Analyzing a Current Healthcare Problem

Healthcare professionals, such as nurses and doctors, are in danger of making mistakes just like anybody else in the world, as stated in the preceding assessment. The difference between healthcare professionals and others is that mistakes made by healthcare experts can have disastrous consequences. Simple errors include forgetting to break a pill in half or more serious errors such as giving the wrong drug to the wrong patient. The primary priority of healthcare providers should be to ensure the safety of their patients. Medication errors are one of the most common problems in healthcare facilities such as hospitals and long-term care facilities. This evaluation will delve deeper into drug mistakes and ethical interventions. (Cifuentes, 2022)

The Problem/Components Issue's

Nurses are frequently the ones who provide medications to patients in a healthcare setting. Medication mistakes have an impact on the quality of care and patient safety around the world. Nurses can play an important role in preventing infections and keeping patients safe. (Latimer and colleagues, 2017). Medication errors can be caused by a variety of factors, including poor communication, severe workloads, diversions, and a lack of understanding of the prescriptions prescribed. Hasan et al. (Hasan et al., 2018).

Nurses and other healthcare professionals share responsibility for communication. Between nurses and physicians, there might be a lack of communication or miscommunication. Dirik et al. (Dirik et al., 2018). A physician giving a nurse the wrong medication order is an example of miscommunication.

One of the numerous issues is a lack of knowledge. Giving drugs with drug interactions together is an example. To avoid injury, nurses should understand how drugs function. Fear of appearing incompetent in front of coworkers and management are significant factors. Dirik et al. (Dirik et al., 2018). In healthcare, lateral/horizontal violence is a problem, and it is an example of a nurse fearing ineptitude.

Analysis

It is my obligation as a registered nurse to prevent medical errors in my clinical practice. It is my responsibility to avoid causing harm to my patients and to advocate for them. I also have to be aware of the seven administrative rights. It is my responsibility to get the correct order for the drug before providing it. I also need to know how each drug works. The nursing facility software, along with my responsibility to exercise the seven administrative powers, can help minimize prescription errors, but it should not be relied on. (Cifuentes, 2022).

Patient Safety Issues in Context

Nurses are currently overworked, underfunded, and have insufficient medication training. This has a detrimental impact on patients since it puts them at risk of drug errors. When an error happens, nurses are concerned about management's retaliation. As a result, a larger problem arises. These things add to a major problem that affects the entire world.

Patient Safety Issues Affecting Populations

Patient safety issues have an impact on medication errors in all groups. The most vulnerable groups are recognized to be children and psychiatric patients. Every hospitalized pediatric kid, according to the Institute of Medicine, is at risk of a medication error every day. Communication is crucial, as previously said; patients who speak a foreign language are at danger. (Wheeler and colleagues, 2018).

Examining Alternatives

There are a variety of approaches that can be used to prevent drug errors in healthcare institutions. The first is to provide nursing students with teaching strategies. Understanding drug errors, pharmacology knowledge, and numerous prevention techniques are all covered in a medication safety course. To avoid erroneous dosing, a skill in drug calculations is also taught. Students can be exposed to various drug errors by playing various medication error situations. (Latimer and colleagues, 2017).

Hypothetical case studies can be used in a variety of situations. The nurses will call attention to what they believe is a drug error. Different medication errors are covered in the case studies, including food-drug interactions, improper doses, and wrong drugs. The responses will be evaluated by expert nurses from varied backgrounds. Dirik et al. (Dirik et al., 2018). This option will demonstrate nurses' knowledge and ability to execute change.

Another strategy for preventing medication errors is to use simulation-based learning systems. The simulations aim to improve the skills and knowledge of healthcare staff. Monitoring systems in general can be severe and dull. Simulation-based learning systems, especially for diverse learning types, provide a fun and engaging learning environment. This option will aid in skill development in a non-direct ethical manner. Using electronic charting instead of paper charting is also a possibility. This strategy has been adopted by many healthcare facilities over the years.

