Date of Graduation
Fall 12-14-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
<-- Please Select One -->
College/School
School of Nursing and Health Professions
First Advisor
Susan Mortell
Second Advisor
Elena Capella
Abstract
Medication administration errors were reported to have an error rate of 60% in early research mainly in the form of the wrong dose, time, or rate. Working conditions were found to be one of the main contributors to these errors. Recognizing and reporting medication errors are key to the implementation of the reduction of this critical health problem (Hughes & Blegen, 2008). DataRay Inc. (n.d.), states that almost one in five medication doses administered in hospitals is given in error. The two most common errors were (1) dispensing medicine at the wrong time (43% of incidents) and (2) omitting a dose (30%). The goal is to increase the nurses’ awareness of the different processes of medication administration and how error-prone these are.
The medication observation will take place during the hours of 0700-1000, and the nurses will use orange vests with “MEDICATION PASS IN PROGRESS; PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB” during the medication administration process for reduction and prevention of interruption. The nurses will be observed for correct use of the electronic health record system (EHR) during the transcription process throughout the day shift (0730-1530).
The result of the project is to prevent the occurrences of medication administration errors by paying close attention to the processes involving patients. The goal is also to improve the use of strategies to avoid medication errors, the method of detection and audits, and increase the use of information technology available to the nurses.
Recommended Citation
van Ewijk, Brigitta, "Medication Error Prevention: Improving Patient Health Outcome" (2018). Master's Theses. 1112.
https://repository.usfca.edu/thes/1112
