PREVENTION OF MEDICATION ERRORS- A STEPAHEAD IN PROVIDING BETTER PATIENT SAFETY
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ABOUT AUTHORS
Steffi Jerry Mammen,
Inamdar Multispecialty Hospital,
Pune,
Maharashtra, India
steffi.thomas@ymail.com
Abstract:
The reality that medical treatment can harm patients is one that the healthcare community has had to come to, in terms with over recent years. Adverse events associated with medication errors are chief causes among them. A medication error is an error which can be defined as any discrepancy between the prescriber's interpretable medication order and what was administered to a patient. Prescribing & drug administration appears to be associated with greatest number of errors.
To ensure patient safety& provide better health services, medication errors should be curbed. India is still lacking the regulatory system for the control of medication errors.
Therefore, a stringent regulatory set up should be established to reduce medication errors. Awareness among the health-care professionals regarding medication errors may be the major factor in the establishment of a successful regulatory system. Some of them might be aware but reporting is rare due to many factors such as miscommunication, fear of punishment, potential termination from job, failure to comply with the policies etc.
Reporting will disclose medication errors, could trigger warnings, but should not create an unhealthy atmosphere post reporting, and acknowledging the facts and working on it could help prevent medication errors as all of health care domain are working for patient safety at the end.
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