Check Out These Strategies to Prevent Medication Errors In practices, medication errors can occur due to many reasons and at any stage of the medication process. Check out the strategies to prevent them.
Accurate medical records play a key role in preventing errors in administration of medicines. All providers must maintain consistent records of their activities to ensure proper tracking of activity related to the patient. Different types of medication errors that may occur in a healthcare practice include prescribing errors, administration errors, failure to prescribe, administer, or dispense a medication, not following a medication’s dispensing/prescribing rules, administration of a medication too late or too early, a patient being given a medicine not prescribed for them, improper use of a medication, wrong dose prescription/preparation or not paying attention to the patient’s medical conditions or potential drug interactions. Such errors can have serious consequences such as - prolonged hospitalization, need for additional medication interventions, and severe patient injury or death. Medical transcription outsourcing is a reliable strategy to
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ensure proper documentation of records that promote proper care delivery by all providers caring for the patient and protect healthcare organizations in the event of litigation. Best Strategies to Prevent or Reduce the Risk of Medication Errors Follow the 5 rights Nurses can prevent medication errors by – o following certain rights of medication administration o right drug, right patient, right dose, right time, right reason, education, documentation and more Proper drug calculation Mathematical skills are key to
make accurate drug calculations, and
administer medications safely and minimize errors
Medication reconciliation during patient transfer When a patient is moved from one facility to another in the same facility –
all medication should be reviewed against transfer instructions
Continuing education Nurses should stay updated about
new drugs and their safe use
patient monitoring, patient teaching, and documentation
Double checking Nurses can
independently verify each medication on the patient’s order
use chart flags for high alert medications
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Verbal orders – know the rules Verbal orders –
can be misinterpreted, misheard, or transcribed incorrectly
Indication alerts To reduce the risk of errors linked to high alert drugs
standardize medication ordering, storage, preparation, and administration
improve access to information about these drugs
limit access to high-alert medications
use auxiliary labels and automated alerts
Minimize distractions Eliminating distractions –
can reduce risk of medication errors
Safe storage of medications To ensure safe storage of medications –
there should be proper measures in place
refrigerate them to maintain efficacy
Patient education Educate patients, families, and caregivers about –
medications’ therapeutic effects, potential adverse reactions, and desired outcomes
Providers must keep accurate records of medication administration to prevent errors in dosing. Nurses should document the dose only after the medication is given. Electronic health records (EHRs) can also reduce medication errors by sending alerts about food/drug and drug interactions and identifying potential drug side effects and/or adverse reactions. Experienced
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medical transcription companies can ensure accurate EHR documentation of patients’ medication administration as well as allergies and thus prevent medication administration errors.
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