Before beginning work on this discussion forum, please review the link Doing Discussion Questions Right, the expanded grading rubric for the forum, and any specific instructions for this topic.
Before the end of the unit, begin commenting on at least two of your classmates responses. You can ask technical questions or respond generally to the overall experience. Be objective, clear, and concise. Always use constructive language, even in criticism, to work toward the goal of positive progress. Submit your responses in the Discussion Area.
Annual pharmacy drug cost has increased from $10,300,000 to $16,800,000 in the past five years. The hospital is experiencing an increase in drug cost even though actual drug usage has remained stable.
Along with the increase in drug cost, drug related errors have also increased. Patient safety has become an even more serious issue. As you know, patient safety is the number one item on the national health care agenda for the next several years.
At the hospital the number of dispensing errors has increased by two percent during the past twelve months. The registered nurses who are administering the drugs have discovered many of the dispensing errors; however, the ones not discovered resulted in patients getting the wrong drug, wrong dosage, and/or the wrong frequency. When the overall drug error rate was analyzed, it was found that dispensing errors in the pharmacy were the number one cause. The overall drug error rate had increased from three percent to five percent.
Fortunately most of the dispensing errors were discovered before the medications were administered to the patients. When the incorrect drugs were administered, it resulted in adverse effects in three cases. One patient received the right medication but the wrong dosage because the medication label was incorrect. This patient had to be admitted overnight to the Intensive Care Unit for intense cardiac and respiratory monitoring. The patient stayed in ICU for approximately twenty-four hours. Another patient received the wrong medication on the day of planned discharge and had to remain in the hospital for an additional day, though only for observation. In the third case, the patient had reported that he was allergic to a certain category of drugs, but nonetheless received a drug of that type. He had an adverse reactiona rashwhich delayed his discharge by one day.
On the basis of your understanding of the above case study, express your views on the following:
What measures should be adopted to reduce the overall drug error rate in the hospital?
What special benefits should be given to the patients who have suffered due to negligence by the hospital staff for wrong drug administration and other reasons?
In your opinion, should the hospital staff who were responsible for the dispensing errors be held personally liable for the errors? Why or why not?
Use the following resources as well as your Textbook for this assignment.
Ellsworth, M. A., M.D., Aakre, C. A., M.D., Dziadzko, Mikhail,M.D., PhD., Peters, S. G., M.D., Pickering, Brian W,M.B., B.Ch, & Herasevich, Vitaly,M.D., PhD. (2016). Early computerization of patient care at mayo clinic. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 91(7), E93-E101. doi:http://dx.doi.org.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/10.1016/j.mayocp.2016.04
Lan, H., Thongprayoon, C., Ahmed, A., Herasevich, V., Sampathkumar, P., Gajic, O., & O’Horo, J. C. (2015). Automating quality metrics in the era of electronic medical records: Digital signatures for ventilator bundle compliance. BioMed Research International, 2015, 1-6. doi:10.1155/2015/396508
To support your work, use your course and textbook readings and also use the South University Online Library. As in all assignments, cite your sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format.
Your initial posting should be addressed at 150-300 words. Submit your document to this Discussion Area by the due date assigned. Be sure to cite your sources using APA format.
Respond to your peers throughout the unit. Justify your answers with examples, research, and reasoning. Follow up posts need to be submitted by the end of the week.
