Medication Errors - Prevention and Treatment

Running head: MEDICATION ERRORS 1 

Medication Errors 

Nursing requires impeccable service delivery owing to the fact that the sector deals with life, which makes it essential for nurses to deliver ideal healthcare services. Nurses, in their jurisdiction, face a significant issue: medication errors, which can arise due to fatigue, burnout, and unhealthy working environments. Such errors can lead to adverse effects such as prolonged treatment or death. The adversities that may arise from medication errors explains the significance of safety as a QSEN competency whose framework would mitigate the adversity. 

Medication errors are concerning considering the negative impacts on patients. Addressing the underlying issues that facilitate the adversity would improve healthcare provision. Scholarly sources generally attribute the high prevalence of medication errors to aspects such as fatigue, burnout, and unhealthy working environments. They advise against technology's over-reliance as the remedy. The most important remedy involves improving systems for nurses to assist them in delivering impeccable services. Achieving the fete conceptualizes the relevance of safety as a QSEN competency. It stands to address various underlying elements that facilitate medication errors therein benefit the community transcending to the nation. 

Significance of Concern 

Nursing requires impeccable product and service delivery and medication errors bear a high potential to hurt the industry. According to Van de Vreede et al. (2019), "a medical error is a preventable adverse effect of care ("iatrogenesis"), whether or not it is evident or harmful to the patient." The authors further posit that it "might include an inaccurate or incomplete diagnosis or treatment of a disease, injury, syndrome, behavior, infection, or other ailments" (Van de Vreede et al., 2019). Nurses’ mandate involves offering care to patients who seek their services. Given their jurisdiction, the physicians must ensure they offer impeccable services to patients involving adequate treatment and care. Medical professionals must consider ideal treatment methods dedicated to specific ailments and ensure they issue the right dosages or advice after consultation for positive results. The role of nurses communicates the involving process of service delivery in the health sector, in which medication errors bear the high potential to dent. The underlying factors that facilitate the adversity accompanied by probable outcomes assert concern. 

The range of consequences that may arise from medication errors are concerning as they may transfer from recognizable effects to death, thereby require address. According to Juan Escrivá Gracia et al. (2019), medication errors occur during medication administration using nasogastric tubes, issuing antibiotics, and high-risk medication dilution, among others. Tawfik et al. (2018) suggest that "burnout, fatigue, and work unit safety grades independently associate with significant medication errors." It compounds how easy the adversity may occur. Juan Escrivá Gracia (2019) submit that nurses have low knowledge levels regarding mostly utilized drugs contributing to a more significant chunk of “medication errors occurring in intensive care units.” It communicates the negative impacts of medication errors, such as prolonged treatment due to the wrong dosage and lapses when offering health services. In the direst situations, medication errors can facilitate a patient's death, which is a concerning matter. Van de Vreede et al. (2019) suggest that health practitioners should avoid assuming that electronic medication management systems remedy all medication error issues. It tells how nurses, as human beings, are susceptible to failure, which technology does not entirely resolve. The adversities communicate the need for an address to maintain competent service delivery by nurses. 

Medication errors arise from simple and avoidable factors that bear significant impacts on patient safety. As mentioned earlier, the process of service deliver for nurses is involving. Nurses have a commitment to their patients by law and practice; however, it is human nature to err. Some avoidable circumstances can lead them to make mistakes when offering medication. It can occur at different stages of medication use, which include “ordering, prescription, dispensing, and administration” (Melnyk et al., 2018). The mistakes are avoidable and in some cases may go undetected, but in other situations the effects may be very bad. Medication errors threaten patient safety, which may lead to complicated effects on the practicing nurse or a health institution. Developing mechanisms to detect the errors and disclose them facilitates a safe culture that would facilitate positive healthcare outcomes for nurses. 

Literature Review 

Medication errors has proved to be an imminent challenge in the healthcare sector thus, prompting researchers to do studies about the issue. Juan Escrivá Gracia et al. (2019) conducted a study "to find out whether the level of knowledge that is "to study if the level of knowledge that critical-care nurses have about the use and administration of medications is related to the most common medication errors." The authors discovered that “the global medication error-index is approximately 1.93%.” The outcome of the study further indicated main areas include mistakes during “the interval of administering antibiotics and high-risk medication dilution.” Others include “concentration, infusion-rate errors, and errors during the administration of medications using nasogastric tubes.” The findings imply that “nurses have a low level of knowledge concerning mostly utilized drugs” leading to a more significant chunk of medication errors occurring in critical-care platforms. 

Melnyk et al. (2018) conducted a study "to describe nurses' physical and mental health, the relationship between health and medication errors, and the association between nurses' perceptions of wellness support and their health." The study realized that more than half the factored “nurses reported suboptimal physical and mental health, with approximately the same number reporting involvement in medication errors in the past five years.” The findings suggest those with terrible health compared to physicians with better health had a higher likelihood of committing medication errors. The authors equally discovered a significant relationship between an increased level of perceived worksite wellness and improved health. The findings communicate the need for highly prioritizing wellness for clinician health optimization to avoid costs that result from preventable medication errors therein optimize high-quality care delivery. 

