Medication Safety: Strategies to Minimize Medication Errors

Running head: MEDICATION SAFETY 1
MEDICATION SAFETY
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MEDICATION SAFETY 2
Question one
Introduction
Medication errors are among the most prevalent medical errors, which may arise in the
course of administration, dispensing or prescription of a drug. With the adoption of correct
approaches by healthcare providers, medication errors can be reduced significantly reduced
(Weant, Bailey & Baker,2014). The Australian Commission on safety and quality in health care
identifies a number of strategies that can be used to reduce the occurrence of medication errors.
To start with, documentation of patient information is one of the strategies that can be
used to minimize the occurrence of medication errors. Documentation of patient information
makes it possible for clinicians to have access to patient’s medication history from the onset of
care. Through this, they can reconcile any medication discrepancies with much ease.
Additionally, documentation provides information on adverse reaction to medication, which
enhances the administration of the correct medicine to patients (Safetyandquality, 2019).
Secondly, medication errors can also be minimized by having in place clinical
governance and quality management systems. Such systems may enhance safety of medicines in
the course of their prescription, administration, dispensation, manufacture, compounding,
storage, procurement and supply. Additionally, the implementation of organization wide systems
may also make the process of monitoring the effect of medicines more
efficient(Safetyandquality,2019).
Thirdly, continuity of medication management is also an effective strategy in minimizing
medication errors. Through this strategy, patient’s medicines can be reviewed easily.
Additionally, the strategy also makes it possible for patients to have access to information about
their medicines and associated risks(Safetyandquality,2019). Additionally, it also facilitates

MEDICATION SAFETY 3
provision of current medicine lists to patients as well as explanation on the reasons for any
changes.
Proper storage of medicines can also be used to minimize medication errors. In this
regard, clinicians should ensure that medicine-requiring refrigeration is refrigerated to maintain
its effectiveness. This also applies to medicine that requiring to be kept at room
temperature(Safetyandquality,2019). Proper labelling should also be observed to prevent usage
of medicines beyond their expiry date.
Question Two
Imbalance between the number of patients and nurses is one of the major causes of
medication errors in the clinical setting. Most healthcare facilities world over have reported low
nurse to patient ratio. Low nurse to patient ratios often leads to overcrowded and noisy
environments. This in return leads to exhaustion among nurses, increased workload and
carelessness (Cheragi, Manoocheri, Mohammadnejad & Ehsani, 2013). Additionally, lack of
adequate number of nurses leads to lack of adequate support services, which are essential in the
provision of quality healthcare.
Secondly, medication errors are also commonly caused by lack of sufficient
pharmacological knowledge among clinical staff. Insufficient pharmacological knowledge is
associated with incorrect routes of administration and lack of awareness on important aspects of
the medication process. Lack of in-service training is the main reason for insufficient
pharmacological knowledge. This can however be avoided if nurses constantly update their
knowledge on drugs including new types of drugs (Cheragi, Manoocheri, Mohammadnejad &
Ehsani, 2013). On this note, medication errors can be minimized through increase in nurse’s
pharmacological knowledge.