Medication Errors Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Medication Errors - Term Paper Example Whereas medication errors could occur in any given clinical setting, the emergency room presents an even higher risk for medication errors. This follows the fact that ER has unpredictable experiences and is fast-paced. In fact, of the adverse cases reported, 3% occurred in the ER, with medication errors occurring twice as much in ER as compared to inpatient setting (Ehsani et al., 2013). Furthermore, over 75% of visits to the ER entail the administration or prescription of medications, with the US recording over 210 million medication encounters in the ER annually (Dabaghzadeh et al., 2013). With this elevated risk, it would be important to find appropriate solutions for medication errors in ER.A multidisciplinary approach should be undertaken to curb medication errors in ER, coupled with systems-related changes. The national database would provide appropriate data to identify the trend and nature of medication errors and thus assist members to identify and undertake appropriate prev entive measures. Some of these measures as documented by Anderson and Townsend (2010) and FDA (2013) include computerized order entry systems, bar-coding systems, standardizing processes of medication use and automated dispensing cabinets among others. Even with these propositions, I believe that curbing medication errors entails the development of an appropriate culture that would promote the reporting of medication errors and non-punitive and systematic error elimination approaches.