Table of Contents
Thesis Statement
Medication safety systems implemented in hospitals have proven beneficial to health care organizations, providers, and patients by reducing medication errors, increasing safety and increasing efficiency.
Previous studies have shown that the implementation of medication safety systems in a hospital is associated with a reduction in medication errors (Cochran, Barrett, & Horn, 2016), and provides benefits to patients, nurses, and organizations. Benefits of these systems include the reduction of harm to patients by decreasing adverse drug effects and errors, clear and concise orders for nurses, increasing efficiency (Burkoski et al., 2019), and improvement to safety in the health care field. Combining medication safety systems allows for increased benefits.
Research and Methodology
In this study and related research, integration of various medication safety systems shows a decrease in medication errors during one of the four main phases of medication use in a hospital, including prescribing, transcribing, preparation, and administration (Cochran et al., 2016). Examples of medication safety systems in place include barcode medication administration (BCMA), computerized physician order entry (CPOE), onsite pharmacists (Cochran et al., 2016), automated dispensing technology, electronic medication administration records (eMAR), and smart pumps that are integrated with hospital information technology (Seibert, Maddox, Flynn, & Williams, 2014). The related research shows various hospitals in the United States and Canada, the longevity of the studies range from 12 months to 5 years ensuring accurate results, the methods involve both direct observations and self-reporting.
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Safety, Benefits, and Implementation
The use of CPOE and onsite pharmacists ensure clear and concise orders while prescribing and transcribing medications allowing for increased efficiency. Automated dispensing technology allows the preparation and dispensing of medication to provide more accuracy. BCMA and eMAR technology benefits the safe administration of medication by intercepting errors before reaching the patient (Siebert et al., 2014). While not all of these technologies are in place at every hospital, ultimately, the more systems that are combined allow for greater reductions in medication errors and greater effectiveness of systems.
Implementing medication safety systems into hospitals allows for greater accuracy and efficiency in the phases of medication use, and does not introduce new types of errors (Siebert et al., 2014). The ability to combine medication safety systems such as CPOE, automated dispensing technology, BCMA, and programmable pumps reduces errors greatly by ensuring multiple series of checks and balances in different phases. The combination creates a highly reliable approach with a safety net to administering medications.
This information is especially valid when viewing data over the course of years (Burkoski et al., 2019). Considering that errors related to medication administration are estimated to be as high as 34-49%, and can be related to omission, incorrect dose, route, form, time, or technique (Siebert et al., 2014), the possible improvement with medication safety systems can significantly reduce that percentage, making medication use safer for the patient.
Analysis shows that implementing one medication safety system allows for greater accuracy during the different phases of medication use. Additionally, implementing multiple medication safety systems allows for a safety net at a system level that reduces the risk of adverse drug effects and medication errors in patients, as well as providing benefits to the nurse and health care organization by increasing efficiency and safety.
References
- Burkoski, V., Yoon, J., Solomon, S., Hall, T., Karas, A., Jarrett, S., & Collins, B. (2019). Closed-loop medication system: Leveraging technology to elevate safety. Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership, 32(SP), 16–28. doi: 10.12927/cjnl.2019.25817
- Cochran, G. L., Barrett, R. S., & Horn, S. D. (2016). Comparison of medication safety systems in critical access hospitals: Combined analysis of two studies. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 73(15), 1167–1173. doi: 10.2146/ajhp150760
- Seibert, H. H., Maddox, R. R., Flynn, E. A., & Williams, C. K. (2014). Effect of barcode technology with electronic medication administration record on medication accuracy rates. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 71(3), 209–218. doi: 10.2146/ajhp130332
