MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION ERRORS INCIDENCE IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL: IS IT THE HIDDEN PART OF OUR HEALTH-CARE SYSTEM
Prof. Krishnajyoti Goswami, Dr. Paramita Pal (Bhattacharyya), Prof. Ipsita Mazumdar* and Dr. Subhrojyoti Bhowmick
ABSTRACT
One of the most common major issues in health-care are known medication errors,which can be defined as: any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use, or patient harm, while the medication is in the control of the health-care professional, patient or consumer; according tothe National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP). Medication administration errors (MAEs) are particularly important in the intensive care unit (ICU) because ICU patients usually receive many drugs; majority of which are given parenterally. The present study aims to identify and assess the MAEs in patients admitted in ICU in a tertiary care hospital, and alsoassess the frequency and risk factors of such errors. Direct observation of medication administration was carried out on patients in the ICU of the hospital. MAEs were assessed by using Medscope Drug Interaction Checker Software and Phadke’s criteria for the assessment of rationality of prescription orders. Among MAES, 23.09% omission errors, 18.02% wrong dose and 39.97% wrong rate of IV infusion errors were the major types of errors. The majority MAEs belonged to Category C (63.06%), Category E (21.93%), Category B (7.61%) and Category D (7.40%).WHO launched the “Medication without Harm” protocol in 2017, aiming to reduce severe, avoidable harm related to medications in all countries by 50% in the next 5 years. Early detection and intervention of MAEs help towards its realization, along with improvement of hospital-patient relationship; as well as reduce the cost of treatment and implement rational drug use.
Keywords: Medication Administration Errors,Medscope Drug Interaction Checker, Phadke’s Criteria.
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