Medication Errors: An Obstacle To Patient Safety

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Comments (3)

  1. Working with technology dependant children in their own homes, we work to a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Medication transcribing from bottle to the medication administration record is done with a second person and signed as accurate.
    We have a medication handover that must be completed with the parent at the beginning and end of the respite shift, we also follow the 6 rights of meds admin, person, date, time, drug, dose, route.
    Our staff have yearly theoretical updates and practical assessments, we undertake bi-monthly audits of the SOP

  2. I believe a portion of these areas are overworked staff, which leaves missing devices inside patients, missing symptoms, missing medicines, and incorrect medication doses.

    That said, with the current Coronavirus crisis I can not even begin to imagine what Nurses are having to cope with at this time. Thank you for all you do and we will not forget.

  3. You did not include KNOWN ALLERGY

    I was in the past prescribed TWICE an antibiotic that I am allergic to and which is clearly marked on my medical records.

    The first time, I was heading gratefully back to my car, eager to go to the chemists to get going on the meds & be cured. I was able to return to reception and ask for a new script.

    The second time was in hospital where I was wearing a red wrist band with the name of this drug on it. I had just had surgery and we being given a broad plectrum IV before moving to tablets for discharge. My discharge meds arrived and in it, the very drug I cannot take.

    Again, I spotted this and raised the “alarm” . I can maybe get my head around this being done an overworked medic probably whose “go to” drug for this particular complaint is this drug but where was his/her built in re-check against the patient record for known reactions?

    How does a prescribing mistake which could be avoided by allergy checking hand corrected before the patient becomes involved?

    These days I order online & so do now always double check rather than assume that whats been prescribed it’s right but I’d assume that there are not built in safeguards such as a visual & audio warning sequence triggered if a drug a that a patent is recorded as being sensitive to is attempted to be prescribed?

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