Preventing Healthcare Medication Errors: The Role of the Nurse

Medication administration errors occur with frightening frequency in the world of healthcare. However, the implementation of new safeguards and guidelines for medication administration can reduce the number of annual mistakes.

An article issued by the Institute of Medicine, “Preventing Medication Errors,” includes four primary suggestions to reduce errors. The first suggestion includes the involvement and education of patients in their healthcare plan, especially in regards to their medication in terms of side effects, adverse effects, contraindications, and how to handle unavoidable side effects. The second suggestion promotes the utilization of technology to reduce prescription errors. Too often, prescriptions are misread for a number of reasons, including illegible handwriting. The Institute recommends using up-to-date technology to input medication orders, such as the name of the medication, dosage, and route. The third suggests improving the packaging and labeling of medications. There is a multitude of drugs that look almost identical. For example, two drugs can both be clear liquids in the same size single-dose vials labeled in minutely different shades of blue. In emergencies or even simply during a long shift, a nurse might grab the wrong vial, which could lead to a fatal accident. The last suggestion encourages everyone to make a concerted effort to reduce medication administration errors ––from the federal government to accreditation agencies, to nurses and doctors. These suggestions all stem from research on common reasons errors occur and studies have already shown beneficial results.

Nurses do not cause all medication errors. Errors can occur in any part of the process ––from the doctor’s prescription, to the pharmacy filling the correct prescription, to the nurse administering the correct dose. However, I do believe that nurses are the last line of defense for patients because they directly administer the drugs. Still, everyone involved is responsible for preventing these avoidable medication errors and to ensure optimal recoveries.

Reference

(2006). Preventing medication errors. Institute of Medicine, Retrieved from http://www.iom.edu/~/media/Files/Report Files/2006/Preventing-Medication-Errors-Quality-Chasm-Series/medicationerrorsnew.pdf