One of nurses’ many tasks includes medicating their patients around the clock. However, as seen in Assessment 2, patient safety can be severely compromised when medication errors occur. The rights of medication are in place for a reason, and when they are not followed, it directly impacts the patient. Medication errors occur for various reasons including knowledge-based mistakes, and personal factors such as burnout and fatigue. Nurses take an oath to cause no harm and are responsible for patients in their most vulnerable moments, therefore even the most experienced and most knowledgeable nurses, should take their time, and refer to the right of medication administration before every medication pass. This topic is of great importance to me as I am a new graduate nurse and though I am aware mistakes happen, I want to train myself to do everything in my power to prevent them. One of the first lessons taught in nursing school is the importance of patient safety, and medication errors compromise that core principle in health care.
Research demonstrates that medication errors continue stemming from factors such as the lack of knowledge about drugs being administered, as well as personal factors. Beginning with knowledge-based errors, nurses are required to demonstrate a certain level of competency within their specific unit and specialty. A medication should never be administered by a nurse without knowing what it does, the side effects it could cause, and should be aware of any contraindications. Author Escrivá Garcia (2019) found that nurses that are responsible for critically ill patients with heavy workloads are not fully educated on the medications that they are ordered to administer. According to Escrivá Garcia (2019), a study done on a specific intensive care unit, was designed to ask nurses a multiple-choice style questionnaire based on medications that would pertain to their unit and everyday practice. The results demonstrated that more than half of the nurses that participated in the study, were unable to answer more than half of the questions. This alarming number compromises the patient’s safety and speaks against the values that nurses have took an oath to abide by.
Furthermore, research suggests medication errors occur while nurses deal with burnout and fatigue. Healthcare institutions are constantly dealing with nursing shortages, especially after a global pandemic, which is requiring nurses to work mandatory overtime shifts. Part of the problem lies within these healthcare institutions dismissing unhealthy working conditions. Shortages lead to unsafe patient ratios, which may lead nurses to feel overwhelmed and a sense of impending doom. There are reasons why healthcare workers are often referred to as a “team” because everyone should be responsible for pulling their weight. This includes managers to ensure proper staffing for what it is most important in our field of work, patient safety. Researchers discovered that nearly 20% of registered nurses working in hospitals, experience overload, find themselves working extra hours, with unsatisfactory staffing. (Alrabadi et al., 2021). Creating dangerous work environments for both patients and staff is something that should be evaluated if the goal remains to have successful patient outcomes.
As a new graduate nurse working in Labor and Delivery, I am required to administer routine medications to laboring mothers. Because this is a specialized unit, and I am a new nurse, my hospital requires I have at least fourteen weeks of orientation to the unit, and classes every month to further educate me in the specialty and being a nurse in general. There have been classes where “near-misses” with medications have been discussed and debriefed. The reason I am bringing up this information is because I am sure my hospital is not the only facility who participates in these practices. That being said, medication errors do happen. It is essential to partake in safe practices all of the time no matter how much experience one may have. Triple-checking my medications before passing them has become a staple in my routine, and though it may take me a few minutes longer to complete the medication pass, I am ensuring safety with my patients and protecting my license as a nurse.
As mentioned in the previous assignment, nursing has been America’s most trusted profession for twenty years straight. With that, comes a huge responsibility to take care of our patients and keep them safe. With very real and current problems in our
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