of look-a-like or sound-a-like drugs. Hospitals should use commercially available products to decrease the need for iv compounding medications and iv mixing. For a nurse who makes a medication error, consequences may include disciplinary action by the state board of nursing, job dismissal , mental anguish, and possible civil or criminal charges. To safeguard against medication errors, be conscientious about performing the six rights of medication…