The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP) defines a medication error as:Īny preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the healthcare professional, patient, or consumer. Medication EventsĮighty-two percent of American adults take at least one medication and 29% take five or more-and the potential for medication events is likely to grow. In late November 2018, a lengthy investigation by the Tampa Bay Times into a pattern of deadly errors at All Children’s Heart Institute in Tampa, Florida, brought to light the many ways in which error can creep in and be compounded and we may not be prepared to question and report soon enough to prevent tragedy (McGrory & Bedi, 2018). Our culture has not always been one that promotes questioning of authority figures but, as with all things human, errors can happen in healthcare and those errors can have life changing or life ending consequences. We need to be prepared to recognize potential problems and ask questions of our healthcare providers, and to know when to act. The same is essentially true across all categories of medical errors.Īn individual may not need to know as much detail as the healthcare professional, but the bottom line is that we each must be advocates for our own healthcare. Nursing professionals need a wider range of information about medication errors, for example, but every occupational or physical therapist will be better able to observe and protect their patients if they possess an appropriate understanding of the effects and symptoms of medication problems. How much you need to know varies with your situation. Whether you are a healthcare professional, a family caregiver, or a patient, the more you know, the better you can protect yourself and others. Medical errors are everyone’s business and everyone’s responsibility. Documentation/computer errors (NQF, 2011 AHRQ, 2018 CMS, 2018 Joint Commission, 2016 NHSN, 2019).Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).Medication events (including adverse drug events/reactions).Errors can occur around the administration of medications, during laboratory testing, when infections occur within the healthcare setting, as a result of surgery, in an environment that contributes to pressure sores or a patient fall, or even in documentation or data entry tasks.Ī number of healthcare organizations and government agencies have lists of medical errors on which they focus, but the seven discussed here appear across lists from most oversight organizations and are the ones most commonly encountered: ![]() There are many ways that medical care can go wrong. To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System ![]() Error is defined as the failure of a planned action to be completed as intended or the use of a wrong plan to achieve an aim.
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