Date
1-9-2024
Department
School of Nursing
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Chair
Kenneth Thompson
Keywords
Medication Errors, Hospitals, Nurses, Providers, Medication Administration Errors
Disciplines
Nursing | Psychiatry and Psychology
Recommended Citation
Jalloh, Isata, "Medication Errors in Hospitals" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 5156.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5156
Abstract
In hospitals, the issue of medication errors poses a serious problem, often leading to substantial health complications and, in some cases, even deaths among hospitalized as well as discharged patients. This health challenge not only imposes a substantial financial burden on patients, insurance providers, and Federal/State governments but also contributes to elevated healthcare expenses, hindering the effective allocation of resources to address other healthcare issues. Understanding the triggers of medication errors in hospitals is critical in solving this problem. The purpose of this integrative review is to determine the causes/triggers of medication errors in hospitals. This review will highlight the conditions that providers and clinicians face, including the routine processes during prescription and medication administration to determine specific areas where discrepancies occur, which in turn, creates the inevitability of medication errors. The review will reveal that poor collaboration between healthcare providers and clinicians is a significant contributing factor to medication errors within hospital settings. Also, illegible handwritten orders, and in some cases, poor understanding of verbal orders in emergency situations are also reasons for wrong dosage medication errors. The review will also reveal an elevated incidence of medication errors among night shift nurses in comparison to those on day shifts, primarily due to burnout resulting from holding multiple jobs during the day, sometimes leading to difficulties in reaching healthcare providers at night. Furthermore, the review will provide applicable approaches that increase team collaboration during patient admission and discharge in order to decrease medication errors. Also, the review will encourage clinicians to repeat verbal orders for clarification and to confirm written orders before administering medications to reduce dosing errors. Finally, the review will show that collaboration through active listening, change of behaviors, and communication are critical in reducing medications errors in hospitals.
