Chapter 5: Medication Errors

Question 1

Medication errors

Answer 1

Any preventable adverse drug events involving inappropriate medication use by a patient or health care professional

Question 2

Do medication errors always cause patient harm?

Answer 2

they may or may not cause the patient harm

Question 3

What are high-alert medications?

Answer 3

Medications that bear a heightened risk of causing significant patient harm when they are used in error.

Question 4

Who are the most vulnerable populations to medication errors?

Answer 4

The very young and very old.

Immunocompromised.

Question 5

What issues contribute to medication errors?

Answer 5

1. Organizational issues
2. Educational system issues
3. Sociologic factors (ex. Language barrier, doctor’s handwriting isn’t legible, etc.)

Question 6

What are the causes of medication errors?

Answer 6

1. Omitting any of the rights of med administration
2. Not considering age, body size, kidney and liver function.
3. Stressful work conditions
4. No clear orders from prescribers
5. Taking multiple medications
6. Getting meds filled from different pharmacies
7. Taking meds incorrectly

Question 7

Responding to, Reporting and Documenting Medication Errors

Answer 7

1. Follow the hospital’s reporting policies and procedures
2. Document facts
3. Incident Report
4. External Reporting

Question 8

Medication Reconciliation

Answer 8

procedure to maintain an accurate and up-to-date list of medications for all patients between all phases of health care delivery

Question 9

Medication reconciliation requires patients to

Answer 9

Provide a list of all the medications they are currently taking. Prescribers decide if patients should continue taking them. There should be no discrepancies between home and hospital meds.

Question 10

What are nursing responsibilities to prevent medication errors?

Answer 10

• Nurses need to always check the medication order three times before giving the drug and consult with authoritative resources if any questions or concerns exist.
• the basic “six rights” of medication administration should be used consistently

Question 11

What are the high-alert medications?

Answer 11

Insulins
Opiates
Anticoagulants (heparin, warfarin)
Potassium Chloride for injections
Chemotherapy

Question 12

idiosyncratic reaction

Answer 12

abnormal and unexpected response to a medication, other than an allergic reaction, that is peculiar to an individual patient.

Question 13

allergic reactions

Answer 13

immunologic reaction resulting from unusual sensitivity of a patient to a certain medication