Prevention of Medical Errors in Adult Patients

The Harvard Medical Practice study reveals that older Australians have higher levels of medical attentions and the greater possibility of being admitted to the hospitals. The medical reports from the hospital come from the gathered statistics in medication reporting incidents from the hospital. The medication errors encountered in hospitals in Australia are concerned about the prescription and medication ordering errors, medication recording and monitoring errors, administration, and dispensing errors. Factors leading to the errors in hospital environment are connected to the hospital environment and the individuals responsible for the activities causing the medication errors. Other necessary medication errors include dose errors, which are also very common among the medical practitioners.

Medication errors are always estimated to account for almost 7000 human deaths yearly in Australia. Also, to the rampant and severe standard deaths, the reduction of the medication error has been put into consideration. The reduction of the medication error can be solved by improving the standards of communication within the hospital environment. Continuous monitoring of errors providing the practitioners with adequate correct information tools is a method of controlling the disease. The medication error reduces by improving and standardizing medication labeling and giving strong medical drug-related information.

Following the increased reliance on medication therapy as a fundamental intervention for most illnesses, patients getting medical attentions are exposed to potential havoc and profits. The efficient management of diseases and illness is one of the basic benefits of the medical interventions. The prevention of spread or escalation of various diseases and illnesses is another factor motivating the benefits of medical intervention. Harm from the medications emanate from the unintentional errors and medical consequences such as the wrong dose, time, and medication. The inadequate proficient nursing education knowledge in patient’s safety and quality, flawed dispensing systems, fatigue, and excessive workload are some of the reasons leading to medical harms. The research reviews the medication safety about nursing practices to curb the medication errors in adult patients in Australia.

Background

Recent medical accounts reveal that general population of Australia applies medical prescription methods to counter the medical problems of older people aged 65 years onwards. Reports suggest that around 2 percent and 3 percent of hospitals in Australia have medical attachment with aged Australians having great risks of higher levels of medical intake and higher chances of getting hospital admission (Bodi et al, 2015). In the Australian societal setting, there are estimated adverse drug events of almost 400,000 practiced annually. It is proven that medication errors lead to various death cases and are estimated to cause over 7000 deaths annually. It is upon the above persistent problems that have necessitated the proposed research that targets to meet the following objectives:

Objectives

1. To assess the origin and growth of medical errors in adult hospitals in Australia
2. To identify the role of medical administration in the prevention of medical errors in Australia
3. To propose medication administration strategies to limit medical errors among adult patients in Australia

Research hypothesis

1. That medical errors in adult hospitals emanate from poor medical application strategy by medical practitioners
2. That medical administration has a role in preventing medical errors in Australian hospitals
3. That there exist possible solutions to the prevailing medical errors in Australian Healthcare system to reduce adult mortality

Research questions

1. What has been the transition of medical errors in adult hospitals in Australia?
2. What is the role of medical administration in the prevention of medical errors in Australian hospitals?
3. What are the possible strategies in prevention of the medical errors in Australian adult hospitals to reduce adult mortality?

Justification and Significance

There has been an escalation of adult mortality in the recent past in the Australian hospital environment. The cases have much been linked to inadequate proficiency in the application of relevant medical strategies in the healthcare system in Australian. Much of the related literature is on the medical errors on the general population mortality rate and the mortality rates among Adult patients (Gavini et al, 2015). The research topic is unique as it deviates from the already carried out research by looking at the medication administration strategies via nurses to reduce medical errors in adult hospitals. The study is significant, as it will investigate the reasons behind the increased adult mortality rates in Australia. It will as well suggest possible solutions to the problem of medical errors thus hoped to reduce adult mortality rates. The research best suits Australia because it has globally recorded high numbers of adult mortality rates due to medical errors.

Scope and limitation

The study is limited to Australia and not any other geographical region because the researcher assumes that geographical areas are not homogeneous. Therefore, there is need to study one region and not to generalize the research findings on a wider region. The study is also limited to medical errors in adult hospitals and medication administration.

Related literature review

There exist several works of literature on the medical errors in Australian hospitals. Prominent Australian researchers have concentrated on the medical errors in children hospitals. The work is relevant to the proposed research study because revelation of causes of medical errors in children hospitals. Some of the causes discussed are still applicable to the current proposed research study. However, some research is limited to adults only hence creating a gap to study medical errors in adult hospitals that have been an issue of concern in the recent past

.

The research concentrates on medical errors in hospitals; hence provision of background to the anticipated study. The reviewed literature however generally talks on the medical errors and does not show the specific effects of the medical errors to the category of patients as in adults others (In Cifu et al, 2015). In Australia, medicines are the commonly used healthcare treatment method contributing to significant improvement in the health sector when appropriately applied.

Medicine application is linked with harm and the common use of medicines means they are attributed to more medical complications than any other areas of healthcare. Medical errors always affect the outcomes and the cost of the related medical practices affecting the medical activities within the hospital environment. The existence of the medical errors is of specific concern because most of the existing errors are preventable.

The knowledge of preventing the common medical errors and knowing how the adverse medication event occurs is important for improving the safety and quality of medicine. The proper management of the medical system leads to the improvement of individual practices within the health- care sector. The medication safety of Australia 2013 is the third in a series surveying the available literature and information on medication safety in Australia health care. Most Australian medical publications were released in the year 2002 and 2008 respectively, and the process has expanded the medication safety in Australia effectively. The review in the year 2013 provides important and new information on the extent and nature of medication errors in Australia. The review had three parts according to the medical chronology, for example, the related medical problems in Australia, strategies for improving medical safety in the Australian healthcare settings. The review also accommodates the medication safety intervention strategies in Australian society. The data and information on the medication-related problems in Australia require interpretation within the context of increasingly intricate health care.

