Why are there so many medication errors in hospitals?
-
Dr. Mehmet Oz answered:Medication mistakes kill at least 40,000 and perhaps as many as 80,000 hospital patients every year.
Why? When you're in the hospital, you'll probably have a Conga line of staffers giving you strange pills and IV meds round the clock, and you'll be one of 25 people they're going past as they dispense their goods. Medication orders change minute by minute, patients constantly change, and staffers come and go with each shift change (a particularly dangerous time for mistakes).
Furthermore, these hospital staffers are often sleep deprived. You've seen enough television shows and heard enough horror stories to know that hospital doctors and nurses routinely work more hours without a break than air-conditioners in Texas during August.
Long shifts are directly connected to mistakes: Research has found that nurses who work longer than 12-hour shifts or more than 40 hours a week are three times more likely to make medical errors. More than half of these errors involved medication.
Now that you're aware of this great danger, make sure you take steps to prevent a medication error when you're in the hospital.
Find out more about this book: YOU: The Smart Patient: An Insider's Handbook for Getting the Best Treatmen...
Medication mistakes kill at least 40,000 and perhaps as many as 80,000 hospital patients every year. Why? When you're in the hospital, you'll probably have a Conga line of staffers giving you strange pills and IV meds round the clock, and you'll be... More -
Betty Long, RN, MHA answered:Yes, sadly, there are too many medication errors in hospital. Despite many of the best intentions, medication errors do occur and can sometimes bring harm to patients. But it's just not sleep deprivation and long shifts that contribute to the errors.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, medication errors are due to multiple factors in a complex medical system. Factors include poor communication; misinterpreted handwriting; drug name confusion; confusing drug labels, labeling, and packaging; lack of employee knowledge; and lack of patient understanding about a drug's directions. In most cases, medication errors cannot be blamed on a single person or role.
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, founded by a pharmacist, is a nonprofit organization educating the healthcare community and consumers about safe medication practices. Their website, www.ismp.org, provides resources and tools for patients and healthcare professionals.
According to the ISMP, there are numerous 'errors' that should be reported. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Errors in the prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, administering, and monitoring of medications;
- Wrong drug, wrong strength, or wrong dose errors;
- Wrong patient errors;
- Confusion over look-alike/sound-alike drugs or similar packaging;
- Wrong route of administration errors;
- Calculation or preparation errors; and
- Misuse of medical equipment.
When you think of all the opportunities to make a medication error in the course of 24 hours in a hospital, it's not surprising they exist, but hospitals are making concerted efforts to minimize them. Those efforts include using physician-order entry software programs so that physician's sometimes awful handwriting doesn't contribute to an error, improving processes and zeroing in on errors that cause harm, and building a culture of safety.
If you are a patient in a hospital, make sure (if you can) that you know what drugs you are being given and why they are being given as well. Ask questions. Become an active participant in your care---you'll be much better off!
Yes, sadly, there are too many medication errors in hospital. Despite many of the best intentions, medication errors do occur and can sometimes bring harm to patients. But it's just not sleep deprivation and long shifts that contribute to the... More -
Hospital Safety Score answered:Medication errors happen in hospitals for many reasons, and are not always easy to fix. While hospitals have many stops and checkpoints in place to prevent medication errors, any of the following could cause a potentially harmful error:
- Drugs that have names that sound alike
- Drugs have packaging that looks alike
- Staff may be hurried, tired and interrupted
- Nurses are caring for multiple patients , including many with similar conditions
- Patients, due to illness or the impact of recovery, sometimes cannot participate in their care
- Family members aren’t always able to be present to participate in the care of their loved ones
Medication errors happen in hospitals for many reasons, and are not always easy to fix. While hospitals have many stops and checkpoints in place to prevent medication errors, any of the following could cause a potentially harmful error: Drugs... More
