The Importance of Obtaining Verbal Confirmation of Patient Identifiers While Using Technology during Medication Administration

Abstract

The use of technology in healthcare provides phenomenal opportunity for improved workflow and safer patient care. There is a concern that due to the ability to expedite patient care processes, technology can lead to nurses abandoning the need to continue the use of the-five rights‖ of medication administration, specifically with the use of a barcode medication administration system. This study examines the practices of nurses at a local acute care facility to determine the usage of verbal patient verification during medication administration through direct observation. The information gained from the direct observations will be used to educate the nursing staff of the importance to continue the usage of patient safety measures to reduce medication errors and sentinel events. The results of the observations will be reported to a third party reporting agency (LeapFrog) to provide area healthcare consumers with a patient safety score for the facility.