Solution

As seen, a drug error can be caused by a variety of circumstances. When it comes to communication, for example, patients can benefit from letters written in other languages as well as the use of interpreters. Nurses who speak a variety of languages will help to reduce language barriers in the healthcare industry. More options, such as competences and trainings, can be provided to address a lack of knowledge. Starting healthy habits in nursing school as early as possible would be advantageous. Teach-back after learning would demonstrate that they have grasped the material. Hiring more personnel to assist with heavy workloads could be a solution. Increasing the number of slots in nursing programs could result in more nurses entering the sector. Electronic charting has been demonstrated to have fewer drug errors than paper charting. Gates et al., 2019.

Implications for Ethics

In the medical field, ethical standards are a set of attributes that health care practitioners are required to exhibit. These characteristics are necessary for effective trust, communication, accountability, and medical care that is fair. The four main ethical concepts are nonmaleficence, autonomy, fairness, and beneficence. (Rus and colleagues, 2021). Doing no harm to a patient is the definition of nonmaleficence. Autonomy refers to an adult's ability to make their own decisions. Giving all patients equal and fair treatment is what justice entails. Finally, beneficence means acting in the best interests of the patient. (Cifuentes, 2022). My recommendations emphasized the importance of ethical principles such as non-maleficence and beneficence. Non-maleficence is demonstrated by the nurse participating in the simulations so that she can learn how to administer medications. With the exception of certain mental health problems, autonomy is present through allowing the patient to have a choice in how their medication is administered. Treating all patients properly demonstrates justice, as these remedies apply to all patients. Finally, beneficence in order to achieve the best results and avoid causing harm to the patients.

Implementation

Healthcare staff place a high focus on patient safety. The authors discovered that prescribing errors accounted for the majority of drug mishaps. Administration mistakes were found in only a few of the studies. Furthermore, using electronic charts instead of paper led to more minor prescription errors. Some electronic charting had discrepancies, such as error detection, but no other difficulties. Prescription mistakes were identified as the most common problem. Using an electronic charting system instead of paper charting has been found to reduce errors.

Conclusion

Finally, providing a safe atmosphere by allowing for possibilities for development can help the healthcare industry avoid drug errors. More opportunities for nurses to practice skills can result in a better outcome. Nurses who are aware that not all pharmaceutical errors result in a negative outcome are less likely to keep the error to themselves. This may end up causing greater harm to the patient. Providing nurses with the resources and assistance they need can drastically reduce medication errors, resulting in a win-win situation for everyone.

References

Cifuentes, C. (2022). Applying Ethical Principles [Unpublished assignment submitted for NHS-FPX4000- Developing a Health Care Perspective. Capella University

Cifuentes, C. (2022). Applying Library Research Skills [Unpublished assignment submitted for NHS-FPX4000- Developing a Health Care Perspective. Capella University

Dirik, H. F., Samur, M., Seren Intepeler, S., & Hewison, A. (2018). Nurses’ identification and reporting of medication errors. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 28(5-6), 931–938.

Gates, P. J., Baysari, M. T., Mumford, V., Raban, M. Z., & Westbrook, J. I. (2019). Standardising the classification of harm associated with medication errors: The harm associated with medication error classification (HAMEC). Drug Safety, 42(8), 931–939.

Latimer, S., Hewitt, J., Stanbrough, R., & McAndrew, R. (2017). Reducing medication errors: Teaching strategies that increase nursing students' awareness of medication errors and their prevention. Nurse Education Today, 52, 7–9.

Rus, M., & Groselj, U. (2021). Ethics of vaccination in childhood—a framework based on the four principles of biomedical ethics. Vaccines, 9(2), 113.

Wheeler, A. J., Scahill, S., Hopcroft, D., & Stapleton, H. (2018). Reducing medication errors at transitions of care is everyone's business. Australian Prescriber, 41(3), 73–77.