The healthcare system has experienced an improvement in technologies and treatment methods over the last decade. Healthcare professionals have acquired techniques and skills capable of addressing complicated issues that affect patients. However, the healthcare system faces challenges associated with errors in medication. A medication error is perceived to be a failure in the treatment process that can cause harm to the patient. This problem arises from various activities such as irrational, inappropriate, and ineffective prescribing to the patient. Medication errors are common in the modern healthcare system and have the potential for threatening patient safety. Medication errors are a common issue that requires the input of all healthcare stakeholders to be addressed adequately.
As a medical student, it is my responsibility to collect information from different sources to identify the possible sources of medication error and identify strategies capable of minimizing the problems caused by medication errors. Though most of the mistakes are never noticed, the minority transcript errors detected have the potential for causing adverse impacts such as ADRs. It is essential to track medication errors, whether they appear to be essential or not, because they may signify failure in the treatment process. The most recognized sources of medication errors are the wrong choice of prescription that increases the potential for increasing success in the medication process.
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Identification of Academic Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
In an attempt to identify articles with information related to causes and mechanisms for addressing the sources of medical errors, I used the undergraduate library search. This approach proofed to be helpful because it created a room for identifying the relevant sources related to healthcare. I recognized most of the resources from Google scholar and used the SCI-Hub link to open most of the peer-reviewed journal articles. I used keywords such as medication administration, medication errors, and medication safety to ensure that the suggestions had information related to the topic for research. Through this approach, I was in a position to provide quality sources that reflect the problem under discussion and the mechanism to be applied in implementing the functioning of professionals when prescribing to patients. I order to limit my search within the specified requirements I used Google Scholar to restrict the search to the last five years, indicating that the options displayed were from 2016 to 2020. Additionally, I limited my search to scholarly articles and peer-reviewed articles related to the field of medicine and nursing to ensure the relevance of the materials.
Assessing Credibility and Relevance
Credibility refers to the quality of trust and believes that the source is likely to possess. In an attempt to ensure that the sources were credible, I focused on selecting peer-reviewed journals to increase the probability that the information presented in the sources is based on evidence. All the chosen sources were published within the previous five years to ensure that the report reflects the current situation in the nursing environment. The authors of the article also had to have made significant contributions to the field of health. This approach ensured that the information provided in the reports had credibility.
Relevance refers to the ability of the information presented in the article to fit the topic under discussion. To ensure that the data presented in the report addressed medical error as a current issue in the healthcare system, I checked for observable facts and opinions that could be used in ensuring that the information is evidence-based. I also checked the hypothesis and the purpose of the article to identify the presence of information related to medication errors or the safety of the patient.
Annotated Bibliography
Nanji, K. C., Patel, A., Shaikh, S., Seger, D. L., & Bates, D. W. (2016). Evaluation of perioperative medication errors and adverse drug events. Anesthesiology: The Journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, 124(1), 25-34. doi:https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000000904
The objective of this article is to explore the rate at which medication errors and adverse impacts of drugs occur in the health sector. The frequency of medication errors is expressed as a percentage of the medication administration, thus providing information about the root cause, and implement targeted approaches for minimizing the presence of medication errors. Medication administration causes some challenges associated with patient safety. The scholars observed randomly selected operations of a sample population of 1,046-bed secondary care in an academic medical center for duration of eight months. The rationale for including this article is to provide an insight into the causes of medical errors and strategies applicable in minimizing medical errors. Giving solutions to medical errors can only be successful in situations where there is an understanding of the possible cause of the problem. The findings of the research indicated that there were 193 medical errors and adverse drug events, with only 153 preventable. And 40 remained unpreventable. The conclusion is that one in every 20 medication is associated with medication errors calling for an action to minimize the possible cause of the harm.
Nguyen, M. N. R., Mosel, C., & Grzeskowiak, L. E. (2018). Interventions to reduce medication errors in neonatal care: a systematic review. Therapeutic advances in drug safety , 9(2), 123-155. doi: 10.1177/2042098617748868
The authors of this article focused on determining the effectiveness of intervention mechanisms designed to minimize errors associated with medication, focusing on neonates. In health system sector, medication errors in neonates have been associated with the occurrence of morbidity and mortality rates, thus drawing the interest in identifying the effectiveness of mechanisms applied to minimize medication errors. In an attempt to achieve the objectives of the research, the author collected information from various sources such as PubMed and EMBASE. The reports had to be associated with any of the medication safety strategies that sought to address medication errors. The research emphasized interventions designed to promote patient safety in a hospital setting. The rationale for including this article is to ensure that there is an evaluation of the appropriate strategies, thus identifying the solution to maximize patient safety. The findings of the research indicated that the vast majority of the intervention strategies were effective in reducing medical errors. However, none of the strategies proved to be superior to each other.
