Investigation of Medication Errors in a Tertiary Care Hospitals in the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

<jats:p>BACKGROUND: Medication errors (MEs) have been defined as “any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication or patient harm when the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer.”&#x0D; AIM: The aim of this study is to identify, analyze, and compare the common types of errors encountered in prescriptions, as well as the factors associated with the root causes of these errors, in a large tertiary hospital in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia.&#x0D; METHODS: The design used is a retrospective cross-sectional analysis conducted in tertiary care hospitals in the Al-Qassim region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. MEs were reported by nurses, pharmacist, and physicians through “hospital-based incident medication error reports” collected from January 2016 to December 2016.&#x0D; RESULTS: During the study period, 2123 MEs were reported for 213,489 prescriptions, of which 1282 (60.38%) were errors by a physician followed by nurses and then pharmacists. Analysis of the outcome of error types revealed that error types B and C were the most common, with only few type A errors identified (0.14%). The most common type of error was incomplete data (34.27%) followed by prescription in illegible handwriting (14.88%). The least common ME was prescription of the wrong strength (0.17%).&#x0D; CONCLUSION: This study revealed multiple prescription errors across 213,489 prescriptions, most commonly originating with physicians. The incidence of serious errors was low at 0.14%, and the major outcome of prescription errors was “Near miss.” “Incomplete data” and “Illegible handwriting” were the most common types of MEs detected. Despite the low number of MEs recorded during the study period, some of the errors were indeed serious. Based on the findings of this study, policy-makers should consider strategies for increasing efficiency in the hospital setting.</jats:p>

Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Medication Errors among Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study in Major Jeddah Hospitals

“…The prevalence of medication error was 72.1%, and only 41.2% of the total were reported. This result highlights the high risk of medication error among nurses in Saudi Arabia, aligning with prior research in which nurses were responsible for 31.0% and 35.0% of medication errors recorded from retrospective and cross-sectional data in the country [14,15]. Moreover, the incidence of medication errors was 44.4% in Saudi Arabia hospitals with prescribing and administration errors as the most frequently reported medication errors [12].…”

“…Meanwhile, Alshammari et al [13] conducted a cross-sectional study among healthcare professionals and reported limited reporting of medication errors, and most participants lacked good knowledge of medication error stages and had no history of being trained on the issue. The only study that presented information regarding medication errors among nurses was performed by Harkan et al [14]. The authors conducted a retrospective cross-sectional analysis in tertiary healthcare facilities in the Al-Qassim region of the KSA and found that medication errors by physicians and nurses accounted for 60.4% and 34.0% of the overall errors.…”

Towards an Application Helping to Minimize Medication Error Rate

“…However, this solution provides excessive information, which was time-consuming. Furthermore, it does not fulfill the nurses' needs for a quick review of the most common medications used in a specific unit [5]. Another solution was adding a feature that categorizes the medication into top general common medications or according to a specific disease and not for units or conditions requiring a quick reaction [6].…”

“…When giving medications, nurses should remember "five rules" and take them into account all the time: the right medication, the right patient, the right dose, the right time, and the right way [5]. Among the main causes of medication errors is exposure to distraction.…”

“…Similarly, Al-Harkan et al stated that "implementation of medication orders is an important part of the process of treatment and care of patients and it is considered as a major component of a nurse's task, and in the meantime, patient safety has particular importance" [5]. One of the many challenges nurses face is when they transfer across units as the medication lists they use also change.…”