When a drug is recommended, given, or supplied in the wrong way, there have been medication errors in healthcare. You most likely already understand how harmful medication errors may be and would like to discover more about how to eliminate them if you manage or operate in a care home or nursing home. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people experience negative outcomes as a result of medication errors, which can range from poor welfare or injury to significant health issues and even mortality. As a result, it’s essential that those who operate and work in nursing homes and care facilities are aware of a variety of tactics to lower or eliminate the possibility of medication errors in care facilities. Medication errors prevention can be done with the appropriate approach.
Medication errors: What Are They?
Due to the incorrect use of medication, the medication management error is a preventative event. A pharmaceutical error will be classified as an avoidable adverse drug event if it poses a risk to the patient. A medication will be considered a probable adverse drug event if it happened but no one was harmed. Examples of medication mistakes that happen at nursing homes or care facilities include forgetting to record the patient’s last dosage of medicine and then, as a result, having another nurse double-dose a patient. Or a resident using a non-prescription item that conflicts with their existing medication. Patients who miss too many doses or interact dangerously with other medications might have significant and possibly fatal consequences.
How to prevent medical errors:
REDUCE CLUTTER
With a high prescription rate, minimal manpower, and demanding customers, the pharmacy atmosphere is frequently frantic and stressful. Although keeping pharmacy counters clean and uncluttered might be difficult, doing so helps lower the likelihood of dispensing errors. Experts suggest pharmacies utilize a basket system to segregate the prescriptions and medications of various patients as well as to remove the bottles from finished prescriptions. Pharmacists should ideally take phone calls in a peaceful, distraction-free setting.
CHECK ORDERS
When placing a phone order for a prescription, it’s crucial to write it down, then repeat it to make sure you got it right.
E-prescribing has its own drawbacks. The greatest pharmacies frequently handle issues brought on by the inappropriate use of technology. The intended medication may be overlooked during order entry if a prescriber chooses a comparable medicine from the list and then makes notes about it in other areas of the prescription. This might happen when prescribers can’t identify the right drug strength or dose form on the e-prescribing dropdown menu.
APPLY BARCODES
According to experts, scanning barcodes is a crucial step in confirming that the appropriate medication, dose form, and strength have been chosen, preventing the most frequent medication error. However, experts warn that in a retail setting, this will only function if orders are entered into the system before choosing the drug bottle. If pharmacists choose the wrong medication off the shelf and enter its NDC number, barcoding won’t catch that error because the wrong barcode would seem on the prescription label.
GET A SECOND SET OF EYES TO VERIFY THE PRESCRIPTIONS
Involving a second person, such as a pharmacist or technician (as permitted by state law), in the dispensing procedure is one technique to prevent human mistakes. An expert stated, “If I’m the one entering the prescription and taking it, then I’m not extracting the medicine and counting it because I know I have to final check it.” He advised that final checks should always include confirmation of the original order entry, whether it be done by bringing up the scanned prescription on the computer screen or storing the paper prescription with the label and medicine container until everything was finished.
LOOK-ALIKE SOUND-ALIKE (LASA) DRUGS SHOULD BE AWARE OF
ISMP keeps a comprehensive list of medications with names that are similar and could cause confusion, which it advises putting in bolded tall man (uppercase) letters. According to experts, it is critical for pharmacists to be knowledgeable about these medications. They suggested that each pharmacy pick five LASA pairs that are frequently seen and devise methods to prevent mistakes with them, such as segregating them. He emphasized that pharmacists and technicians must be aware of where medications are located if they are separated.
DESIGN SUCCESSFUL WARNING SYSTEMS
Diverse alerting techniques can be useful, yet it’s a human inclination to ignore the familiar. Because of this, a specialist goes among the shelf talkers warning workers about LASA medications so they continue to capture their attention. The pharmacy software system can also be asked to make select alerts become hard stops so that the technician or pharmacist must stop, read the alert, and type a response, ensuring that they pay attention.
BEGIN WITH THE PATIENT
When it comes to prescription errors, patients are their own final line of defense, therefore spending a minute or two talking to them can pay big dividends in spotting medication errors. When the patient picks up the prescription, we suggest asking: “Open the bag; is this what you were expecting? If it’s a refill, check the label, the drug’s name, and the interior of the bottle to be sure it’s the same as what you previously received. Basic counseling can sometimes assist spot mistakes as well as ensuring that patients understand the purpose of their medicine and how to take it appropriately.
USE YOUR INSTINCT
“Pharmacists must understand their responsibility to the patient. “If something doesn’t make sense when you receive a prescription, especially if you get to know your patients, don’t just let it go,” the doctor advised. Ask the patient and the prescribers to confirm, and if required, inquire further to get more information about why a prescription was given the way it was and to determine whether it was a medical error. After being complimented by prescribers for spotting their mistakes on numerous occasions, “you really do need to push when you feel that something isn’t right,” the saying goes.
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