Heather Caton
Susan Landers
Suzanne Reith
Link: https://youtu.be/8B1GLyRVcgU
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Heather Caton
Susan Landers
Suzanne Reith
Link: https://youtu.be/8B1GLyRVcgU
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Great presentation! I would like to add that working in safe RN-to-Patient Ratio would help to prevent medication errors. According to National Nurses Organization, a proposed federal medical-surgical nurse ratio is 1:4. Working with 4 patients on medical-surgical unit, would create a safe environment, nurses would not feel overwhelmed and would stay focused.
Agreed, it’s easy to fill overwhelmed if your assigned more patients than you should have. Your pushed for time and that’s when mistakes happen. Thank you
One of the most common issues I’ve run into is problems with communication between physicians and nurses. The facility I work at has really cracked down on verbal orders (with the exception of emergent or code situations). There are a few physicians I work with that continue to give verbal orders and when the nurses tell them they need to put the order in, they give us grief and say they’ll do it when they have time. The order doesn’t get put in, the nurse gets busy and a medication gets missed. It’s frustrating because management looks at the number of verbal orders the nurses enter and we get reprimanded if the number is too high. There are also issues with consulting physicians writing orders on a paper order form, placing it on the back of the chart and walking away without saying anything. My facility does not do paper charting anymore so the nurses have no reason to look at the charts unless we need labels. The patient gets admitted from the ER to the floor, the paperwork gets sent up, and the floor nurse sees orders that were never carried out. These things could easily be prevented with better communication.
Yes, we had the same policy. The physicians were to put in their own orders via electronically. I couldn’t tell you how many times the rounding physician would give us verbal orders. They knew the policy and would make excuses. Such as, they were having trouble getting on their laptop or they needed to go to a meeting.
Thank you
Fantastic job. You’re presentation encouraged me to think about my practice in the ED. Considering so many errors occur in the ED, I am concerned about what errors I have made and do not know about. It was particularly helpful to review the 6 R’s of medication administration. It’s never a loss to review information. Thank you for educating me on this topic.
In our research, we too were quite surprised with the percentage of errors that occurred in the ED. Yes, we thought a quick review of the 6 R’s of medication administration, could never hurt! 🙂
Thank you
Medication errors are common everywhere. It is so important that all parties know the 6 rights of administration of medication. I work as a school nurse, and the secretaries help pass medication. Parents will bring in medications and not even tell the secretaries about the medication dosage change! It is very important to know what you are giving, and why you are giving it. When in doubt always ask the doctor, and even the pharmacists.
Yes, medication errors are everywhere. As nurses we all know the 6 R’s of medication administration. As nurses we need to slow down and think of those 6 R’s, and administer medications accordingly. We owe this to our patients.
Thank you
I am so glad that your group mentioned the discrepancy in the discharge medications and the medications that should be taken. When I was working in home health, there were more patients that had errors on their discharge papers then not. It was scary as well as frustrating. Medication errors are such a huge risk and often goes unnoticed. Great job! Your video was good!
Agreed, there were always discrepancies on the discharge medications. This is one reason why we implemented a two nurse check of the discharge medications. It helped us reduce these discrepancies!
Thank you
Medication errors second nursing preventable outcomes just after falls. Great presentation, I was also amazed to see that ER present the higher rates for medication errors. I also wonder as jrconner how many mistakes did I make when I was working and I did not realize about it! Well, I agree with you all about in verbal orders that need to be in writing! with the exception as somebody said for emergent and code situations. We can be liable if and adverse reaction happened to the patient and nothing was in writing. We need to take care of our patient as well as ourselves
Katty
Yes, I feel that written orders, does help reduce medication errors. We do need to protect ourselves and our patients.
Thank you
It is very important that nurses learn about and pay attention to the severity of medication risks. Often times this issues is minimized because it has become so common. I have been a nurse for 5 years now and being a newer nurse I have noticed this myself that many learning experiences come from the mistake. In this particular situation it could be very detrimental to someone else’s health. Knowing the medications that you are passing and the risk of the medication you are passing it the key to this. Question yourself, “why is the patient getting this medication?” “what is it being used for” and if it does not make sense question that as well. It is always better to safe rather than sorry.
Agreed, knowing the medications that you’re administering and the reason why your patient was ordered this medication. Great questions to ask yourself!
Thank you
Great presentation! It is really important to slow down when you are giving medications and know why that patient is getting that medication. Another way to prevent medication errors is telling the patient what medications you are giving them. There have been several times that a patient has told me they are allergic to the medication that was ordered. Also, I always tell new grads that if a medication a physician ordered just doesn’t make sense, call and clarify the order with the physician.
Although electronics were supposed to reduce errors, in some cases they are the cause of them. Once a medication is entered into the EMR, it stays there forever- unless it is manually removed. As a result, patients come into the hospital with incorrect records, and if no one updates them, can very well be given things they don’t take at home based on the EMR.
I recently encountered a situation wee critical care for a patient was delayed due to “technology”- pt needed a Cardizem, the EMR required a physician to enter it- and the physician was in surgery. Pharmacy had the drip in hand, waiting for the order. Everyone agreed the patient needed the medication, but due to barriers built into the system, it was delayed until we could scrounge up a doctor to physically put the order in.