Medication Error Prevention

Course overview

This educational activity is credited for 2 hours at completion of the activity. More than 100,000 medication errors are reported to the Food and Drug Administration each year. Medication errors occur because of environmental factors, unavailable medication information, and miscommunication of medication orders. There are many identifiable ways to reduce mediation errors, such as using the 6 rights to medication administration, medication reconciliation, and verifying new orders through double checking and read back techniques. Medication errors are preventable, and often result from not following proper policies in place for medication administration. This learning activity identifies potential risk factors that contribute to medication errors, and solutions that may be implemented when administering medication to reduce the risk of medication errors.