Medication Errors and How to Avoid Them

After completing this course you’ll be able to:

1. Identify following sources of error and describe the steps you would take to avoid them:
   1.  Abbreviation
   2. Administration complication
   3. Administration route mix-up
   4. Allergic reaction
   5. Documentation problem
   6. Dosage error
   7. Drug name confusion
   8. Drug preparation problem
   9. Equipment misuse
   10. Infusion misuse
   11. Insulin error
   12. I.V. therapy mistake
   13. Label confusion
   14. MAR misuse
   15. Order misunderstanding
   16. Patient name mix-up
   17. Patient-teaching failure
   18. Protocol violation
   19. Storage problem
   20. Symbol misinterpretation
   21. Syringe and Tubex problem
   22. Telephone miscommunication
   23. Transcription error
   24. Unfamiliarity and carelessness
   25. Verification failure
2. Name “5 rights” of drug administration.
3. List two cardinal rules for administering insulin.
4. Explain the importance of not leaving substances at a patient’s bedside without clear instructions.
5. Take appropriate action with the drug manufacturer when you see a misleading package label.
6. Differentiate between the workings of volumetric and nonvolumetric infusion controllers.
7. Take proper steps to avoid errors in the administration of cancer drugs.
8. List the three different times when the drug label should be checked.
9. Describe what a nurse should do when seeing an unclear order.
10. Explain why metric is a better system to use.
11. Explain the pitfalls of relying on only one health professional to interpret a drug order.
12. Explain how one can avoid an error that can occur by injecting medication into the wrong catheter tube.
13. Follow the proper procedure to avoid complications arising from administering inappropriate dosage of analgesics to patients recovering from anesthetics.
14. Stress the importance of checking the MAR before giving a drug.
15. Explain how an order that calls for two tablets should be transcribed in three separate lines.