I don’t think medication errors are being reported as much as they occur. Nurses have a tendency not to report for fear of disciplinary action. We need a way to assure the nurse that she/he will not receive discipline but allow them to take the experience to learn from. To provide quality care we must report these incidents. I have always felt that if I make a mistake and no harm has come to anyone this is an opportunity for me to grow and share the experience with others. I feel even the smallest medication error should be reported so we can do a root/cause/analysis to improve the process so that the same error doesn’t happen again. It is my responsibility to report any error that I make to assure the safety of my patients. No one is perfect but we need to take responsibility for our actions.
Original Post:
March 4, 2008
While I am in strong agreement that inadequate systems are to blame for many of the errors made in medicine, I also believe that the culture of medicine is to blame. In order to protect themselves and their loved ones from such errors, patients must start taking some responsibility for their own health care. Nurses and doctors must welcome questions and provide adequate answers. I have taken care of that patient or family who was always questioning, always double and triple checking up on me and all of the other providers. I have also made errors, but not on that patient.
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medication errors
patient educationHealth Promotion
Tags: Medication Errors
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