Causes of Medical Errors and Reduction Strategies in Hospital Setup

Improvement of patient safety and well-being has necessitated governments, patients, practitioners, healthcare professionals, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies to collaborate in reducing medication errors. Health professionals commit errors as a result of ignorance, accidents, deficiency, and inadequate skills in executing the functions to achieve patient safety (Mulac et al., 2021). For instance, ignorance makes a patient administer the wrong medication. Dispensation of wrong medication results in adverse reactions from the body. Wrong oral administration and poor written communication in drug dispensation contribute to common errors in the healthcare profession. Control of medication errors is a continuous quality improvement in the healthcare profession (Insani et al., 2021). The introduction of criminal offenses on healthcare professionals who are committing medical errors has triggered the need for quality improvement in the healthcare profession. Detection of causes and prevention of medication errors contributes to continuous quality improvement in the healthcare profession as well as meeting patient needs and values.

Factors contributing to high Reported Cases of Medical Errors

Medical errors cause patient injury and severe side effects, which sometimes leads to death. An error is the integration of a wrong plan to achieve a specific outcome in a hospital setup. The rising death rates as a result of medical errors have necessitated the need for the prevention of medical errors (Aljabari & Kadhim, 2021). Healthcare professionals are evaluating and analyzing the causes of medical errors and designing control strategies to curb the causes of medical errors which has contributed to disabilities, increased healthcare expenditures, loss of confidence in healthcare services, injury to some patients, and death. Patient safety is a fundamental aspect that needs to be protected and legislated in the Constitution to minimize medical errors that cause death (Aljabari & Kadhim, 2021). Healthcare professionals collaborate and interrelate in multidisciplinary teams to offer services. Collaboration processes start from ordering processes, prescription, documentation, transcription, dispensation, administration, and monitoring and evaluation exercises. Transition to system control and operations in healthcare has contributed commission of an error within the process.

Increased Workload for Healthcare Professionals

Increased workload for healthcare professionals enhances the occurrence of medical errors. Serving many patients at a time causes healthcare professionals have burnout and stress, straining their mental health innovation ability, weakening the physical health of patients, causing suicidal thoughts, and falling sick themselves (World Health Organization, 2020). High demands and deliverables in hospitals have affected the ability of healthcare providers to disseminate their duties as required. High work log for healthcare providers leads to exhaustion, death, illness, stress, burnout, and falling sick. For instance, healthcare workers are disturbed with mental fatigue, trauma, and anxiety. Mental strain leads to suicidal thoughts, which results in death (Suclupe et al., 2020). Sick leaves for healthcare service providers lead to disruption of duties at workplace. Experts in healthcare provision should work on designing policies and structures that appraise healthcare services and recommend the number of patients a healthcare service provider should serve in a day.

Poor Communication with Medical Teams

Communication is an essential aspect of the discussion and dissemination of information within a hospital setup. Inadequate communication between the patient and healthcare professionals results in misunderstandings (Mulac et al., 2021). The implications of misunderstandings affect patient outcomes and the well-being of patients. Healthcare professionals are likely to commit medical errors as result of anxiety and job dissatisfaction. Committing medical errors affects safety and teamwork, increases medical expenditures in treating side effects, reduces staff morale, and facilitates staff turnover in the healthcare sector. Medical errors breach and compromise patient privacy according to health data protection requirements (Insani et al., 2021). When managing patient medical error, the coordinating teams are compelled to disclose actual information thus affecting confidentiality and trust restored upon healthcare providers. Friction amongst the working teams results in surgical errors, which contributes to disabilities, injuries, and death.

