Medication safety and transfusion errors in the ICU and beyond

Medication errors in critical care: risk factors, prevention and disclosure

“…4 The medication process involves 5 broad stages: prescription, transcription, preparation, dispensation and administration. 5 Medication errors, defined as any error in the medication process regardless of whether a patient experiences an adverse consequence, can occur at any step. 6 It is important to have an understanding of the risk factors for medication errors and the evidence base for preventing medication errors and disclosure, should an error occur.…”

Medication Errors in Critically Ill Adults: A Review of Direct Observation Evidence

“…Critically ill patients receive nearly twice as many medications as patients in general care units, and most medications involve calculations for bolus administration or continuous infusion. 10,11 Methods used for detecting medication errors vary. In a study where true medication errors in the ICU were recorded by an independent pharmacist, Flynn et al 12 found that direct observation by trained personnel (mainly pharmacists) was significantly more valid and accurate than reviewing charts (by investigators) and incident self-reporting (by medicalnursing personnel).…”

Errores de medicación en pacientes críticos adultos de un hospital universitario: Estudio prospectivo y aleatorio

“…Los pacientes en la UCI tienen un elevado riesgo de experimentar EM debido a que: 1) se encuentran habitualmente sedados, razón por la que no pueden detectar o identifi car posibles errores; 2) reciben muchos medicamentos, y 3) la mayoría de estos medicamentos son dados por vía parenteral y requieren de cálculos para su administración 18 . En este contexto, el manejo seguro de la medicación es especialmente desafi ante debido a la complejidad de las diferentes etapas involucradas en su utilización, así la administración de una sola dosis de un medicamento en un hospital, puede requerir la adecuada ejecución de entre 80 y 200 pasos 19 .…”