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Essay / Understanding Medication Errors in Nursing Practice
Table of ContentsImportant to NursingObjectiveMethodResearch StrategyFindingStudy OneStudy TwoStudy ThreeStudy FourDiscussionImplications of Findings for NursesConclusionLimitationReferencesNursing is the most fundamental profession in the provision of medical services. They participate in the collection, preparation and administration of medicines to patients as prescribed by the competent authorities. Despite filling doctors' orders, research has shown that nurses are prone to errors, poor medical form preparation, administering the wrong medication, mixing different medications for patients, and poor administration. , among others. The presence and occurrence of any of these medication errors poses a significant risk to the health and recovery of administered and outpatients. According to Gorgich, Barfroshan, Ghoreishi, and Yaghoobi (2015), the source of medication errors in nursing practice is a common phenomenon. Despite this, research has shown that nurses' ability to detect the error in its early stages plays a central role in preventing its progression and severity on the patient's health (Gorgich et al., 2015; Polit & Beck, 2018). According to Fathi et al. (2017), the source of medication errors in nursing can be traced from pharmaceutical production to labeling, poor communication among healthcare professionals, extended work hours, and burnout, among other factors that affect nurses from all walks of life. plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. Medication errors can range from fatal to mild depending on the type of medication offered and the intended use of the medication in the patient's treatment. Although no organization is immune to errors, in healthcare organizations the source of nursing errors varies from organization to organization. Therefore, it is essential to formulate preventive measures within healthcare organizations to prevent the recurrence of medication errors among nurses due to organizational or healthcare professional factors (Johari, Shamsuddin, Idris, & Hussin, 2013 ). Important for NursingThis information is important for nursing. as medication errors among nurses are a global challenge that has been shown to increase patient mortality rate, increased hospital stay, as well as increased cost of care delivery. Nurses should be at the forefront of reporting these cases whenever they arise because it not only improves the quality of healthcare but also elevates their standing in the profession. And since they spend more time with their patients than any other person, they should have the patients' best interests at heart when delegating their tasks. ObjectiveThis article will explore the literature review on medication errors in different settings and the underlying causes of these errors, while exploring solutions to omit or reduce these errors among nurses.MethodSearch StrategyDatabases searched included Google Scholar , Journal of Nursing Health and Science, International Journal of Community Health and Public Health, Online journal of Nursing Issues, US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health, among other nursing research journals, provide critical insight into nursing errors medication among nurses at different levels oftheir career and experience. The document used various keywords and phrases “medical errors among nurses”, “causes of medical errors”, “medical error intervention”, “nurse perception of medical errors”, “nursing students”, “prevention” . For articles to be included in the literature review, they had to meet the specific criteria of being published between 2013 and 2019, have a comprehensive review structure, and be published as peer-reviewed journals to ensure that the most recent information be reviewed. Results More than 100 journals met these criteria, so four were selected due to their relevance to medication errors among nurses. FindingStudy One A cross-sectional study published by Mahesh, Saba, and Gopi (2016) explored nurses' experience with medication errors and administrative practices, in which 199 nurses were chosen by simple random sampling in Vydehi. Hospitals in India were included. The study was carried out over a month and included nurses from different departments of the hospital. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to all nurses in a selected sample (Mahesh et al., 2016). Chi-square was used to analyze the data as the study explored two nominal values (Polit & Beck, 2018). The research aimed to establish the frequency of medication errors made by nurses, the sources of these errors, and the ability of nurses to prevent or report medical errors (Mahesh et al., 2016). According to the researchers, 97% of nurses reported completing all 7 medication administration rights before administering any medications, as well as only administering medications to up to two patients at a time (Mahesh et al., 2016). Inadequate medication labeling was the leading cause of medical errors among nurses along with poor preparation methodology (Mahesh et al., 2016). According to Mahesh et al. (2016), there is also an increased association between years of experience and decreased cross-checking of the drug label before administration. When self-reported medication errors are discussed, nurses often feel it will have a negative impact on their career (Mahesh et al., 2016). However, if managers adopted a positive and reassuring attitude, this would encourage nurses to report near misses and medication errors in their practice (Mahesh et al., 2016 & Polit & Beck, 2018). Mahesh et al. (2016) suggest that health authorities provide medication-specific training to nurses to minimize medication errors. Limitations of the study included that it was limited to a single hospital setting. Second Study Johari, Shamsuddin, Idris, and Hussin (2013) conducted a study to determine medication errors among nurses in public hospitals in Northern Malaysia. A cross-sectional study design was implemented using a self-administered questionnaire (Johari et al., 2013). The study included three demographics: 1-4 years, 5-10 years and above 11 years of experience as a nurse in various departments of the hospital (Johari et al., 2013). Johari et al. (2013) explored the level of medication knowledge among nurses and its contribution to medication errors. The study ruled out that years of experience are not the main contributing factor to medication errors, but knowledge of medications, high workload, increasing number of new employees without in-depth knowledge of nursing practice and prescriptions complexes of doctors were the mainfactors contributing to medication errors (Jorhari et al., 2013). Nurses' experience only impacted their attitude towards the patient and did not affect their medication knowledge or practice (Jorhari et al., 2013). Providing appropriate training for new staff and relaxation rooms for nurses to relax would help prevent medication errors when overworked (Jorhari et al., 2013). The study was limited by the absence of a control group as well as the authentication of the information collected from the self-administered questionnaire. Further investigation is needed, as this study focused on a public hospital. Third Study Fathi et al., 2017 conducted a convenience sampling study of 500 nurses, using a self-constructed questionnaire to explore medication errors among nurses at a western teaching hospital. Iran. . The study took place over three months and examined the barriers nurses faced when reporting medication errors (Fathi et al., 2017). Research established that the frequency of medical errors among nurses was 17% in Iraq (Fathi et al., 2017). Heavy workload has been indicated as the main cause of medication errors among nurses, unclear medical orders, decreased patient-nurse ratio, and poor medication knowledge (Fathi et al., 2017). Despite increased self-reporting of medication errors, researchers found that fear was a significant cause of not reporting medication errors or near misses, followed by lack of knowledge about errors, and finally supervisors’ perception of a medication error (Fathi et al., 2017). As an intervention, strategies such as reducing workload would be effective not only for nurses but also for patients (Fathi et al., 2017). According to Polit and Beck (2018), the best intervention method can be designed accordingly for each health authority and be effective in reducing the incidence. The study indicated two limitations; was carried out in a government-funded hospital and did not focus on the private and social security hospital; Second, the self-assessment method lacked authenticity due to its self-generated questions and the presence of many participants from varied demographics (Fathi et al., 2017). Study fourA study by Gorgich et al. (2015) took the approach of visualizing medication errors. causes from the perspective of nurses and nursing students. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 327 nurses from Khatam-al-Anbia Hospitals and 62 interns from the Nursing and Midwifery Program at Zahedan University, using convenience sampling (Gorgich et al., 2015). Nurses were required to have at least one year of experience in their current position, while nursing students were required to have completed a pharmacology course to participate in the study (Gorgich et al., 2015). A three-part questionnaire was used to collect data (Gorgich et al., 2015). The study established that the main cause of medication errors among nurses was burnout due to high workloads, while medication errors among nursing students were due to medication calculations (Gorgich et al , 2015). Nursing students who use unreliable online calculators are more likely to make medication errors; any shortcuts in the process are dangerous and therefore unacceptable (Polit and Beck, 2018). The study suggests that a reduction in.