According to Professor Lloyd Samson assertions, medication preview includes data on medication error rates where data is limited before. The adverse events furthermore have the high rates of unplanned presentations to hospitals among patients getting the chemotherapy. There are revelations on medications problems and the adverse events and unplanned presentations to hospital among patients receiving chemotherapy. It is evident through the customers with numerous medical errors conditions have regular doctor report about the medical errors. The successful strategies to reduce prescription, to dispense and administration errors support the use of standardized charts and the improved medicine distribution system and technology. Other provisions include the smart infusion pumps for intravenous medicine administration and electronic medication management systems for prescription of relevant medicines.

There is revelation that some medication errors between community and acute care settings can be diminished by the technique of medication reconciliation (Grasso et al, 2014). Others can be used in interim medication chart when the patients move from hospital to elderly residential care. In the society, there are various pieces of evidence for the multidisciplinary approaches to improving medication management including collaborative home medicines reviews (Hakkarainen et al, 2014). The 2013 review report provides much evidence on what is the most at risk of adverse medicines event. In such cases, there are errors that occur and relevant interventions successful in the reduction of adverse events risk. The importance of the information is its use by the individual practitioners, healthcare centers and the policy makers for the improvement of the quality and the safety of medicines application various healthcare settings (Härkänen et al, 2015). The literature review also shows areas where there is less evidence including the data on the patients well-being within the society. All the gathered evidence is critical to those responsible for making decisions on the funding and the delivery of health care in Australian society.

It has been proven that the future improvement of national medication safety and quality requires an ongoing national focus and coordinated efforts by funders, regulators, health professionals, consumers, researchers and health services (Keers et al, 2015). The number of the elderly people is increasing and continues to be exposed to the risks of medication miscalculations unless improved multidisciplinary systems and processes are created (Lan et al, 2014). The incorporation of the electronic health or e-health in improving the medication safety is the auxiliary process in the improvement of the medication system in health-care. The utilization of the individual controlled electronic health record will allow national foundation for electronic health future and improved health outcomes and efficiencies (Ohta et al, 2015).

According to medical error theories, some errors in the health care are inevitable because of human fallibility and system complexity. Because of the patient’s improvement of safety some strategies must be developed. The prevention of errors with the forced functions reducing the complexity and the provision of the reminders at the point of care should be the priority (Shea et al, 2015). Another point is that everyone working within health care should be alert to identify and eliminate latent errors before the patients are injured. The establishment of the defensive barrier that will intercept barriers occurring preventing them from causing the patient's injury must be paramount (Winder et al, 2015,).

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research design

The research technique adopts a descriptive design and applies both qualitative and quantitative approaches win data collection and analysis. The quantitative approach will be used in sampling of the number of participants. Qualitative method will be the approach because it will allow for an in-depth collection of data in terms of opinions; attitudes and feelings of the participants are identified.

Site of the study

The study will be carried out in Australia. It is because the region still reports several cases related to the medication error in adult patients in their hospitals. Australia also hosts most of the fundamental participants in this study as they are assumed to have experienced or witnessed the many instances of medication error in adult patients.

Target population Adults in Australia aged 65 years, and above will be targeted for interview. It is hoped that people within this age bracket have participated or witnessed the activities of error in medical system of Australia. Administrators, the clergy, and Medical error Specialists will be a targeted because they could possess first-hand information about this practice. Sample Size and Sampling technique Purposive and snowballing sampling techniques will be used to identify the prospective interviewees. Purposive sampling will be utilized to sample adults of 65 years and above since, these participants are considered to have important information for the study as far as experience is concerned. Snowballing sampling will be used because the area of the research is sensitive due to the campaigns against medical errors thus; knowledge of the insider will be needed to locate the participants of the study. The study will assume a sample size of 100 people out the approximately 8,000 men women above 65`0 years of age. The process means the sample size being 100 participants will keep the margin inaccuracy at 10% hence minimized inaccuracies. Pilot study The pilot study establishes the suitability of the questionnaires before the main research work. The pilot study will be conducted in Canberra the capital city of Australia which seems to have similar experiences of medical error in adult patient.

Data Collection

Both primary and secondary data will be collected. Primary data will be obtained from interactions with participants in the field through the research instruments such as questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussion guides as well as observation sheets. Secondary data will be obtained from library books, journals, thesis, and newspapers dissertations. Archival sources will also be used to capture some aspects of the medical error in adult patients.

Validity and Reliability

To ensure reliability findings from different research instruments will be triangulated. The researcher will then explain for the differences and similarities in the information. Research instruments will be sent to the approachable and responsive department to establish their correctness and validity (Donaldson et al, 2014).

Data analysis

Data analysis will start right in the field to help to avoid loss of vital information. Qualitative data will be sort into orders, and tape-recorded data will be transcribed, typed, and then analyzed mathematically (Bray et al, 2014). Content and document review analysis will be carried out to test the applicability of the information from secondary data sources to this study. Analyzed data will be reported in form of narratives with first-hand quotation from primary sources.

Data management and ethical issues

Data recorded in the field will be transliterated. Participants will be chosen on voluntary basis, and their privacy will be ensured (Daniels et al, 2014). Any reference made to any work will be highly acknowledged. The findings will be sent to the interested stakeholders

---