Medication Error: Causes, Types, and Ways to Avoid

This literature review discusses the causes and types of medication errors, such as wrong drug selection and illegible handwriting, and their impact on patients' physical and psychological health. It also suggests ways to avoid medication errors, including medication review and reconciliation, education, and computerized decision support.

Literature review

Medication Error
Different concept of Medication error
According to Alqenae and Keers, (2020) there are more than 7000 people are prescribed
due to medication error in United Kingdom and approximate 8000 people are die due to this
problem. All the complications are faced by the patient in order to mistakes of nurses. This is not
only impacted the person due to monetary terms but also affected the psychological and physical
issues. Also, patient distrust people takings any treatment from the hospitals. The most common
reasons of the errors are wrong selection of drug, illegible handwriting, confusion etc. or patient
might not get the improper knowledge about the due to inadequate backup. The national
coordinating council of medication error defined that when the event prevent or cause
inappropriate use of medication or it will harms the patient that can be is the terms of allergies,
negative reaction etc. The frequency error change the duration of taking medicine so it is
necessary to provide proper detail on the tablet as well as on another report so that they telly the
record accordingly. Further, Bates and Singh, (2018) stated that adverse drug reactions is
commonly problem which are related to the unintended, undesired and noxious which can be
occur for therapy of disease, prophylaxis, diagnosis and other function. The another factor can be
adverse drug event which are need not to missed inappropriately dose of medication. All the
negative consequences are affect the health of the person as well as it also impacted on the
reputations of the hospitals. Regular incident of medication error are changes the perception of
the patient. On the basis of joint commission the unexpected event are involving deaths or
serious injury to the patient. Also, the variation felt by patients are improper ordering the drugs
which are related to first stage of the functions of medications error Assiri, Mahmoud and
Sheikh, (2018). The other stage are documenting that can be wrong when there is any confusion
with the consecutive patient.
Different types of caused by nurses in hospital
Some of the major causes are related to improper storage of the medicine while prepare
report for the patient. According to Elliott, Camacho and Faria, (2018). stated that incorrect
duration may occur big problems because it can be long or short terms or vice-versa prescribed.
Also, incorrect timing given to the patient regarding drugs can be harm by many problems such
as negative reactions of the drugs. There are two types of pharmacist error such ass mechanical
and judgemental ins the judgemental error it includes failure for detecting drug interactions or

inadequate drug utilization review, failure to counselling the patient. The similar names of drugs
are create confusions for the nurses at the time of rounding at the patient and this impacted bad
on their health. It also change the mindset of the patient while not getting proper medication.
Patient are expected tos gets proper care regarding their precautions. Sometimes nurses are not
care about their diet chart of the patients that can be impacted in terms of negative reactions. For
example, when the new staff joined the hospital it is necessary to tech them with sufficient
knowledge so that they will not make any mistake, otherwise it can be caused any infection.
Farokhzadian, Dehghan Nayeri and Borhani, (2018) states that to minimise the distraction in the
hospital it is necessary to provide trainings to the staff so that they can decreases the error.
Further, illegible writing can be create problem because patient and their family member are not
able to reads the precautions or medications so that it create error. Some of medications are
eliminated because of handwritten prescription. It is necessary to provides proper caution with
the prescriptions so that patient or their family member can understand the way of taking the
medicine. Further, due to Covid 19 medication error were seen in number of frequency because
people are not aware about what kind of problem they are having and everyone taking same or
alternative medicine so that it has affected their health. Also, regarding dose it is importance to
write number of dose like 1 or 2 so that it can help to avoid the medications error because when
the patient is sufferings from liver or kidney damage they only need low dose so that it can not
harms their body otherwise highs dose can affects them very badly or might case death.
Janmano, Chaichanawirote and Kongkaew, (2018) analyse that it is also important tos provide
informations related to durations of treatment and on what time they would come to meet doctor
and also help them to know about number of pills prescribed. Also, if the patient suffering from
chronic order it is necessary to provide them justifications of the pills and tell them for come
again if you wants additional medicine. Otherwise that kind of persons taken the medicine for
back to back period which can be affect their health. Some of the pharmacy error are related to
not delivering the correct dosage and patient have faith on them and can not telly the name of the
medicine with the receipt because its can not readable for them because doctors sometimes use
unclear name so that it create confusion and patient starts taking that dose that affect their health
as well as when the patients realise the reaction it caused big problem. On the other hand, WHO
has analysed that when the nurses overworked or fatigue in that kind of situations they have
make the mistake.