Salami, I., Subih, M., Darwish, R., Al-Jbarat, M., Saleh, Z., Maharmeh, M., & Al-Amer, R. (2019). Medication Administration Errors: Perceptions of Jordanian Nurses . Journal of nursing care quality, 34(2), E7-E12. doi: 10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000340
The objective of the authors in this article was to explore the causes of medication errors focusing on a study on the perception of medication administration errors among Jordan Nurses. Medication error has been seen as one of the factors that threaten patient safety in the modern healthcare system. Consequently, addressing this issue requires the establishment of the factors that lead to medical issues. The reason for including this article is because authors provide evidence-based causes for medication errors from the perception of nurses. The research targeted a clinical setting in a less developed country, indicating that most of the activities, such as record keeping are conducted manually. For instance, the healthcare system lacks the technology and applies traditional medication approach. The findings show that most of the medication administration errors occurred during the night shift. The findings indicated that 42.9% of the medical errors occurred at night. The conclusion is that the workload is one of the factors contributing to medication errors.
Smith, K. J., Handler, S. M., Kapoor, W. N., Martich, G. D., Reddy, V. K., & Clark, S. (2016). Automated communication tools and computer-based medication reconciliation to decrease hospital discharge medication errors. American Journal of Medical Quality , 31(4), 315-322. DOI: 10.1177/1062860615574327
The purpose of this article is to explore the effects of primary care physician and patient safety tools on minimizing the occurrence of medication errors. The patient safety care involves activities such as automated discharge reconciliation that is believed to be in a position to address prescription errors. Most hospitalized patients in the United States have personal physicians indicating that they do not depend on primary care physicians. In an attempt to address the issue of a medication error, the authors of the research indicate that there is a need for maintaining computerized communication between the caregivers and physical physicians. This article is essential in explaining the causes of prescription issues and approaches applicable in minimizing the cases of prescription issues. The authors conducted a quasi-experiment study measuring the application of extensive automated communication in patient safety. The findings indicated that the automated communications strategy minimized the medication errors. As a result, the authors concluded that automated communication was effective in reducing prescription errors.
Soydemir, D., Seren Intepeler, S., & Mert, H. (2017). Barriers to medical error reporting for physicians and nurses. Western journal of nursing research, 39(10), 1348-1363.
The objective of the research in this article is to explore the barriers that have been preventing the reporting of medication errors among patients, especially among nurses and physicians. In an attempt to identify the sources of the challenges, the authors focused on collecting information from physicians and nurses working in a hospital set for research. In most cases, nurses and physicians find it challenging to expose prescription errors they experience performed by workmates. The information provided in this article is useful because it plays a critical role in identifying the reasons behind undiscovered cases of medication errors. The research discovered that administration, system barriers, and employee perception regarding reporting errors are common causes of less reporting prescription errors. In the case of fear, physicians fear condemnation for reporting a medication error because they see such action as a violation of the requirements of colleagues.
Learning from the Research
Through the research, I have been in a position to gather essential information regarding medication errors and strategic approaches for addressing this challenge. The peer-reviewed journal articles provided adequate information on some factors that affect the decision by nurses and physicians to report the incidence s of medication errors. The research enriched me with various activities that need to be applied in identifying the influence of factors such as attitude and fear in determining the decision by nurses to report medication errors they witnessed. Computerized communication has been one of the successful strategies that have been applied to minimizing the causes of medication errors. In effect, this will make it easier for me to choose intervention strategies capable of reducing medication errors.
References
Nanji, K. C., Patel, A., Shaikh, S., Seger, D. L., & Bates, D. W. (2016). Evaluation of perioperative medication errors and adverse drug events. Anesthesiology: The Journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, 124(1), 25-34. doi:https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000000904
Nguyen, M. N. R., Mosel, C., & Grzeskowiak, L. E. (2018). Interventions to reduce medication errors in neonatal care: a systematic review. Therapeutic advances in drug safety, 9(2), 123-155. doi: 10.1177/2042098617748868
Salami, I., Subih, M., Darwish, R., Al-Jbarat, M., Saleh, Z., Maharmeh, M., & Al-Amer, R. (2019). Medication Administration Errors: Perceptions of Jordanian Nurses. Journal of nursing care quality, 34(2), E7-E12. doi: 10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000340
Smith, K. J., Handler, S. M., Kapoor, W. N., Martich, G. D., Reddy, V. K., & Clark, S. (2016). Automated communication tools and computer-based medication reconciliation to decrease hospital discharge medication errors. American Journal of Medical Quality, 31(4), 315-322. DOI: 10.1177/1062860615574327
Soydemir, D., Seren Intepeler, S., & Mert, H. (2017). Barriers to medical error reporting for physicians and nurses. Western journal of nursing research, 39(10), 1348-1363.
