Annotated Bibliography on Medication errors 

Introduction

Medication errors are defined as inaccuracy in the process of describing, prescription, and administering of drugs into the body of patients regardless of whether the errors introduced result to adverse effects or not. The type of error results from the stage of treatment; the first type of failure is the prescribing err (Wang,2017). The highest number of medication errors results from a weak prescription of the drugs, for example, poor handwriting, which may not be legible to the pharmacists; however, the error may be corrected by the use of electronic devices to write instead of handwriting. Another type of medication error results from poor administration of drugs into the body of the patients. Therefore, nurses should be keen on the most effective method to use. Some medicines are more efficient when injected than be introduced orally.

Annotated Bibliography

Health is curial, and nurses are to be on the watch of their patients to make sure the best care is awarded. However, medication errors happen in some cases, and it results in an adverse consequence. The mistakes occur from prescribing, administration, and the concentration of the drugs. The results are that it leads to new conditions developing, an increase in mortality rate, and injury to the patient’s general health. There is a need for a unique framework to ensure that such errors are dealt with accordingly to avoid adverse consequences.

The PICO acronym stands for population, intervention, comparison, and outcome. It is an approach adopted in formulating evidence-based practice questions. PICO, then guides the literature search that follows The following PICO applies for this annotated bibliography:

• P (Population): Nurses working as direct caregivers in the USA
• I (Intervention): Analysis and distribution of studies conducted reviewing the experiences of nurses related to medication errors.
• C (Comparison): no baseline information exists regarding medication errors in the USA
• (Outcome): Nurses undergo distress and experience support needs that are unmet as a result of occurrences of medication errors.

PICO solution

PICO solution is based on an evidence program which involves strategies in the best ways of preventing medical error. Population, which in the study is the patients, is the significant step in avoiding inaccuracy in the prescription of medication. The type of drugs to be used depends on the kind of patient, whether outpatient or inpatient. Though intervention should also be used in curbing the statement of the problem, frequent studies and research must be carried out before using a drug to treat, manage or control a disease (Wang,2017). The medical practitioners and the researchers should be aware of the possible outcomes of the drug to the patient.

Medical practitioners also must compare and contrast the effectiveness of a different kind of drug over using another while treating the same disease. Some drugs work more effectively compared to others, although they are used to treat, control, and manage the same disorder. Lastly, nurses should be keen to evaluate the possible outcomes and results in the medication of a disease using a different type of drug. In so doing, they can identify the best drug in treating the disorder and therefore preventing errors occurring in the medication process.

Ammenwerth, E., Schnell-Inderst, P., Machan, C., & Siebert, U. (2008). The effect of electronic prescribing on medication errors and adverse drug events: A systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 15(5), 585-600.

The article is a review of the impact and the contribution of the electronic system in medication errors. It indicates how the physician ends up confusing key factors, thus leading to medication errors. The advantage of this article is that it offers insights on how the intervention of informatics nurses can help solve the issue. The report is, however, limited to facilities with a well-managed electronic database. Health facilities lacking electronic databases are left out by the research,

Hörberg, A., Lindström, V., Scheja, M., Conte, H., & Kalén, S. (2018). Challenging encounters as experienced by registered nurses new to the emergency medical service: Explored by using the theory of communities of practice. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 24(2), 233-249.

The article is a review of the challenges that registered nurses undergo while practicing. In line with the study, the consequences of the problems get assessed, and medication errors are possible. It is essential, as it will understand how initial effects on the nurses affect the entire program. The article also recommends how to deal with such situations.

Kennell, T., Willig, J., & Cimino, J. (2017). Clinical informatics researcher’s desiderata for the data content of the next-generation electronic health record. Applied Clinical Informatics, 08(04), 1159-1172.

The article is a review of the clinical informatics needs for the data from EHRs in the next generation. It presents with how vital the data is towards changing the cycle of the operation in the facility. The data needed to be revised, and hence it needs to be updated and accessible. One of the problems that they will aim at reducing is medication errors. The main advantage of reading this article is that it indicates to the informatics nurses what they need to input. However, the report recommends that nurses may require additional training to understand how to deal with medication errors effectively. It may prove disadvantageous to the health facilities as it has an underlying implication of additional training costs.

Khalil, H., Bell, B., Chambers, H., Sheikh, A., & Avery, A. (2017). Professional, structural, and organizational interventions in primary care for reducing medication errors. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 10, 1465-1858.

