NHS FPX 4000 Assessment 3: Analyze Medication Errors
Administering medications safely is crucial in healthcare and seems to be growing worse. In the United States alone, drug errors cause over 9,000 deaths annually, according to the international magazine (Rayhan et al., 2020). Electronic methods have been created to provide secure medication administration in response to frequent medication errors in healthcare organizations. There is a need for more experienced nurses, per several of the peer-reviewed publications I consulted for my research in NHS FPX 4000 assessment 3. Automated techniques and simulated training were used to test other participants. Since medication safety is still one of the major concerns in healthcare, patients and healthcare professionals should place a high priority on improving patient safety and lowering drug errors in current health care issues.
Elements of Medication Errors
Medication errors can result from a number of factors. The emergence of comparable medications is one of the contributing factors (Rash Foanio, 2017). Thousands of medications have similar spellings or pronunciations. Avoidable errors occur when the provider is overworked, and the unit is understaffed. Examples of related medications are cyclosporine and cyclocloserine, which are spelled and pronounced similarly. NHS FPX 4000 assessment 3 will look more closely at this problem and ways to prevent it. Because the names of the prescriptions were similar, this was an easy mistake to make, especially when you are not closely monitoring what you are giving. Most medication errors occur prior to the substance being administered. Approximately 50% of medication errors are seen here. One of the persistent universal
health care problems is that most of these errors are found by the pharmacist or nurse while looking over the patient’s electronic medical record. Prescription errors are associated with workplace distractions and the patient’s or nurse’s ongoing need for the provider’s attention (Rayhan et al., 2020). In order to address these issues, it is frequently necessary to address universal health care problems and make sure that medical professionals from various specializations work together to lower risks and enhance patient safety.
Moreover, medication errors were significantly influenced by fatigue, working night shifts, and long hours (Salar et al., 2020). These problems with united health care can be made worse by including staffing shortages and funding constraints. When nurses are fatigued and low on energy, they might easily overlook established drug safety norms, which can lead to drug mishaps. In the medical industry, many rules are being implemented to decrease medication errors, which have been shown to be successful when taken as prescribed. In NHS FPX 4000 assessment 3, these contributing causes and preventive actions will be examined in more detail. Some nurses continue to work longer hours and are often distracted to meet staffing needs, which makes them less attentive during the drug verification process. The nurses and all other staff members ought to be urged to act in a uniform way. It was also recommended that in-service training be regularly conducted and monitored to compel healthcare staff to maintain consistency. Salar and associates, 2020.
Analysis
Medication mistakes can be very dangerous and deadly. Such accidents are a result of health care problems in the US, including insufficient safety inspections and
communication gaps. I saw a nurse give medication to a patient who had an allergy to it because she neglected to look up the patient’s allergies in the patient’s medical file before administering the medication. The patient experienced an allergic reaction as a result of disregarding safety protocols, necessitating the employment of an active counteragent to undo the effects of the medication. I’ve made it a point to prepare and deliver drugs with poise and concentration ever since this incident, frequently getting confirmation from another nurse. This real-world example highlights the importance of safety procedures, which will be thoroughly discussed in NHS FPX 4000 assessment 3. By taking the extra time and paying close attention to what you are doing, you can greatly lower the likelihood of making a pharmaceutical error that might have disastrous repercussions. By implementing preventive measures like this into practice, health care problems may be addressed, and patient safety can be ensured through coordinated cooperation.
Context for Safety Issues
Health care personnel have been overworked, especially during the outbreak, when there was a severe patient overload and staffing shortfall. Physicians now oversee a greater number of patients than ever before, and the nurse-to-patient ratio has been gradually increasing. The stress of an already taxing work is increased for nurses who have to accomplish more charting and chores in less time due to the high patient load. This pressure raises the danger of drug errors in addition to the possibility of poor charting. These difficulties and how they affect patient safety are important topics of discussion in NHS FPX 4000 assessment 3. Sometimes nurses even take many patients’ drugs out of the pyxis to save time, but this puts patient safety at risk.
