Question

using the nursing process to prevent medication errors,  List 3 Assessment actions: List 1 planning action: List 4 implementation actions:

Answer 1

​​​​​​Medication Errors

A medication error is a preventable incident which may result in wrong use of a medication or harm the patient's health adversely.

How to prevent medication errors in nursing

It is inevitable to follow certain strict criterias to ensure patient safety and care quality.

1. Use of 5 rights of administration of medicine - nurse must ensure right medication for the right patient in right dosage, through the right route at the right time. (Known as 5 rights).
2. Double or triple check procedures to ensure that staffs in every shift had given the medicine in the right way.
3. Start using name name alert - some names like Thomson and Thompson sounds same and confusing, so name alerts must be used in medicine administration records (MAR) to ensure accuracy.

List 3 Assessment actions

1. Essential knowledge in dose calculation is a must have knowledge to ensure the delivery of right medicine.

2.Nurses must update their pharmacological knowledge to regarding new drugs and it's actions and side effects.

3.Try to avoid districtions while setting up the medicine tray or an injection or a tablet.

List 1 planning action

To safeguard against medicine errors in nursing department the head nurse or in charge nurse must implement an action plan along with the help of physicians and senior nurses.

-The most important of it would be to strictly follow the 5 rights strategy in each shifts. To run it successfully an in charge nurse must be physically present before the duty nurses to make sure the policy is followed since this system worked thorough out the world in a successful manner.

It can certainly prevent errors that are fatal to patient's life.

List 4 implementation actions

1. Maintain an active medication list

2. To order medicines use a computerized order entry physician's form to keep accuracy.

3. For non controlled medications, use an electronic prescription.

4. Distinguish and separate the drugs those can result in allergies.