Prevention of medication errors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Prevention of medication errors - Essay Example Sources of error in the work environment like interruptions should be reduced. The program of quality improvement should be ongoing and systematic. It should be peer reviewed for safe medication use. Areas of responsibility and lines of authority in the hospital should be properly defined to order, administer, and dispense medication. Prescribers should be updated on the current state of knowledge to be able to determine the suitable drug therapy. Prescribers should evaluate the total status of the patient before prescribing further medications to determine appropriate drug interactions. Prescribers should avoid giving such vague directions as â€Å"take as directed† as particular instructions facilitate differentiation in the drugs. Prescribers should demonstrate exact strengths of dosage instead of specifying dosage form units. Pharmacists should personally provide nurses and prescribers with information regarding appropriate use of medications and therapeutic drug regiments. Pharmacists should not guess the confusing medication orders’ intent. The work area where drugs are prepared should be kept clean and ordered. Pharmacists should preview the design and content of the forms of preprinted medication order, and maintain records to identify the recipients of erroneous products. Clinical nurses’ educators should inculcate all the required skills in the students to help them deter all types of errors while prescribing medication (Warburton, 2010). Nurses practicing in the organized settings of health-care should be well-versed with the ordering of medication and the use of system. Identity of patients should be verified before the prescribed dose is administered. Personnel using the devices of medication administration should fully comprehend the possible causes of error and faults in operation. The patient-nurse ratio should be increased in each shift (Kim et al., 2011). Patients should not hide