Reducing Medication Errors through Multi-Disciplinary Collaboration: A Quality Improvement initiative
Introduction:Prescribing and medication administration errors are common themes in Pediatrics. There is growing international evidence that the regular occurrence of such errors carries a high potential for unintended harm to patients. Within our Trust, a high percentage of reported pediatric incide...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Mashhad University of Medical Sciences
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://psj.mums.ac.ir/article_21055_e942838336d2d99538e0666441d305ef.pdf |
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| Summary: | Introduction:Prescribing and medication administration errors are common themes in Pediatrics. There is growing international evidence that the regular occurrence of such errors carries a high potential for unintended harm to patients. Within our Trust, a high percentage of reported pediatric incidents relate to medication errors. The most-commonly reported themes were incorrect dosing and omission of regular medication. The aim of our project was to reduce medication errors by at least 10%. Materials and Methods: To achieve our aim, we devised a structured educational program was devised by a tripartite alliance (Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacology) and rolled out to nursing staff and medical trainees. An initial prospective audit was undertaken, followed by two PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) cycles. Results: Following the intervention, the percentage of medication errors decreased from 89.3% to 12.1%, with a comparative 51.3% decrease in significant errors and a complete elimination of serious/potentially lethal errors. Conclusion:In view of our results, we hope that tripartite alliances may be used as a model for inter-professional collaboration across healthcare systems. |
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| ISSN: | 2345-4482 2345-4490 |