Ways of avoiding medication error
The medication review and reconciliation are necessary to evaluated in order to improve
health outcomes so that it can mitigate the problem. It is also known as the formal process which
can be followed by all the hospital specially in UK there are large number of errors are seen in
last 2 years. According to Wei, Sewell and Rose, (2018) it has been analysed that there are large
numbers of medicals or dispensaries are associated that causes major problem because they have
less staff for working and they make mistake regarding their work. Further, some of the
strategies which are need to follow to allow the patient for telly the medicine with prescription so
that doctors cans catch the problem at the time and avoiding medications error. Also, apart from
hand written prescription it is important to provide automated informations system so that patient
can telly the prescription by their own. Also, it avoid written error which are done by doctors and
ons the basis of study it can be benefit for patient as well as nursing staff and also it mentioned
the number of dose and duration. So while taking any medicine patient can recheck the dose and
take accordingly. It helps to avoid 50% of medication error and increased the knowledge of
person. Some of the common medication are related to antibiotics aminoglycoside and
anticoagulants or insulin etc. are some of the common words that can be important to
understands by the patient as well as staffs. In addition to this Weingart, Zhang and Hassett,
(2018) analyse that education is the only key element which are helps to provide primary safety.
This is help for reducing the medication error because knowledge is one of the important
measure which help to provide interventions. According to the guidelines 33 it has been analysed
that dispensing and prescribing antibiotics are impacting on clinician behaviour on the basis of
improve adherence to the guideline given by authorities. Also, education are help to provide self-
assessment of the service user which are help to review personal health records of the patient. So
when the hospitals hire the staff it is necessary to hire educated as well as experienced people so
that it can avoid the medication error. Further, the study identify on the basis of intervention of
all the approached which are used by hospitals for medical practices and all the studies are
provide different interventions in which one of major is related to computerised decision support.
It can help tos provide provide reduction of errors. Moreover, there are some of patients are
discharged from hospitals and take acre from home and ons that time they are facing many
problems regarding improper medicine or durations of dose. So that its is important tos take
proper guidance to doctors so that they can takes the dose accordingly. Then it is necessary to not

to trust fully on pharmacist because they might get confuse over the dose of similar names. Ons
that time it is necessary to taken proper check the medicine regarding prescription given by
doctors. In the WHO article it has been analysed that it is important to create positive culture at
the hospitals so that doctors and nurses are more focused on patient and their health.

REFRENCES
Alqenae, F.A., Steinke, D. and Keers, R.N., 2020. Prevalence and nature of medication errors
and medication-related harm following discharge from hospital to community settings: a
systematic review. Drug safety. 43(6). pp.517-537.
Assiri, G.A., Shebl, N.A., Mahmoud and Sheikh, A., 2018. What is the epidemiology of
medication errors, error-related adverse events and risk factors for errors in adults
managed in community care contexts? A systematic review of the interna
Assiri, G.A., Shebl and Sheikh, A., 2018. What is the epidemiology of medication errors, error-
related adverse events and risk factors for errors in adults managed in community care
contexts? A systematic review of the international literature. BMJ open, 8(5), p.e019101.
Bates, D.W. and Singh, H., 2018. Two decades since to err is human: an assessment of progress
and emerging priorities in patient safety. Health Affairs, 37(11), pp.1736-1743.
Elliott, R., Camacho, E., Campbell, F., Jankovic, D., St James, M.M., Kaltenthaler, E., Wong, R.,
Sculpher, M. and Faria, R., 2018. Prevalence and economic burden of medication errors
in the NHS in England. Rapid evidence synthesis and economic analysis of the
prevalence and burden of medication error in the UK.
Farokhzadian, J., Dehghan Nayeri, N. and Borhani, F., 2018. The long way ahead to achieve an
effective patient safety culture: challenges perceived by nurses. BMC health services
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Janmano, P., Chaichanawirote, U. and Kongkaew, C., 2018. Analysis of medication consultation
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Panagioti, M. and Ashcroft, D.M., 2019. Prevalence, severity, and nature of preventable patient
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Wei, H., Sewell, K.A., Woody, G. and Rose, M.A., 2018. The state of the science of nurse work
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Weingart, S.N., Zhang, L. and Hassett, M., 2018. Chemotherapy medication errors. The Lancet
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