Administration of medication is an important clinical practice that entails providing the patient with the right drugs and advice on dosage. It is this process that determines what the patient gains from medication. On the contrary, this may be hazardous if wrong medication is administered. Administering medication takes into account availability of drugs, mode of administration and precautions required in place while the process is in progress among others (Reason, 1990, p.26).
Culture and Environment of Safety When Preparing and Administering Medications
Nurses have the core responsibility to administer medications. However, other medical practitioners are involved in the treatment process and caution is required to ensure there are no chances of error through the entire process. In the culture and environment of safety, the medication process should take into consideration the reduction of errors and enhancing safety. This is done into consideration of the five ‘R’s as prescribed by the National Prescribing Centre’s framework (NPC) in 2012. These are the right to refuse, knowledge and understanding, right questions, right answers and the right advice (Bates, 2007, p.5).
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Breach of Medication Administration
Breach of medication administration takes different perspectives. It may result from having the wrong prescription, wrong dosage, frequency of administration or failure to follow the prescribed dosage or medication process. The medical doctor offering treatment needs to have a full understanding of the patient’s condition before administering treatment. Through collaboration of the patient, the doctor looks into the health history of the patient, considers the prevailing symptoms and other features of the patient to prescribe a reliable medication (Reason, 1990, p.49). The pharmacist is responsible of providing the patient with the medication as prescribed by the doctor. Drugs offered should be in the right state, well stored and in the right quantity. The nurse has the final responsibility of administering the medication as prescribed. Failure in any of these process results in breach of medical administration and this may be fatal to the patient.
Factors That Lead To Errors in Documentation Related To Medical Administration
There are three main errors that may occur in administration of medication documentation and this is dangerous if the errors are not detected. Human errors occur in documentation of medical administration. This may result from poor communication by the doctors or any of the parties involved. Poor training of doctors and poor handwriting may also compromise the quality of documentation (Bates, 2007, p.7).
Medical administration is a process that uses systems. Faults in the systems may also lead to errors in documentation. Inadequate facilities lead to poor functioning of the systems and this leads to errors. Poor training of the staff on systems in use is also a factor that brings in the risk of errors. Through the system process, there should also be appropriate channels and teamwork and any breakdown pose the risk of resulting errors.
Finally, there are environmental errors that affect documentation of medical administration. Inadequate staffs, congestion within the health facility, poor lighting and amenities within the medical facility are some of the environmental factors that may lead to errors (Armitage, 2008, p1).
Prevention of Medical Errors
Having the right management of the health facility is the key solution that reduces cases of medical errors. This should ensure there are adequate staff and facilities within the organization. Supply and storage of drugs should be done accordingly to ensure there is available stock to ensure all patients gain access to the kind of medication deserved. Staff at all levels should receive regular training on the changing modalities in administration of medications and in such way ensure they are conversant with new and existing medication options at all times (Armitage, 2008, p.1).
References
Armitage, G. (2008). How do we reduce drug errors? Retrieved from: www.nursingtimes.net/how-do-we-reduce-drug-errors/524579 .
Bates, D. (2007). Preventing medication errors: A summary. Am J Health Syst Pharm , 64(14), 3–9.
Reason, J. (1990). Human error . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
