Title
Reducing Medication Errors in Nursing Practice
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-2015
Publication Details
This article was originally published as:
Cloete, L. (2015). Reducing medication errors in nursing practice. Nursing Standard, 29(20), 50-59. doi:10.7748/ns.29.20.50.e9507
ISSN: 0029-6570
ANZSRC / FoR Code
111002 Clinical Nursing: Primary (Preventative)| 111003 Clinical Nursing: Secondary (Acute Care)| 111004 Clinical Nursing: Tertiary (Rehabilitative)| 111503 Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice| 111716 Preventive Medicine| 111717 Primary Health Care
Reportable Items
C1
Abstract
Medication errors remain one of the most common causes of unintended harm to patients. They contribute to adverse events that compromise patient safety and result in a large financial burden to the health service.
The prevention of medication errors, which can happen at every stage of the medication preparation and distribution process, is essential to maintain a safe healthcare system. One third of the errors that harm patients occur during the nurse administration phase: administering medication to patients is therefore a high-risk activity.
This article highlights factors that contribute to medication errors, including the safety culture of institutions. It also discusses factors that relate specifically to nurses, such as patient acuity and nursing workload, the distractions and interruptions that can occur during medication administration, the complexity of some medication calculations and administration methods, and the failure of nurses to adhere to policies or guidelines.
Recommended Citation
Cloete, L. (2015). Reducing medication errors in nursing practice. Nursing Standard, 29(20), 50-59. doi:10.7748/ns.29.20.50.e9507
Comments
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