Applying the Results and Conclusion of the Research Process to Problems in Health Care

HCS/465
October 3, 2013

Results
The procedure of collecting data was appropriate because the data was collected in the most efficient and logical way of collecting data for obtaining the desired outcome. The data for this study was collected by a web-enabled database for error reporting system in a hospital setting. Nurses, physicians, and pharmacists had access to the system at any time to report any type of medication error.
The rights of the subjects were protected because the patients information was never used on the error reporting database and the error reports made by the staff were anonymous, other than tracking what job title the error reporter held. Reporting any error was completely voluntary to the staff and staff was fully aware of what the system was for.
The data collection tool in this instance was a web-enabled database for error reporting. This system supports the reliability of the study by keeping accurate percentage tallies of the types of errors, who is reporting the errors, and the suggestions to prevent the errors.
Data Analysis Procedures
The data analysis procedures in this study were appropriate for the data collected because the procedures used to analyze the data were as follows: two experts, the investigator, and the pharmacist worked together to analyze the material. The two experts agreed on the categories of errors and the one year time limit on data collection.
The data analysis procedures are appropriate for answering the research question of how to prevent medication errors by allowing the reporters of the errors to leave a suggestion on the web page about how to prevent the type of error that the person just reported. Allowing this person to provide feedback allows the data analysis to be analyzed for each individual case. The hypothesis is tested and supported by the data analysis procedures because one should allow the data collected to speak for itself. One must conclude that the hypothesis was proven true because medication errors can be prevented by allowing health care personnel to concentrate on the task at hand and not worry about any other issues.
The key distinctions between qualitative and quantitative data are qualitative data focuses on words and quantitative focuses on numbers. Qualitative data is more like a story and reveals information about something. Quantitative data is statistics, p-values, numbers, norms, medians, and means, ect.
Conclusion
The goal of this study was to consider the opinions of healthcare staff about error reports that were aimed at preventing medication errors. The majority of the reports were presented to the software by nursing staff. The view of the nursing staff was considered priceless because that staff had the potential to witness the entire medication process. 1 in 40 of the errors reported came from a Physician and this supports other studies that have suggested that Physicians have a low practice of reporting errors.
Becoming more cautious and increasing attention at each phase of the medication process is the solution according to staff views about preventing medication errors. Mainly, staff believed it was their fault by acting neglectfully instead of placing blame on the medical system or their surroundings. This study proved that staff worked more competently with the error reporting in place than without it.
“There are many environmental and system issues that affect the medication process; for example, rushing, interruptions and disruptions make it difficult to concentrate and administer treatments to patients safely” (Härkänen 2013).
Staff thought the lack of employees, the resources available, and noisy environments contributed to the amount of errors reported. The staff also believed that if the number of interruptions during the nurses’ drug rounds would also help reduce the number of medication errors caused by nursing staff. An average of six interruptions an hour during the drug rounds were noted by staff that equals an average of one interruption every third medication administered.
A calm atmosphere at work is proven to be a way to reduce medication errors. Implementation of a “no interruption zone” during drug rounds reduced the errors by 40.9%.
Error prevention starts when the medication is prepared for administration. Every staff member should verify and check the drug before administration. During the administration step of the medication process the correct dose, drug, patient, route, and time should be verified. This is the part of the process that can cause the most errors. These steps are called the five rights and distractions are the main reason they are not completed during each medication administration.
During the error reporting process the staff was offered a spot on the form to fill in their suggestions. One of the common suggestions was to eliminate similar names for drugs. This change in the medication process would decrease the number of errors. Drug packaging that’s similar was reported as confusing also. Staff believes that the pharmaceutical industry needs to eliminate confusion over both of these issues.
Staff needs to concentrate on identifying the patient even if they know the patients. This part of the medication process ensures the correct person receives the correct medicine. The institute for safe medication Practices suggests that at the very least two staff members check the identity during administration of medication. Risk factors can be verbal or written medication orders. Studies suggest problem areas are during information transfer, inconsistency of information related to the medication or the patient, and obscurity. Discrepancies with medication were found when patients transferred institutions or care facilities in three of four admissions.
Effective communication is one of the most important aspects of patient safety. Any variation of medication should be documented in the patients chart at every admission and discharge at every facility. Each facility strives for the fewest errors in all aspects of the medical field. Striving for a less than 5% error rating is the goal of many of the big name hospitals in the United States. If every healthcare staff member paid more attention to detail and concentrated more the errors could be reduced to zero.

References * Härkänen, M., Turunen, H., Saano, S., & Vehviläinen-Julkunen, K. (2013). Medication errors: what hospital reports reveal about staff views. Nursing Management - UK, 19(10), 32-37.