The article reviews the professional, structural, and organizational measures towards dealing with issues of medication errors. It suggests how the interrelation of the action at the primary stage can help to minimize medication errors. In addition to that, it pinpoints out all the adverse effects that result due to a lack of cooperation. Based on the literature, it is essential for knowing how the framework of an organization can help to deal with issues. In addition to that, it gives broad research that captures the critical areas in control. However, the study has limitations; it does not consider formal support models for nurses.

McComas, J., Riingen, M., & Chae, Kim, S. (2014). Impact of an electronic medication administration record on medication administration efficiency and errors. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 32(12), 589-595.

The article analyses the impact of medication errors on the patient based on electronic health records. It shows how the effect gets felt in the hospital, and the data follow up. Besides, it establishes that the automated system has numerous implications. It is essential for the study, as it will help determine the critical impact of medication errors. Lastly, it can be crucial for building a framework that can be able to solve the issue. It is, however, limited to the use of electronic systems only. It is a disadvantage since the study pool leaves out nurses working in health facilities without automated systems.

Merry, A., & Anderson, B. (2011). Medication errors: New approaches to prevention. Pediatric Anesthesia, 21(7), 743-753.

The article evaluates the current approaches that have been put in place to deal with medication errors. The method has been analyzed based on the previous issues and reasons why they came to be. It is essential for the research as it helps to determine the key factor resulting in the problem. In addition to that, it will help give further and immediate approaches that need to get taken. The research is limited to organizations with management systems that are committed to the cause of action. If the facility has no such policy, a portion of nurses will get left out of the analysis. The main advantage of this study is that it offers essential insights into ways to prevent the occurrences of medication errors.

Semiz Aydın, S., Akın, S., & Işıl, Ö. (2017). Evaluating the knowledge levels of nurses regarding medication errors and the views of nurses on reporting medication errors. Hemşirelikte Eğitim Ve Araştırma Dergisi, 14(1), 14-24.

The article is an evaluation of the nurse’s knowledge of medication errors and their willingness to report. The article evaluates what the nurses know about the mistakes and how they go about it. In addition to that, it establishes steps that they take in the event of medication errors to the client. It is crucial, as it will help in understanding the knowledge they get from both school and experience. The recommendation given is essential to assist in establishing possible ways to deal with the issue. The findings of this study are an indication of health facilities regarding the shortcomings of the nurses. Addressing these issues will be advantageous to the health facilities.

Valenta, A., Meagher, E., Tachinardi, U., & Starren, J. (2016). Core informatics competencies for clinical and translational scientists: what do our customers and collaborators need to know?. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 23(4), 835-839.

The articles are an analysis of the competencies that informatics in the medical sector will need to have while practicing. It assesses the previous regulation that has been put across before on data on EHRs. It is essential for the study as it helps to understand the various kinds of data that need to be keyed in by nurses. The advantage is, it will help have a standard way of knowing how to counter the issue. However, the revised information cannot be accessed by everyone since it is on specific sites. In addition to that, different states have their regulation, and the patient’s privacy is vital. These two limitations pose disadvantages to health care organizations.

Wang, J., & Zhang, J. (2015). Adapting a unified electronic health record usability framework for evaluation of connected health care technologies linking mobile data. Proceedings, 1(1), e20.

The article is a review of the ability of the health system to adapt to the new electronic wave of data storage. It proposes a possible linkage of the phone app with the data for both the facility and the patients. It is crucial in helping to identify any other possible solution to keeping the information safe. However, the study has a limitation, as the system is experimental. Once again, the scope of this study is not exhaustive. Leaving out the nurses working in undigitized organizations leaves loopholes in the study. This study has numerous advantages, the most outstanding being, implementing the findings enhances early detection of medical errors, and action can swiftly get taken to prevent adverse effects on the patient’s health.

Assiri, G. A., Shebl, N. A., Mahmoud, M. A., Aloudah, N., Grant, E., Aljadhey, H., & 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 international literature. BMJ Open, 8(5), e019101.

The study analyzes the epidemiology of adverse effects resulting from medication errors, in adults found in ambulatory care and the homes of patients. The data got collected from international databases between 2006 and 2015. The findings of the study identified the various ways medication errors may occur. The advantage of this article is that the results are of relevance to all caregivers, not only nurses. This advantage is also a limitation of the study. PICO identifies the population as nurses in health facilities; this article is not restrictive to only the nurses.

