It has become obvious to me in my practice as a nurse administrator that medication errors are a major liability to a health care facility. Efforts to reduce them are paramount to quality standards of practice.. A combination of education and interdisciplinary approach to error reduction is crucial. By "humanizing" medication directions i.e. at bedtime instead of hs the potential for the wrong med at the wrong time at the wrong dose is minimized. By educating new nursing students to the need for safe practice and insisting on that practice prior to graduating nurses, medication errors as well as quality of care will improve. By utilizing pharmacy consultants to review MD orders for correct utilization of meds the potential for error is again reduced.
Tags: Forensic Nursing, Forensic Nursing Chronicles, Forensic Nursing Theories, Forensic Nursing Medication Errors