Populations Affected
Medication errors can affect any age group. The chance of having a medication error is not influenced by age. Children are among the groups that are more susceptible to medication errors than others. Children’s weight-based doses require the application of mathematical calculations. A nurse who is not skilled at solving equations and precise calculating the dosage could be a danger to patient safety because weight-based dosing necessitates a high level of mathematical knowledge. In the United States, weight is measured differently than the medication. NHS FPX 4000 assessment 3 will cover the significance of precision in weight-based dosing and its function in avoiding pediatric medication mistakes.
This pound needs to be converted to kilograms to calculate the dosage appropriately in a pediatric environment. Inaccurate math calculations, which are more common with liquid medications, account for most errors made with young patients. Compared to a patient in the general population, a minor medication error in a child could have more severe or even fatal side effects. Because they frequently have a history of health issues and are now taking multiple drugs, the elderly are among the groups most affected by drug-related incidents. In NHS FPX 4000 assessment 3, the increased susceptibility of these age groups and risk-reduction techniques will be further
Considering Options
By using safety procedures and guidelines consistently, most pharmaceutical errors can be avoided. Posting signage identifying the medicine room as a quiet area is one practical strategy. This lessens the possibility of choosing the incorrect drug for a patient and helps prevent distractions (Rayhan et al., 2020). NHS FPX 4000 assessment 3 places a lot of emphasis on how these distraction-reduction techniques can help to promote medication safety. The nurses’ next step is to verify the meds they are obtaining by looking through the patient’s electronic record. The nurse should match the medication to the patient’s allergies after confirming the medication with the EMR. Lastly, before giving the patient their medication, the nurse should scan their armband. The substance will be flagged or confirmed by the computerized system as a result. By enhancing patient safety, this will help address some problems with universal health care by alerting the nurse to a discrepancy and possibly averting a drug mishap.
Solution
To further reduce pharmaceutical errors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare workers can work together more effectively if issues with united health care are addressed.
Ethical Implications
Since computers support justice, autonomy, and truth, there are ethical ramifications for medication errors, including the placement of computers in patients’ rooms. Before the time for administration comes, the nurse will read the medication to the patient, so they know what they are taking. The patient would also have a right to know if the nurse gave them the incorrect medication.
Even if there was no injury, a patient has the right to know what happened, according to the bill of rights. Because they will be able to manage their own health care programs, the patient will acquire autonomy. The patient would be receiving justice if
Implementing the Solutions
Taking extra precautions will ensure safety even though they may cause nurses to spend more time giving medicine passes. By mandating that a nurse scan each patient’s wristband and all drugs, medication errors can be decreased. An additional degree of security can be added by placing portable computer setups or a computer equipped with a barcode scanner in each patient’s room. This strategy ensures that several members of the healthcare team contribute to enhancing pharmaceutical safety and is in line with initiatives to solve health care problems. The nurse will first scan the patient’s armband before scanning the prescription. Data will then be transmitted to the computerized system, which will either sound an alarm or authorize the administration of the drug. This will be very beneficial for administering medication to different people
Conclusion
Concerns about the safety of pharmaceuticals in hospitals and other healthcare institutions are numerous, underscoring persistence with health care policy problems. Every year, medication errors result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of hospitalized patients (Rayhan et al., 2020). Implementing extra verification procedures, including scanning the patient’s armbands or the medication’s barcode in the medication room, will increase safety. Establishing peaceful spaces in medicine rooms has the dual benefits of lowering prescription errors and enhancing patient safety. According to NHS FPX 4000 assessment 3, any action or solution will help to reduce pharmaceutical errors.
References
Pérez-Jover, V., Mira, J. J., Carratala-Munuera, C., Gil-Guillen, V. F., Basora, J., López-Pineda, A., & Orozco-Beltrán, D. (2018, February 10). Inappropriate use of
Rash-Foanio, C., Galanter, W., Bryson, M., Falck, S., Liu, K. L., Schiff, G. D., Vaida, A., & Lambert, B. L. (2017). Automated detection of alike medication. American Journal. https://doi.org/10.2146/ajhp150690
Rayhan, Tariq. A., Rishik, V., Ankur, S., & Yevgeniya, S. (2020, November). Medication dispensing errors and prevention – NCBI bookshelf. Medication Dispensing Errors and Prevention. Retrieved June 7, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519065/
Salar, A., Kiani, F., & Rezaee, N. (2020). Preventing the medication errors in hospitals: A qualitative study. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, 13, 100235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijans.2020.100235
