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Improve Core Processes for Administering Medications

Core processes for administering medications have become enormously complex, and the risk of errors and process failures has increased as a result. An error or a process failure can start a chain of events leading to an adverse drug event. Several practices have been shown to improve the overall safety of administration processes. Tools such as Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) can identify potential failures in your own medication administration processes and show you which processes to test first to reduce the risk in your organization.

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by Ayeza Cathrina Tinagan 2/12/2018 9:21:22 PM Medication errors are the number one error in health care. Nurses are continually challenged to ensure an error cannot happen at any step of medication administration. Paradigm shift from a culture of error and blame to a culture of safety is vital to meet the challenges of reducing medical errors and promoting safe medication administration. I find this topic interesting and helpful in overseeing student during related learning experiences. Nursing students maybe at higher risk of errors due to the complex multistep process of medication administration during actual patient care. The systematic Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a helpful tool for students and clinical instructors to identify where and how it might fail and to assess as well as evaluate processes that are most need of change for administering medications so as not to jeopardise patient safety.

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by Richard Allan Soliven 2/8/2018 3:07:50 PM I am particularly interested on this section because as a clinical instructor, I am handling students who are still starting to gain confidence when giving medications. In this article, I am amazed with the incorporation of the FMEA tool where it assesses the loopholes of the processes for medications administration. This identifies the potential risk or failures therefore promotes patient safety by reducing the risk in the organization. In my years of clinical teaching, I also develop what I call medication map, where it tells me the time and place and the right patient my assigned medications are to be administered. I find this method also easier, and time efficient.

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Improve Core Processes for Dispensing Medications
Core processes for dispensing medications have become enormously complex, and the risk of errors and process failures has increased as a result.
Improve Core Processes for Ordering Medications
Core processes for ordering medications have become enormously complex, and the risk of errors and process failures has grown in turn.

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Tool
A systematic, proactive method for evaluating a process or product to identify where and how it might fail and to assess the relative impact of different failures, in order to identify the parts of the process that are most in need of change.
IHI Trigger Tool for Measuring Adverse Drug Events
A method for using "triggers," or clues, in patient records to identify ADEs that may not have been reported through traditional mechanisms).
The Five Rights of Medication Administration
One of the recommendations to reduce medication errors and harm is to use the "five rights" the right patient, the right drug, the right dose, the right route, and the right time.

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