Capella 4020 Assessment 3 Improvement Plan In-Service Presentation NURS-FPX 4020 Improving Quality of Care and Patient Safety Safety Improvement Plan – Introduction

Objectives of this Presentation

Let me first share the learning objectives of today’s presentation so that you are aware of the flow of the session. By the end of the session:

• You will be aware of medication administration errors. 
• You will recognize the need for addressing these errors within your organization. 
• I will share with you a safety improvement plan in terms of addressing the situation. 
• I will share the responsibilities of stakeholders in addressing these errors. 

In the end, we will do a group activity as well which will be a summary of the overall presentation. These objectives of the presentation will enable you all to achieve quality improvement in your practices and nurse leaders will benefit by recognizing safety errors and bringing reforms in their workplace.  

Medication Administration Errors 

Medication administration errors (MAEs) are defined as inaccuracies at the time of administration of drugs. The administration is the last process of medication management before the final documentation takes place. Most of these errors are committed by nurses as they are the major group of healthcare professionals who administer drugs to patients (Wondmieneh et al., 2020). These errors can occur due to the provision of the wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong path/route, at the wrong time, and/or administered to a wrong patient. Along with health risks, medication errors can lead to patient dissatisfaction and a lack of trust in the hospital (Tariq et al., 2022). Thus, it is essential to address these challenges with evidence-based strategies to ensure patients’ safety and quality of care.

Why a Safety Improvement Plan is Needed? 

So, now as you all are aware of medication administration errors and where can be the loopholes (five wrongs), it’s time to understand the need for a safety improvement plan. The safety improvement plan is devised for sustainable and considerable changes in any healthcare setting. This plan provides a blueprint for the implementation of effective strategies to bring positive reforms (Hernan et al., 2020). Similarly, it is essential to develop a safety improvement plan for medication administration errors.

Research identifies that MAEs are a universal problem in healthcare settings. The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), UK revealed that 50% of patients admitted in all healthcare settings experience MAEs during their hospital stay. One of the most prevailing errors which cause serious consequences is incorrect timing error. Other nations like the UK, USA, Middle East, and East Africa reported these errors to fall between the 9.4- 80% range (Raja & Badil, 2022).

Another study that reflected on the prevalence of medication errors showed that around 30.5% of errors in Malaysian hospitals occur during the administration phase (Shitu et al., 2020). Drug-related adverse events are the reason behind approximately 5-6% of hospitals annually which exceeds hospital costs by $42 billion (Assiri et al., 2018). 

Some of the poor consequences of medication errors are severe morbidities like systemic infection, pain, and worsening of the disease process. It also causes mortality in some patients with serious illnesses. Other than the physical health risks, these adverse events can lead to increased hospital expenses, prolonged stay at the hospital, and causing psychological impacts on patients, their families, and healthcare providers (Tansuwannarat et al., 2022). These literature statistics advocate that there is a need to establish a safety improvement plan within all healthcare organizations as well as in our healthcare organization.

Safety Improvement Plan

In our safety improvement plan for preventing and eliminating medication administration errors, various evidence-based strategies are included. Some of these strategies are; the establishment of an Incidence Reporting System (IRS), training and development, double-checking of medication, elimination of interruptions, and medication reconciliation. 

Incidence Reporting System (IRS)

The purpose of this system is to report drug-related medical errors so that nurses and nurse leaders can identify the prevalence and effectively take action against this. Improvement in reporting system will help in reducing these errors by continuous tracking and recording of the incidences of MAEs within the organization. A medication error reporting system acts as a tool to reduce risks associated with medication errors. However, it is essential that by building these systems, nurse leaders should create a supportive environment (without punishments and a blame culture) for nurses. The support