Pros and Cons in Medication error

For about 22 years, the Institute of medicine has been carrying out research on the phrase “man is to err.” The objective of carrying out the study is to reduce medication errors, which have been prevalent for many years (Wang,2017). Whether to disclose any error that occurs during the mediation process to the patient is still not clear since most of the patients will take a step forward to reporting the issue to the relevant authorities. Therefore, there must be total nurses’ coordination and excellent communication to prevent such errors occurring. A higher percentage of patients will sue the nurses due to evidence present in the process. Hence most health practitioners ill decide not to communicate any instance of the error.

One of the major types of medication errors in prescribing error. The err may be corrected by the use of electronic prescribing devices such as computers. Advantage of electronic prescribing devices is; a higher level of confidence in the health safety of patients, reduction in the money incurred while buying the drugs, better levels of patient understanding in the medication process as well as a higher number of pharmacy interventions and consultations. However, the electronic prescribing method contains a few disadvantages. Although the process prevents the occurrence of some errors, it may introduce even other errors; such inaccuracies include the omission of vital information and data, inadequate directional steps in the drug introduction process, poor selection of drugs to be used in the medication process which may differ from one patient to another.

The electronic prescribing process depends on electronic devices such as computers and printers, and therefore system breakdown may have a more significant effect on the medication process. Also, most of the pharmacists are not conversant with the electronic prescribing devices and, therefore, introduction to more errors in the process (Wang,2017). Research has indicated that poor electronic prescribing has a direct negative effect on the health safety of patients. Therefore, there is a need to conduct formal training in electronic prescribing to the pharmacists in order to curb the challenge. The process also requires much time in the verification process of the data and information that contains the health records of the patient. Hence the type of drug prescription is time consuming compared to the traditional means such as handwriting.

Electronic prescribing is disadvantageous in the sense that the device’s actual buying price is costly and hence high startup costs. Besides, the buying costs, the devices require many maintenances procedures which consume a lot of money.

Conclusion

Medication error consists of three types, which results from the medication steps. Administering, introduction, and prescription errors, the study has analyzed the prescription error in-depth. As a new technological invention, there must be cons and pros which are associated with the method. However, when the electronic prescribing disadvantages are improved, many befits can be enjoyed by the patients. For example, an increase in accuracy level as well as higher efficacy and efficiency in the medication process.

References

Assiri, G. A., Shebl, N. A., Mahmoud, M. A., Aloudah, N., Grant, E., Aljadhey, H., & 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 international literature. BMJ Open, 8(5), e019101.

Ammenwerth, E., Schnell-Inderst, P., Machan, C., & Siebert, U. (2008). The effect of electronic prescribing on medication errors and adverse drug events: A systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 15(5), 585-600.

Hörberg, A., Lindström, V., Scheja, M., Conte, H., & Kalén, S. (2018). Challenging encounters as experienced by registered nurses new to the emergency medical service: Explored by using the theory of communities of practice. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 24(2), 233-249.

Kennell, T., Willig, J., & Cimino, J. (2017). Clinical informatics researcher’s desiderata for the data content of the next-generation electronic health record. Applied Clinical Informatics, 08(04), 1159-1172.

Kennell, T., Willig, J., & Cimino, J. (2017). Clinical informatics researcher’s desiderata for the data content of the next-generation electronic health record. Applied Clinical Informatics, 08(04), 1159-1172.

Khalil, H., Bell, B., Chambers, H., Sheikh, A., & Avery, A. (2017). Professional, structural, and organizational interventions in primary care for reducing medication errors. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 10, 1465-1858.

McComas, J., Riingen, M., & Chae, Kim, S. (2014). Impact of an electronic medication administration record on medication administration efficiency and errors. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 32(12), 589-595.

Merry, A., & Anderson, B. (2011). Medication errors: New approaches to prevention. Pediatric Anesthesia, 21(7), 743-753.

Semiz Aydın, S., Akın, S., & Işıl, Ö. (2017). Evaluating the knowledge levels of nurses regarding medication errors and the views of nurses on reporting medication errors. Hemşirelikte Eğitim Ve Araştırma Dergisi, 14(1), 14-24.

Valenta, A., Meagher, E., Tachinardi, U., & Starren, J. (2016). Core informatics competencies for clinical and translational scientists: what do our customers and collaborators need to know?. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 23(4), 835-839.

Wang, J., & Zhang, J. (2015). Adapting a unified electronic health record usability framework for evaluation of connected health care technologies linking mobile data. Proceedings, 1(1), e20.