Medical Errors Worksheet
NUR 4828- Nursing Leadership and Management Role Transition
Project Team 2: Ankita Patel, Kailanie Perez, Molly Plude, Sandy Rivera, & Heather Ryan

2. Problem: According to a recent study (www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1103053?query=featured_home (Links to an external site.)), warfarin, insulin, oral antiplatelet agents, and oral hypoglycemics accounted for more than two-thirds of the drugs tied to hospitalization for adverse drug events in older adults. Most events were associated with unintentional overdoses at home.
Medication errors can occur in clinical settings or at home because humans are not perfect and therefore, they make errors too and so do the man-made machines. The patients are more likely to experience medication errors at home than a hospital because a health professional is not present to double check medications, no standard process to follow like the hospital does, no set schedule take them, and no alerts before taking them. The patients have to be more cautious when taking high-alert drugs such as warfarin, antiplatelet agents, insulin, and oral hypoglycemics because these can lead to serious and even life-threatening situations. …show more content…
They should ask their pharmacist or doctor to review the actions, contraindications, interactions, side effects, and overdose management with them when they are prescribed a new medication for the first time. If the patient has any doubts about the medications they should always confirm it with a health care professional. At the hospital, they have many ways of preventing medication errors from occurring but sometimes a system error or health care professional’s minor mistakes can lead to medication adverse events. Hospitals are searching for technical advances to prevent medication