Medication Errors and Strategies for Reducing Them
Keywords:
medication errors, preventing medication errors, patient safety, nurseAbstract
Globally, medication errors are the most common adverse event at the time of hospitalization. Nurses handle medications on a daily basis. The medications are prepared and applied to the patient at the doctor's request. The purpose of the literature review is to describe medication errors and to identify strategies to reduce them. A literature review was performed in the following international databases: Medline, Science Direct, Wiley Online Library and CINAHL. From the total set of relevant articles (n = 5,507), 17 articles were included in the final analysis. We found that the most common medication errors were incorrect drug administration time, inappropriate dose, and incorrect medication administration. The causes of these errors are inadequate communication; irregularities in the preparation and application of medications; overburdening of nurses, and their lack of pharmacological knowledge. Strategies to reduce errors include electronic prescribing of therapy; double-checking the medication; the presence of a clinical pharmacist on the ward; not interrupting the nurse during medication preparation. It is important to respond professionally to medication errors and prevent their possible recurrence. Reporting and documenting the medication errors made, contributes to improving the quality of clinical practice and safe patient care.
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