Nature and Instigation of Medication Errors and Gazed Barriers in Reporting Them - A Prospective Observational Study

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The goal of drug therapy is the improvement of a patient’s health related quality of life while minimizing patient risk. But there are inherent risks associated with the therapeutic use of drugs and administration devices. Aim: Present study aims to identify and categorize MEs in the patients who were admitted in the General Medicine, Pediatrics and Surgery Departments in a tertiary care teaching hospital, Tirupati. The study also extended to find out the cause of MEs and the possible barriers for reporting the MEs. Methodology:A specially designed proforma was used for patient data collection & the study was approved by institutional ethics committee. Inclusion criteria includes, patients who were hospitalized for more than three days and who were willing to give informed consent to participate in the study. Results: The prescriptions of the 100 patients included in the study were analyzed for medication errors and 52.7% of prescriptions were presented with medication errors. The persons involved in the medication errors include physician (prescriber), nurse (administrator) and the patients (consumer). The major causes of MEs were found to be excessive work load, lack of knowledge and non-compliance by the patients to the drugs. Conclusion: The establishment of a blame-free, non-punitive environment can promote ME reporting.

KEYWORDS

• Medication Errors (ME)
• NCCMERP
• HRQOL
• Barriers of ME reporting
• Clinical pharmacist
• Patient care

Showing references and in-text citations exactly as published.

• DOI10.5530/ijopp.10.2.20Copy

RELATED ARTICLES

Matched on section and article type within this issue of IJPP.

• Article · VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2Assessment of Medication Adherence to JNC-7 Guidelines and Risk Factors for Hypertension in a South Indian Tertiary Care HospitalUday Bhaskar Narra, Ravindrababu Pingili, Sri Varsha Reddy Chinnam, Prardhana Devi Datla, Sree Varsha Potluri, Naveen Babu Kilaru · pp. 78–89Research ArticleSame type: Article
• Article · VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2Acute Complications Associated With Haemodialysis in a CKD Cohort PopulationMohanraj Rathinavelu, Anusha Hanumaih Gari, Veerendra Uppara, Farooq A Alshamiri, Balaiah Sandyapakula, Bijoy Thomas · pp. 90–95Research ArticleSame type: Article
• Article · VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2Study on Steroid Utilization Pattern in a Tertiary Care Teaching HospitalArjan Aryal, Keshav Kunwar, Sepideh Shadvar, Sanju Kharel, Rajeswari Ramasamy, Gopalakrishna Shashidhar, Samayam Aneesh, Teena Nazeem · pp. 96–103Research ArticleSame type: Article
• Article · VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2Evaluation of General Public’s Knowledge and Perception of Appropriate Antibiotics use in Salem DistrictRahul Radhakrishnan, Jaykar Balasundaram, Arul Balasubramaniam, Guru Gunasekaran · pp. 108–110Research ArticleSame type: Article