NHS-FPX4000 Assessment 2-1 docx Applying Research Skills

Overview of the Topic: Medication Errors

Medication errors are preventable adverse outcomes arising when a patient takes the wrong medication or dosage. The incidents can cause serious harm, including severe complications and premature death. Medication errors also trigger financial, emotional and psychological distress associated with prolonged hospitalization, readmission and deterioration of one’s condition. An interest in the topic aligns with the need for increased vigilance to safeguard patients, families, healthcare professionals, and the organization from adverse outcomes. An experience with medication errors is from a case study where a nurse administered a wrong drug to a patient. The professional removed the wrong medication from a cabinet, ignored important warnings, and failed to monitor the patient’s signs after administering the drug. The patient died from an adverse drug reaction, thereby revealing the need for proactive and sustainable intervention for preventing medication errors.

Peer-Reviewed Articles Relevant to Health Care Issue

Using the Capella University Library database enhance access to peer-reviewed journal articles on medication errors. Nurses can access sources from authoritative platforms such as PubMed Central. Keywords such as medication administration, medication errors, medication safety facilitated access to several articles related to the topic. However, I limited the search to peer-reviewed journal articles published within the last three years.

The Credibility and Explain Relevance of Information Sources

The credibility and relevance of sources allow nurses researchers to make informed conclusions about a health issue. One approach for determining credibility is the role of independent reviewers in ascertaining objectivity and validity of methodology and findings. Secondly, the sources selected have findings published within the last three years. Thirdly, the articles are products of experienced scholars and researchers. To ensure relevance of sources, it is necessary to ensure that the purpose matches the topic and that the information relates specifically to medication errors.

Annotated Bibliography

Ahmed, Z., Saada, M., Jones, A. M., & Al-Hamid, A. M. (2019). Medical errors: Healthcare professionals’ perspective at a tertiary hospital in Kuwait. PloS one, 14(5), 17-23. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31116773/

The article highlights patients’ vulnerability to serious adverse events associated with medication errors. Frequent errors cause prolonged hospital stays, life-threatening complications, and premature death. The authors identify common causes of errors such as high staff workload, limited support, stress, negligence, and inadequate training. Other causes are ineffective communication, poor interdisciplinary collaboration, and non-adherence to procedures and standards on medication administration safety. The incidents reveal the need for proactive and sustainable interventions to protect the organization from legal issues, increased costs, and poor health outcomes. The authors mention the relevance of voluntary and mandatory reporting to address risks within the clinical environment. Non-punitive measures, open communication, and adequate staffing are also necessary to enhance medication administration safety. The article is useful to nurse researchers focused on addressing administrative weaknesses and interventions for empowering the care team to identify and intercept errors.

Çetin, S & Cebeci, F. (2021). Perceptions of clinical nurses about the causes of medication administration errors: A cross-sectional study. Florence Nightingale Journal of Nursing, 29(1), 56-64. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8137725/

The article describes medication errors are incidents that begin from prescription and end with the patient receiving a drug. The scenarios threaten patient safety and are among the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. The authors provide statistics such as 1.5 million people affected by medication errors yearly and about 1.2 of 1,000 inpatient dying every year from the incidents. The common causes include miscommunication, negligence, distractions, and burnout. Inexperienced nurses also report high rates of medication errors. The findings encourage healthcare providers to enhance vigilance to identify administrative, technical, and human-related gaps and initiate timely solutions. The ar