Medication Errors and Patient Injuries

Medication Errors and Patient Injuries Student Name: Professor: Course Title: Date: Medication Errors and Patient Injuries Medication errors refer to preventable events which might result in patient injury or inapt usage of medication whilst it is in the control of patient or medical personnel. Medication errors are a major problem because they may lead to adverse outcomes such as patient injuries including death (Khanna & Yen, 2014). In this paper, an evidence-based practice (EBP) topic of interest is formulated. Specifically, a PICOT clinical question is formulated that is in support of the group topic, namely Medication Errors and Patient Injuries. The significance of the problem is described. Description of the Problem The focus of the group’s work is medication errors and patient injuries. The medication process consists of the following phases: ordering of medication, transcribing in which the recipient must read and understand the prescription, dispensing, administration, and monitoring. Each of these phases provides opportunities for error (Reckmann et al., 2013). According to the Department of Health and Human Services (2017), about 90 percent of all inpatient medication errors happen at either the transcribing or ordering phase. Significance of the Problem There are many causes of medication errors, including lack of knowledge on the part of the ordering medical professional, unclear abbreviations, and poor handwriting. The problem of medication errors is a significant one as it could result in life threatening harm, permanent injury, or even death (Charles et al., 2014).When a medication error causes patient injury, it is referred to as an adverse drug event (ADE). A preventable ADE arises out of a medication error that reaches the patient and cause injury to him/her. Potential ADEs are medication errors which cause no injury either due to lack or because they were intercepted prior to reaching the patients. Medication error rates for hospitalized patients have been reported as 4.8% to 5.3% (Department of Health and Human Services, 2017). Every year, adverse drug events cause about 100,000 hospitalizations in the United States and more than 700,000 visits to emergency departments (Department of Health and Human Services, 2017). PICOT Question The PICOT question is as follows: In paediatrics (P), is the Computerised Physician Order Entry (CPOE) (I) compared to the conventional paper-based ordering system (C) more effective in reducing medication errors and patient injuries (O) within a period of 3 months (T). Purpose of the Paper The purpose of the paper is to find out whether Computerized-Physician Order Entry system is actually better than the paper-based ordering system being used today in the prevention of medication errors in paediatrics. CPOE refers to the process in which the doctor’s instructions and medication orders are entered electronically with the use of a computer-based system for the purpose of ensuring complete, legible, and standardized orders (Charles et al., 2014). Various scholars have reported that CPOE is a...