Inadequate Standard Operating Procedures and Protocols

Standard operating procedures provide guidelines for implementing policies and protocols that aid healthcare providers in following the required steps in treatment and administration of nursing interventions in the healthcare sector. Deviation from standard operating procedures and protocols results in increased costs of medical expenditures, health inequalities, and poor outcomes (Zheng et al., 2021). Clinical variation can result in inconsistency in developing care plans and evidence-based medical interventions for patients. Patients can proceed to sue healthcare professionals for malpractice claims when medical errors committed are severe and cause injuries. Financial risks and legal battles as result of overriding protocols and standard operating procedures result in poor care quality to patients (World Health Organization, 2020). Protocols aid in streamlining workflows, boost resource allocation and promote efficiency within an organization. Legal battles in court affects service delivery in the healthcare sector. Service providers and patients incur huge financial cost for compensation and payment of attorneys to represent them in court.

Lack of labeling, packaging, and naming of medicines

Inadequate labeling and naming of medicines causes confusion and injury to patients. Wrong labeling and naming result in the wrong administration of medication and nursing interventions to patients (Rasool et al., 2020). Incorrect administration of medication and nursing interventions leads to poor patient outcomes that hinder the quality of life of patients. Human errors in the administration of medication lead to disability, injury, and death (Suclupe et al., 2020). Healthcare professionals should establish guidelines and measures that require frequent audit checks to confirm that clinical procedures align with the desired aims. Evidence-based nursing intervention practices should be compliant with the goals and objectives of the outcomes of caring plans.

Medication Errors

Dose Prescription and Preparation

Wrong prescription and preparation of dosage results in severe health complications. The outcome of the wrong dosage can lead to heart failure, infections, death, organ failure, strokes, and allergic reactions (Uitvlugt et al., 2021). Adverse drug reactions affect the quality of life of patients. Medication stages for patients should be monitored diligently to minimize clinical and nursing intervention errors. Healthcare systems should integrate checks and monitoring controls to minimize errors.

Administration of an Unauthorized Dose

Administration of an unauthorized dose causes toxicity, severe adverse effects, and allergic reactions caused by the side effects of the administered medication. The healthcare profession is required to report the impact of medication to be evaluated (World Health Organization, 2020). Prescription faults and manufacturing errors contribute to patient harm and injuries. For instance, manufacturing errors occur as a result of misleading labeling, packaging, and contaminants when preparing the medicine. Dispensation of the medication deteriorates patient health, which leads to death in some scenarios.

Poor Timings and Improper Dose

Timings affect patient outcomes on medication. Variation and inconsistent dispensation of medication result in incorrect dosage and adverse effects (Uitvlugt et al., 2021). Accurate timings aid healthcare professionals in administering medications and nursing interventions relevant to a hospital setup. Medication reconciliations aid in checking and verifying the drugs administered to patients.

Measures of Preventing Medication Errors

Initiating job Training Programs

Educational programs through seminars and conferences aid healthcare professionals in delivering services according to written protocols and procedures. Standard operating procedures and protocols aid in reducing and preventing errors (Aljabari & Kadhim, 2021). Healthcare professionals adhere to protocols and nursing interventions, which are fundamental in the treatment exercises. On-the-job training manuals and visual presentations provide guidelines for patient treatment.

Prescriptions should be clearly Written.

Dosage prescription and preparation should be clearly written and documented to reduce errors. Clinicians find it easy to administer precise dosage using metric measures without committing medical errors (Zheng et al., 221). Clear labeling and naming aid clinicians in preparing dosage according to plans and aims. Written communication boosts medication error prevention in a hospital setting.

Monitoring and Controlling Nursing Interventions

Nursing interventions play fundamental roles in improving patients' quality of life. Collaborations of multidisciplinary teams aid in designing evidence-based nursing interventions, which are essential in improving patients' health and living needs (Suclupe et al., 2020). Monitoring and evaluation of nursing interventions facilitate the prevention of medical errors.

Conclusion

In summary, the need to improve healthcare service delivery has triggered the urge to determine the causes of medical errors and its prevention. Malpractice claims contribute to lawsuits that result in high operational costs to healthcare service providers. Collaboration of multidisciplinary teams in the healthcare profession aids in detecting and preventing errors that cause injury, disability, and death. Healthcare service providers and governments are coordinating in designing policies and standard operating procedures that help in detecting and preventing occurrence of medical errors.