Tawfik et al. (2018) conducted a study "to evaluate physician burnout, wellbeing, and work unit safety grades in relationship to perceived major medication errors." The authors established more than 50% of the responding physicians involved in active practice reported “burnout symptoms, followed by excessive fatigue, recent suicidal ideation, inadequate or failing patient safety grade in primary work areas, and those who witnessed a medication error in approximately three months prior.” The findings determined the involved physicians in mistakes as more likely to occur due to burnout, fatigue, and recent suicidal ideation (in descending order). They indicate “physician burnout, fatigue, and work unit safety grades independently associate with significant medication errors” therein, promoting the need to address physician wellbeing alongside work unit safety to mitigate the high medication error rates. 

Van de Vreede et al. (2019) conducted a study "to identify and quantify medication errors reportedly related to electronic medication management systems (eMMS) and those considered likely to occur more frequently with eMMS." The study's outcome indicated that “the most commonly reported types arose from 'human factors' accompanied by 'unfamiliarity or training' and 'cross-encounter or hybrid system errors'.” The results posit that “the reportedly errors related to eMMS were of low severity, communicating a considerable reduction of such adverse effects following the instruments' consideration.” However, it expresses the need for medical firms to maintain a high level of vigilance to avoid falling susceptible to new medication errors. They should equally remain objective by avoiding the assumption that eMMS remedies all medication error issues. 

Exemplar 

The initiation of safety, which addresses system effectiveness, would mitigate the probable adversities that may arise from medication errors therein improving healthcare provision. It will address the benefits and limitations of safety-enhancing technologies such as barcodes, alarms, and medication pumps, among others. As mentioned earlier, electronic medication management systems do not efficiently address medication error issues. The initiation of the competency (safety) will offer the platform for what alludes to a cost-benefit approach and builds on the positives while concurrently addressing the negatives. It will enhance the nurses' interaction, and the systems enrolled to increase service delivery efficiency by improving system effectiveness. The initiation will equally develop skills of using appropriate strategies, thereby reducing memory reliance. The outcome will involve promoting an ideal working environment promoting nurses' wellbeing, which is crucial in avoiding medication errors. The initiation of safety will address system effectiveness therein, reducing chances for adverse effects that may occur, leading to improved service delivery. 

Furthermore, the initiation of safety as a competence will address individual performance, thereby improving healthcare provision. It will assess human factors and other safety design principles alongside commonly utilized unsafe practices. The effect will appreciate the cognitive and physical limits that may arise from human performance. Addressing the shortcomings of human beings such as susceptibility to burnout and fatigue that facilitates emotional distress (which translates to high chances of committing medication errors) would improve nurses' service delivery. The chances of successful treatment heavily rely on an individual as the frontline agent when delivering services. By addressing the mentioned factor, unrolling safety as the competency will address medication errors. The mentioned attributes stand to benefit the community as they target the ideal medical service provision. The initiation at local levels will transcend to bear positive impacts across the country. Therefore, initiating safety stands to mitigate the probability of medication errors occurring, which would improve healthcare provision. 

Conclusion 

Mediation errors, facilitated by burnout, fatigue, and workplace unsafety, are a concern for nursing considering the adverse effects like prolonging patient care and death in the worst-case scenarios. Safety as a QSEN safety stands to handle system ineffectiveness accompanied by individual performance therein mitigating the adversities. It communicates its relevance, which, when initiated, will benefit the community and country. There is a need to consider significant adoption for improved results. 

References 

Juan Escrivá Gracia, Ricardo, B. S., & Julio Fernández Garrido. (2019). Medication errors and drug knowledge gaps among critical-care nurses: A mixed multi-method study.  BMC Health Services Research, 19 

Melnyk, B. M., Orsolini, L., Tan, A., Arslanian-Engoren, C., Melkus, G. D. E., Dunbar-Jacob, J., ... & Wilbur, J. (2018). A national study links nurses’ physical and mental health to medical errors and perceived worksite wellness.  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine ,  60 (2), 126-131. 

Tawfik, D. S., Profit, J., Morgenthaler, T. I., Satele, D. V., Sinsky, C. A., Dyrbye, L. N., ... & Shanafelt, T. D. (2018, November). Physician burnout, well-being, and work unit safety grades in relationship to reported medical errors. In  Mayo Clinic Proceedings  (Vol. 93, No. 11, pp. 1571-1580). Elsevier. 

Van de Vreede, Melita, BPharm, GradDipHospPharm, M HSM, FSHP, McGrath, Anne, BPharm,GradDipHospPharm, M.S.H.P., & de Clifford, Jan, BPharm, GradDipHospPharm, BHA, FSHP. (2019). Review of medication errors that are new or likely to occur more frequently with electronic medication management systems.  Australian Health Review, 43 (3), 276-283.