Hospital medication errors: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Medication Errors are among the most common types of incidents reported in Australian and international hospitals. There is no uniform method of reporting these errors and no uniform method of reducing them. This study aims to identify the incidence, time trends, types and factors associated factors with medication errors in a large regional hospital. Methods A five-year cross sectional study Results The incidence of medication errors was 1.05 per 100 admitted patients. The highest frequency of errors was observed during the colder months of May to August. When distributed by day, Mondays and Tuesdays had the highest frequency of errors. When distributed by hour of the day, time intervals from 7am to 8am and 7 pm to 8pm showed a sharp increase in the frequency of errors. 1088 (57.8%) MEs belonged to ISR 4 and 787 (41.8%) belonged to ISR 3. There were 6 incidents of ISR level 2 and only 1 incident of ISR level 1 reported in the last 5 years. Administration only errors were the most common accounting for 1070 (56.8%) followed by prescribing only errors (433, 23%). High risk medications were associated with half the number of errors, the most common of which were narcotics (17.9%) and anti-microbials (13.2%). Conclusions Medication errors continue to be a problem faced by hospitals internationally. Inexperience of health professionals and nurse-patient ratios might be the fundamental challenges to overcome. Specific training of junior staff in prescribing and administering medication and nurse workload management could be possible solutions to reducing MEs in hospitals.

Issues with the Swedish e-prescribing system – An analysis of health information technology-related incident reports using an existing classification system

“…Medication errors or issues related to the e-prescribing system are common in countries such as the USA, 67 , 68 Australia, 69 , 70 the UK, 71 – 73 and European countries, such as Denmark, 26 Norway 25 and the Netherlands. 28 Like many other countries, Sweden is no exception to being prone to these challenges; however, limited attempts have been made to overcome these issues since most reported events are repetitive, causing reduced trust in the healthcare system.…”

Towards an Application Helping to Minimize Medication Error Rate

“…According to the WHO, one of the factors associated with ME is insufficient medication knowledge and experience. Nurses spend approximately 40% of their time in hospitals administering medications to their patients [7]. e primary factor associated with MEs as perceived by nurses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is that nurses are not familiar with the unit environment and the medications used in specific units [8,9].…”

Opioid‐related medication incidents in Australian clinical practice

“…A recent Victorian study reporting 18% of errors involved narcotics. 5 Opioid use is prone to error because opioids are available in a range of strengths and formulations, dose calculation and measurement is often required prior to administration, and opioids may be administered on a regular or asneeded (PRN) basis. Immediate/slow release confusion, adult and paediatric dosing confusion, and 'look-alike, sound-alike' confusion (e.g.…”

“…While the proportion of opioid use relative to overall medication use was unclear in the present study, Australia‐wide the rate of medication incidents attributable to opioids may be even higher. A recent Victorian study reporting 18% of errors involved narcotics 5 . Opioid use is prone to error because opioids are available in a range of strengths and formulations, dose calculation and measurement is often required prior to administration, and opioids may be administered on a regular or as‐needed (PRN) basis.…”