Medication Errors and
How to Avoid Them

 
Learning Objectives
  1. Identify following sources of error and describe the steps you would take to avoid them:
  1. Name "5 rights" of drug administration.

  2. List two cardinal rules for administering insulin.

  3. Explain the importance of not leaving substances at a patient's bedside without clear instructions.

  4. Take appropriate action with the drug manufacturer when you see a misleading package label.

  5. Differentiate between the workings of volumetric and nonvolumetric infusion controllers.

  6. Take proper steps to avoid errors in the administration of cancer drugs.

  7. List the three different times when the drug label should be checked.

  8. Describe what a nurse should do when seeing an unclear order.

  9. Explain why metric is a better system to use.

  10. Explain the pitfalls of relying on only one health professional to interpret a drug order.

  11. Explain how one can avoid an error that can occur by injecting medication into the wrong catheter tube.

  12. Follow the proper procedure to avoid complications arising from administering inappropriate dosage of analgesics to patients recovering from anesthetics.

  13. Stress the importance of checking the MAR before giving a drug.

  14. Explain how an order that calls for two tablets should be transcribed in three separate lines.

 

Evaluation of Individual Objectives

To assess the effectiveness of the course material, we ask that you evaluate your achievement of each learning objective on a scale of A to D (A=excellent, B=good, C=fair, D=unsatisfactory). Please indicate your responses next to each learning objective and return it to us with your completed exam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medication Errors and

How to Avoid Them

Contents

 

Sources of Error

 

• Abbreviation

• Administration complication

• Administration route mix-up

• Allergic reaction

• Documentation problem

• Dosage error

• Drug name confusion

• Drug preparation problem

• Equipment misuse

• Infusion misuse

• Insulin error

• I.V. therapy mistake

• Label confusion

• MAR misuse

• Order misunderstanding

• Patient name mix-up

• Patient-teaching failure

• Protocol violation

• Storage problem

• Symbol misinterpretation

• Syringe and Tubex problem

• Telephone miscommunication

• Transcription error

• Unfamiliarity and carelessness

• Verification failure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medication Errors and

How to Avoid Them

 

 

 

Learning Objectives

 

 

1. Identify following sources of error and describe the steps you would take to avoid them:

 

• Abbreviation

• Administration complication

• Administration route mix-up

• Allergic reaction

• Documentation problem

• Dosage error

• Drug name confusion

• Drug preparation problem

• Equipment misuse

• Infusion misuse

• Insulin error

• I.V. therapy mistake

• Label confusion

• MAR misuse

• Order misunderstanding

• Patient name mix-up

• Patient-teaching failure

• Protocol violation

• Storage problem

• Symbol misinterpretation

• Syringe and Tubex problem

• Telephone miscommunication

• Transcription error

• Unfamiliarity and carelessness

• Verification failure

 

2. Name "5 rights" of drug administration.

 

3. List two cardinal rules for administering insulin.