Medication errors can occur due to both human error and system errors healthcare

Acibadem International

21 Feb 202003:51

Summary

TLDRThe video script highlights the alarming global scale of medication errors, advocating for the 'Principle of Eight Rights' in drug administration to prevent these mistakes. It outlines the process from physicians writing daily drug orders in a digital system without abbreviations, to pharmacists' checks, nurse verifications, and patient education. The script emphasizes the importance of barcode checks, proper preparation, administration, and disposal, ensuring patient safety and error prevention.

Takeaways

🚨 Medication errors are alarmingly high, with over a million errors globally and over 100,000 resulting in death.
📝 The principle of 'eight rights' for drug administration is crucial to prevent errors.
💻 In digital systems, no abbreviations are allowed for drug orders to avoid confusion.
👩‍⚕️ Physicians write daily drug orders, which are visible to pharmacists on a monitor for review.
👩‍🔬 Pharmacists write and approve special notes about all drugs, ensuring they are appropriate.
🏥 Drugs delivered from the pharmacy are checked by nurses and placed into drug boxes for administration.
🤒 Nurses check for drug interactions, food interactions, side effects, and safe dosages, especially for pediatric patients.
🏷️ A patient-specific barcode is used to verify identity details and drug information before administration.
🧪 High-risk drugs are checked twice before preparation, adhering to the principle of 'eight rites'.
🧼 Hygiene is emphasized with hand washing and glove wearing before and after drug preparation.
📚 Patient education is important; nurses inform patients about the drug, its use, and potential side effects, obtaining verbal consent.
⏰ Drugs are administered at the scheduled hour and rate, with no leftover drugs left near the patient.
🗑️ Proper disposal of syringes and needles is mandatory, using the designated yellow box.
🔄 An electronic check is required after drug administration, with reasons specified if there's a deviation from the schedule.
📝 Observation findings are recorded for reassessing the patient's condition if necessary.

Q & A

What is the global scale of medication errors according to the transcript?
-The transcript states that there are more than one million medication errors globally, with over 100,000 of these errors resulting in death.
What is the 'principle of eight' in drug administration?
-The 'principle of eight' refers to eight key practices for safe drug administration, which include writing the daily drug order, using a digital system with no abbreviations, pharmacist review and approval, checking for drug interactions and adverse effects, ensuring safe dosage for pediatric patients, using barcode verification, and following proper preparation and administration procedures.
Why is it important for physicians to write the daily drug order?
-Physicians writing the daily drug order helps to ensure clarity and accuracy in medication orders, reducing the risk of errors that can lead to patient harm.
How does the pharmacist's role in the medication process contribute to safety?
-The pharmacist reviews and approves the medication orders, writes special notes about all drugs, and checks for drug interactions, side effects, and safe dosage ranges, which helps to prevent medication errors.
What is the significance of barcode verification in the medication administration process?
-Barcode verification is a crucial step that helps to ensure the correct patient receives the correct medication, dose, and route, by matching the patient's barcode with the medication's barcode.
Why are high-risk drugs checked twice before preparation?
-High-risk drugs are checked twice to adhere to the principle of eight rites, which is a double-check mechanism to prevent errors in the preparation of these potentially dangerous medications.
What precautions are taken before administering drugs to a patient?
-Before administering drugs, the nurse must wash hands, wear gloves, verify the patient's identity, and ensure the drug is prepared and administered immediately after preparation. The nurse also educates the patient about the drug, its intended use, and potential side effects, and obtains verbal consent.
How is the medication administration process monitored after the drug is administered?
-An electronic check is required after the drug is administered. If the drug is given before or after the scheduled hour, reasons must be specified in writing, and a reassessment may be needed based on the drug's time of action and observation findings.
What is the importance of proper disposal of used syringes and needles?
-Proper disposal of used syringes and needles into a designated yellow box helps to prevent needlestick injuries and the spread of infections.
How does the script emphasize the importance of preventing medication errors?
-The script emphasizes the importance of preventing medication errors by highlighting the significant number of errors and deaths they cause, and by outlining the principles of eight rights as a means to prevent such errors.
What is the final message conveyed by the script regarding the role of healthcare professionals in medication administration?
-The final message is that healthcare professionals play a crucial role in ensuring safe medication administration by following the principles of eight rights, which can help prevent medication errors and contribute to healthy care for all patients.

