Errors are a normal part of human beings and often originate from natural processes from cognitive and behavioral adaptations that often develop correct behavioral skills. The nursing roles' execution is an essential part of the patient’s healing process and is critical for their safety. Administering medicine is among the crucial jobs performed by nurses since errors have numerous consequences to the nurse, the patient, and the health provider organization. Although anyone in the healthcare environment can make medication errors, the errors are common among nurses. Due to this issue's seriousness, this paper examines the common causes, incident rate, identification, measurement, and remedies of medication errors.
A lot of research has been carried out regarding the causes of errors in medication and how to reduce them. In his book "Quality and Safety for Transformational Nursing," Amer noted that nurses should provide safe and high-quality services to the patients by minimizing errors (Amer, 2013) . Research by Izadpanah and colleagues identified several causes of the errors, which include the shortage of manpower, incomplete orders by physicians, the use of look-alike drugs, shortage of dosage forms, and unclear physician orders (Izadpanah et al., 2018). A shortage in the workforce in healthcare facilities in a major contributor to medication errors. A shortage of workforce at the hospitals increases the workload for nurses. Haddad et al. (2020), notes that in case of a huge workload, nurses are often overwhelmed, and the fatigue could result in confusion, which could cause nurses to mix up medicine, which could result in fatal consequences.
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Incomplete physician orders and illegible physician orders are other major causes of medication errors. Medication orders are provided to the nurses by physicians; illegible and unclear orders are often unclear, which may result in misinterpretation. Misinterpreting medication information could result in medication errors (Brits et al., 2017). Another research by Gangakhedkar et al. identifies that using look-alike drugs greatly contributes to medication errors (Gangakhedkar et al., 2019). If nurses are not cautious and keen enough, administering the wrong medication is easy since they may have similar packaging (Izadpanah et al., 2018). Other medication errors causes is a shortage of dosage forms, which means that prescription is based on memory, prone to forgetfulness, resulting in medication errors. Additionally, Eastman (2006) notes in the Institute of Medicine report that the lack of knowledge about patients increases medication errors. This is due to the inadequate understanding of the patient's medical history. Nurses should investigate their patients' medical history to reduce medical errors.
Medication errors are very prevalent in healthcare nowadays. According to Izadpanah et al. (2018), 41.9 errors occurred monthly in pediatric and emergency wings. The mean number of errors in males is greater than that of females, particularly in the evening, night, and morning shifts. These errors are common at these periods due to improper transitions and briefing of teams. Additionally, research by Alanazi et al. identified that sometimes, the medication errors could range from 0.24 to 89.6 errors in 100 patients admitted prescribed HRMs. The researchers could not calculate the prescribing error incidents.
A continuous quality improvement approach can be taken to reduce medication errors through the identification of the problem and its causes, developing interventions, and assessing and reassessing the interventions. Despite many hospitals striving to improve the quality of care and patient safety, medication errors act as a stumbling block to these efforts. Through numerous medical research, factors, like shortage of staff, look-alike drugs, and illegible drug orders, have been identified to be the major medication errors causes. Some interventions to reduce these errors and improve patient care and safety have been identified. Using a comprehensive approach of double-checking medications, using computerized drug prescription, and proper drug labeling has helped nurses improve the quality of care and patients' safety (Chu, 2016) . Implementing these measures to reduce errors achieves substantial improvements in medication outcomes, such as increasing patient safety, improved services, and a reduction in medication errors. An analysis of these interventions demonstrates a significant reduction in medication errors, thereby improving patient safety. Nurses should continue to use or adopt these interventions to improve healthcare outcomes and the patient’s safety.
Medication errors have significant adverse impacts on patients' safety; therefore, all nurses and medical practitioners need to report medical errors and work hard to reduce them. A reduction in medication errors improves patient safety (Elden & Ismail, 2015) . Often, medication errors negatively affect a patient's health; proper medication administration is essential in ensuring that the patients recover in time. Timely patient recovery also reduces the time spent in the hospital, thereby creating room for other patients. Additionally, the proper medication reduces the hospital or nurse's negative publicity, as fatal medication errors could result in extreme repercussions to the healthcare provider and the nurse involved.
Medication errors have become a serious challenge in healthcare, particularly due to their adverse impacts on health outcomes. These cases are prevalent and could occur in 41.9 times per month. Medication errors are caused by unclear physicians' orders, fatigue by nurses, look-alike drugs, among other reasons. A reduction in medication errors could improve the quality of care provided to patients, thereby improving health outcomes. Nurses should ensure that they double-check medications before administering it to the patients, to ensure that the correct dosage is administered in the correct way and time. Nurses should also clarify with physicians before administering medications to understand the type of medication that should be administered. All nurses and health workers should work towards minimizing medication errors to improve health outcomes.
References
Alanazi, M. A., Tully, M. P., & Lewis, P. J. (2016). A systematic review of the prevalence and incidence of prescribing errors with high-risk medicines in hospitals. Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 41 , 239-245. doi:10.1111/jcpt.12389
Amer, K. (2013). Quality and Safety for Transformational Nursing: Core Competencies (1st ed.). Pearson.
Brits, H., Botha, A., Niksch, L., & Terblanche, R. (2017). Illegible handwriting and other prescription errors on prescriptions at National District Hospital, Bloemfontein. Official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care, 59 (1), 1-4. doi:10.1080/20786190.2016.1254932
Chu, R. Z. (2016). Simple steps to reduce medication errors. Nursing, 46 (8), 63-65. doi:10.1097/01.NURSE.0000484977.05034.9c
Eastman, P. (2006). IOM Report: Medication Errors Injure Millions. Emergency Medicine News, 28 (9), 44-46. doi:10.1097/01.EEM.0000316941.60357.a2
Elden, N. M., & Ismail, A. (2015). The Importance of Medication Errors Reporting in Improving the Quality of Clinical Care Services. Global Journal of Health Sciences, 8 (8), 243-251. doi:10.5539/gjhs.v8n8p243
Gangakhedkar, G. R., Waghalkar, P. V., Shetty, A. N., & Dalvi, A. M. (2019). Look-Alike Drugs: Avoiding Potential Medical Errors. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 10 (9). doi:10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_331_18
Haddad, L. M., Annamaraju, P., & TOney-Butler, T. J. (2020). Nursing Shortage. Treasure Island: StatPearls Publishing.
Izadpanah, F., Nikfar, S., Imcheh, F. B., Amini, M., & Zargaran, M. (2018). Assessment of Frequency and Causes of Medication Errors in Pediatrics and Emergency Wards of Teaching Hospitals Affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences (24 Hospitals). Journal of Medicine and Life, 11 (4), 299-305. Retrieved from 10.25122/jml-2018-0046
