Medication Administration Safety

The 2013 National Patient Safety Goals Standards (NPSGS) disclose that at certain points in the wellness cargon put to work, a venture is present for error. Even a single error represents the fortune of monstrous harm to the forbearing, with attendant negative consequences for the health manage professional snarled in the error. The NPSGS bewilder been established to present adjective rubberguards against the possibility of these errors. If the safeguards are consistently followed, the take a chance of errors will decline, with benefits to uncomplainings and health supervise professionals as well.The pull off for of prescribing and dispensing music to diligents comprises a critical juncture in patient safekeeping. The process involves a number of risk points during which errors can occur. The NPSGS establish procedural safeguards in order to value patients from medicinal drug government activity errors. The standards also serve to protect health concern person nel from the personal and professional consequences of making such(prenominal) errors. The NPSGS for medicine administration involve rememberations for the following risk points medication reconciliation, comely identification of a patient prior to dispensing medication, and correct labeling of medication in one case it has been withdraw from its original case.Medication reconciliation is an weighty patient safety issue. satisfaction involves obtaining cultivation on tout ensemble the medications that a patient is fetching, and making current that no duplication, incorrect prescriptions or conflicting prescriptions exist in the distinguish of medicines. Many patients take more than one medication, and administration of medication to these patients is a good deal complex. In order to deflect health complications from errors in medication administration, it is important that a clinician compare the medications that a patient is already receiving with new medications th at prepare been ordered for the patient (The conjugation Commission, 2012a, p. 2).Reconciliation of medication is done to abide by discrepancies in the prescriptions for a patient. Discrepancies in medication administration can have an unfortunate effect on patient health outcomes. Discrepancies in themedications for a patient whitethorn involve duplication of medicines, omission of look ated medications, undesirable interactions between medications, or the get hold of for a decision by a clinician regarding whether to spread over a medication (The Joint Commission, 2012a, p. 2). Clinicians use specific reading to fabricate discrepancies. This may include the ring of the medication, the dosage, the frequency of use (even if only periodical or as needed), the route used to administer the medication such as oral vs. intravenous, and the reason for use (The Joint Commission, 2012a, p. 2).A second risk point for patients during medication administration involves coordination of selective information between health care providers regarding the medications used by a patient. Once again, a patient may be pickings numerous medications, and when a patient is admitted to a care facility or visits a clinic, this information is important for planning care. Gaps in this information can leave in medication administration errors. The NSPGS recommend coordinating medication information between health care providers during the modulation of a patient within and foreign of a health care organization in order to perform medication reconciliation (PC.02.02.01).For example, when a patient is admitted to a hospital, it is important that the complete angle of dip of medications that they are taking is available to the admitting health care professionals. If the patient has been treated by physicians outside the hospital and has been prescribed medication by them, the admitting health care professionals need this information. The NSPGS also advises that health care pr ofessionals provide patients with education on the safe use of medications, especially if they are discharged from the care facility.The NSPGS reminds care providers that patients need to be reminded that if one of their prescriptions is changed by a care provider, all new(prenominal) care providers should be informed of the change (The Joint Commission, 2012a, p. 2). New essential in the NSPGS state that health care personnel are presently required to inform the patient about the importance of keeping this information updated.Clinicians moldiness know whether a patient is taking medication, and which ones they are taking in order to plan the best care, and to provide appropriate interference and services (The Joint Commission, 2012a, p. 2). The patient must be reminded of their own function to inform care providers of which medications they take, and of changes to the medications.There are five goals stated within the NSPGS regarding medication reconciliation. These are 1) to o btain and/or update medication information for the patient upon admission, or during the first point of contact. The list of medications that the patient has been taking at home should be compared with those that have been recently ordered for the patient. Any discrepancies should be immediately resolved by a clinician. This information should be stored in a list format that is easily accessible to other clinicians.The list should include medications that are taken only as needed as well as those taken according to a schedule. Yet patients are frequently unable to communicate this information all the way due to disorder or other handicaps. Since it is often difficult to obtain this information from a patient, the NSPGS nones that a good faith effort will be considered adequate. 2) To engender certain that health care facilities define requirements regarding patient medication administration. The health care facility should clearly define the type of medication administration inf ormation that will be obtained according to various settings and circumstances. This type of information includes name of drug, dosage, route, frequency of use, and purpose.3) A qualified clinician should compare medications currently cosmos administered to the patient with new ones that are ordered in order to detect discrepancies. 4) When the patient leaves a health care setting such as a hospital, to provide the patient or caregiver (such as family) with scripted information regarding medication that should be taken. 5) Inform the patient of the importance of managing their medication information so that it is updated as changes in prescriptions occur (The Joint Commission, 2012a, p. 2).Another risk point of medication administration involves giving medication to the ill-use patient. cheek of medication to the wrong patient isan error that can occur in any stage of diagnosis or treatment. In order to avoid these medication errors, the NPSGS recommend the use of at least two pa tient identifiers when administering medication. For mickleed patients, the correct identifiers to use are the patient name printed on band, and the account number of medical record number, which is also printed on the band (Compau, 2013, p. 16).Since the patients room number or location is not an adequate identifier, it may not be used for this purpose (The Joint Commission, 2012b, p. 1). In health care setting such as clinics, a patient may not be banded. For non-banded patients in a clinical environment, the process for proper identification includes asking the patient to state their name and date of birth (Compau, 2013, p. 16).Of equal importance, the NPSGS recommend that all medications that have been removed from the original packaging be labeled. These include all medication containers such as basins, syringes, and medicine cups. Medications that are transferred to containers that are unlabeled comprise a safety hazard. This action leaves a margin for error that may result i n tragic consequences for the patient. It is not enough for a health care provider to assume that they know what is in the container (The Joint Commission, 2012b, p. 3). A sterilized pen and label must be used to mark all solutions (Compau, 2013, p. 23).Labeling must be done whenever a medication is transferred from the original packaging to another container. This is done so that even in a cross medical environment, with several health care professionals at work, the possibility of administering the wrong medication to a patient is reduced. Even in a procedural setting where only one medication is being used, the medication must be labeled if it is removed from original packaging and is not press release to be administered immediately. This protects the patient by reducing the risk of error to a minimum.If an unlabeled container holding medication is found, it must be discarded immediately, as a safety precaution. It is not appropriate for any health care provider to assume that they know what is in the container. Discarding the medication eliminates the risk that the medication is something other than what may be assumed. Further, even medication containers that are clearly labeled must be removed anddiscarded, along with the contents, when a affair is done (The Joint Commission, 2012b, p. 3).The NSPGS address the risk factors that are inherent in providing the highest standard of medical care for patients. The standards that address administering medication to patients are intentional to reduce the likelihood of human error or lack of information from harming a patient. At certain points in the process of giving medication to a patient, the likelihood of errors rises. As the result of careful analysis of how the medication administration process is conducted, and how errors occur and have already caused harm to patients, the NSPGS have established the current safeguards.