Outlines

00:00

💊 Medication Safety and the Eight Rights

This paragraph discusses the alarming statistics of medication errors, which result in over one million incidents globally and more than 100,000 deaths. It emphasizes the importance of adhering to the 'principle of eight' for drug administration, which includes writing clear and unambiguous orders, using digital systems that prohibit abbreviations, and ensuring visibility and approval of orders by pharmacists. The paragraph outlines the process from the physician's order to the pharmacist's review, the nurse's preparation and administration, and the importance of checking for interactions, side effects, and safe dosages, especially for pediatric patients. It also highlights the use of barcode technology for patient-specific medication verification and the necessity of hygiene practices before and after drug preparation and administration.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Medication Errors

Medication errors refer to any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer. In the video, it is mentioned that these errors are a global issue, with over a million errors occurring and over 100,000 resulting in death, highlighting the severity and prevalence of the problem.

💡Principle of Eight Rights

The Principle of Eight Rights is a nursing concept that ensures the correct medication is given to the right patient, in the right dose, by the right route, at the right time, for the right duration, with the right documentation, and with the right to education and informed consent. The video emphasizes the importance of following these principles to prevent medication errors.

💡Digital System

A digital system in the context of the video refers to an electronic health record or medication management system used by healthcare professionals to manage and monitor medication orders. It is highlighted as a tool to reduce errors by eliminating the use of abbreviations and allowing for pharmacists to review and monitor drug orders.

💡Pharmacist

A pharmacist is a healthcare professional responsible for preparing and dispensing medication. In the video, pharmacists are shown to play a crucial role in the medication administration process by writing and approving special notes about drugs, checking for drug interactions, and ensuring the safe and correct use of medications.

💡Nurse

Nurses are healthcare professionals who provide care to patients, including administering medications. The video script describes nurses' responsibilities in checking drug boxes, preparing drugs, and administering them to patients, emphasizing the importance of their role in preventing medication errors.

💡Barcode

A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item it is attached to. In the video, barcodes are used for patient-specific identification and drug information, ensuring that the correct medication is given to the correct patient by matching barcodes with electronic drug orders.

💡High-Risk Drugs

High-risk drugs are medications that have a higher potential for causing significant patient harm when they are used incorrectly. The video mentions that these drugs are checked twice before preparation, adhering to the principle of double-checking to minimize the risk of errors.

💡Gloves

Gloves are personal protective equipment used by healthcare professionals to prevent contamination and infection. In the script, wearing gloves before preparing drugs and changing them in the patient's room is emphasized as part of the infection control measures and to maintain a sterile environment during medication administration.

💡Patient Education

Patient education is the process of providing patients with information about their medications, including the name of the drug, its intended use, and potential side effects. The video script includes educating patients and obtaining verbal consent as part of the medication administration process, ensuring that patients are informed and can make informed decisions about their care.

💡Electronic Check

An electronic check refers to the process of verifying medication administration through an electronic health record system. The video mentions that after a drug is administered, an electronic check is required, and reasons must be specified if the drug is given outside the scheduled time, demonstrating the importance of documentation and monitoring in the medication administration process.

💡Observation Findings

Observation findings refer to the results of monitoring a patient's response to medication. The video script mentions that reassessment may be required depending on the time of action and findings of observation, indicating that ongoing assessment is a critical part of medication administration to ensure patient safety.

Highlights

Millions of medication errors occur globally, with over 100,000 resulting in death.

The 'principle of eight' is crucial for drug administration to prevent errors.

Physicians write daily drug orders to ensure accuracy.

In digital systems, no abbreviations are allowed for drug orders.

Electronic orders entered by physicians are monitored by pharmacists.

Pharmacists write and approve special notes about all drugs.

Nurses check and place drugs into boxes after they are delivered from the pharmacy.

Drug interactions, food interactions, side effects, and administration issues are carefully checked.

Safe dosage ranges for pediatric patients are verified.

Barcodes with patient-specific information are used for drug verification.

High-risk drugs are checked twice before preparation, following the principle of eight rites.

Hand hygiene and glove use are emphasized before drug preparation.

Drugs are reconstituted immediately before administration.

Nurses fix patient-specific barcodes on drugs before administration.

Patients are educated on the drug's name, intended use, and potential side effects.

Verbal consent is obtained from patients before drug administration.

Drugs are administered by the nurse who prepared them, ensuring the correct route.

Oral preparations require verification that the drug is swallowed by the patient.

Drugs are administered at the prescribed hour and rate, with no leftovers.

Syringe needles are disposed of in designated containers.

Hands are washed after drug administration, and an electronic check is required.

Reasons for administering drugs before or after the scheduled hour must be documented.

Observation findings may require reassessment depending on the drug's time of action.

Prevention of medication errors is emphasized through adherence to the eight rights.