Medication Safety: Causes, Effects, Strategies and Nursing Roles

Running head: MEDICATION SAFETY 1
Medication Safety
Student’s Name
University Affiliation

MEDICATION SAFETY 2
Medication Safety
Introduction
Medication errors are prevalent in healthcare institutions and affect the lives of patients
and healthcare providers. Chiefly, medication errors can occur in the handling, storage or
administration of drugs. Medicines are linked to many adverse events since they are commonly
used in healthcare settings. Australia is addressing the problem of medicine errors through
system based approaches such as medication chart. Nurses can also address the issue of
medication errors by complying with codes of conduct and professional requirements. This paper
discusses the causes of medication errors, their effects, national strategies and nursing roles in
reducing medication errors.
The main cause of Medication errors
Medication errors are mainly caused by human factors and can occur in any healthcare
setting. Most of the medication errors in Australia occur because of a lapse error or slip error and
about 2 per cent and 5 per cent of Australian drug charts have prescribing errors (Roughead &
Bedford, 2012). Low or lack of pharmacological knowledge is a major cause of medication
errors (Cheragi, Manoocheri, Mohammadnejad & Ehsani, 2013). The use of abbreviations
instead of the full name of a particular drug can result in a medical error (Cheragi et al., 2013). In
most cases, this kind of medical error occurs when the provider administering the drug has low
pharmacological knowledge. The use of similar drug names can also cause a provider to commit
an error while administering the medicines. Further, medication errors can occur due to long
working hours and lack of adequate rest. One study involving 327 nursing staff and 62 nursing
students found that 97.8 per cent of medication errors were caused by tiredness because of
increased workload (Gorgich, Barfroshan, Ghoreishi & Yaghoobi, 2016). Among the nursing

MEDICATION SAFETY 3
students, approximately 77.4 per cent of medication errors were linked to drug calculation
(Gorgich et al., 2016). According to Bari, Khan, and Rathore (2016), medication errors occur due
to inadequate experience and fatigue caused by long duty hours.
Effects of medication errors
Medication errors lead to adverse consequences for both the healthcare providers and
patients. Primarily, medication errors result in undesirable implications for patients such as
prolonged hospitalization, a high cost of hospitalization, and severe injury (Gorgich et al., 2013).
In some instances, medication error might lead to disability and even mortality for the affected
patients (Gorgich et al., 2013). Patients who experience drug errors might develop distrust in the
health care system that prevents them from seeking medical care at a future date. Studies
conducted in various places across Australia indicate that medication errors lead to adverse
outcomes for patients. A study based on Victorian hospitals found that 3.3 per cent of overnight
hospitalizations in 2004 were linked to adverse drug reactions (Roughead, Semple & Rosenfeld,
2016). Another study in Victoria found that medication errors grew by 0.5 per cent for each
additional day in hospital (Roughead et al., 2016). One study done in Melbourne found that
about 7.2 per cent of hospitalizations were linked to medication problems (Roughead et al.,
2016). On the other hand, medical errors among healthcare providers are related to personal
distress. Bari et al. (2016), assert that healthcare providers feel guilty, disappointed and
inadequate if they commit a medical error. In fact, the authors note that 100% of medical
professionals, which represents a sample of 128 providers, develop negative emotions because of
their errors (Bari et al., 2016).
Strategies of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality Health Care (ACSQHC)