Medication Errors In Long Term Care

Course overview

Medication safety is one of the major components in patient safety but unfortunately medication errors do occur and often go undetected. Some medication errors may result in serious patient morbidity and mortality, thus we need to further strengthen the current system with a mechanism to monitor and make recommendations for remedial actions when errors occur and are reported. One of the important missions of the healthcare providers is to help patients make the best use of medications and very importantly, strive to ensure patient safety. Patient safety and quality of care are essential aspects of clinical nursing practice. The provision of drug therapy by a medical provider to a patient is a complex process. Errors can occur at any step along the way, from prescribing to the ultimate provision of the drug to the patient. As with any nursing procedure, administering, recommending and/or prescribing a medication requires knowledge, technical skills and judgment. Nurses need the competence to assess the appropriateness of a medication for a client, manage adverse reactions, understand issues related to consent and make ethical decisions about the use of medications. As well, client care environments need systems and structures that support and facilitate safe medication practice.