Medication Errors and How to Prevent Them

Medication Errors and How to Prevent Them
Research Paper Overview & Rubric
Course Objectives related to this paper:
Ø Identify professional standards and legislation that are pertinent to the safe practice of administering medication.
Ø Acknowledge legal and ethical considerations that must be considered related to safe and effective pharmacotherapy.
Brief Overview
Preventable medication errors occur in many settings and result in a loss of human lives and a marked increase in health care expenditure. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) (2016) estimated that approximately 1.5 million preventable medication errors occur yearly in hospitals, nursing homes, and outpatient centers. It is imperative that nurses understand their role in all aspects of medication administration in order to prevent these errors.
For this research paper, each student will be asked to find a current article (within 5 years) related to Legal/Ethical Issues in Nursing Pharmacology, focusing on patient care errors and solutions, in peer-reviewed journals.
Directions:
A minimum of three references will be required for the content of this paper. The total paper requirement is five pages, including cover page and reference page, and must be written in APA 6th edition format.
Your paper must be submitted to “Safe Assign” (a score of 20% or less is acceptable) and should be “spelled checked” prior to submission. You will only be allowed 3 submissions of your paper to Safe Assign.
The paper will include the following content:
1. Introduction to the medication error case involving the patient,
2. Analysis of the nursing medication error(s) in the situation as it influences patient care,
3. Description of legal and ethical consequences surrounding the medication error with identification and application of at least one of the American Nurses’ Association (ANA) ethical standards related to patient care,
4. Methods used to decrease this type of medication error when administering medications in a variety of settings.
5. Conclusion. Summary of findings

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