NURS-FPX4030 | Determining the Credibility of Evidence and Resources

Paper Details

School: Capella University
Subject: Nursing
Topic: Medication errors

Course:NURS-FPX4030

Referencing: APA
Pages: 4

Determining the Credibility of Evidence and Resources

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Medication errors

 Medication errors arise from the failure of health providers to exercise due care leading to harm or injury to the patients (Kavanagh, 2017). These errors have led to significant deterioration of quality of life of the patients and increase in healthcare costs. Medication errors are preventable events considering that they arise due to inappropriate use of medication or failure to follow due procedure in delivery of healthcare services (Dos Santos et al., 2018). Studies have shown that medication errors lead to an increase in the health care associated fatalities and comorbidities (Kavanagh, 2017). In most cases, medication errors arise due to inability of healthcare professionals to adopt evidence-based practices and patient-centred care in delivery of health care services. This implies that to reduce medication errors, it is fundamental to collect evidence the data that will allow for improvement of areas of weaknesses in a healthcare setting. 

The adoption of evidence-based approach can enable healthcare stakeholders identify the rationale for increase in medication errors and, therefore, take corrective actions to address challenges. Application of evidence-based approach can also be critical to facilitate assessment of interventions that will allow delivery of person-centred care to reduce medication errors. Therefore, the issue of medication errors could benefit from evidence-based approach by application of up-to-date information and systems that enable for quality improvement.

Also Read: Get Help From Nursing PICO Questions

Criteria for determining credibility of resources

An evidence-based criterion for determining reliable resources is the CRAAP approach. The CRAAP test represents the currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose (Berg, 2017). The currency domain represents the timeline of the information when the information was revised. This aspect allows for assessing whether the information is current or out of date and any functional link that may lead to attaining evidence-based information. The relevant idea incorporates the importance of information for the current needs. Also, it is fundamental to assess the source of information by determining the authority perspectives. This approach incorporates determining whether the organs are credible by cross-examination of their credential or organisational affiliation. The purpose of scientific research incorporates determining the reason why the information exist and whether the authors made the intention of research clear (Hubbard & Dunbar, 2017). The credibility of a scientific research paper is obtained from determining the accuracy. This domain involves determining whether the information has been peer-reviewed or supported by up-to-date evidence. According to Elmwood (2018), CRAAP model is an evidence-based approach of determining the credibility and reliability of sources for evidence based practice.

This criterion can be used to assess the credibility of nursing resources that address medication errors. By applying the CRAAP model, health provider can determine evidence based materials concerning reducing of medication error in a healthcare setting. For example, determining the currency of the material is an invaluable undertaking in attaining best practices and guidelines for managing medication errors. 

Credibility and the relevance of evidence within the context of medication error

 There are plethora of resources and evidence focusing on managing medication errors in a healthcare setting. The evidence presented in literature highlight the importance of following hospital procedure during patient admission, labelling of medication and patients, following the 5R of medication dispensation. Besides, counter-checking prescription choice before administering on a patient has been cited to be critical in addressing medication errors. 

The evidence presented by Wahr et al., (2017), highlights the importance of following health care policy and procedure during medication administration. The article is relevant for the current research considering that it addresses the topic of interest and highlights evidence-based procedures for managing medication error. This evidence is also invaluable considering that it's up to date and published by authors with vast experience in healthcare research. A study by Tong et al., (2017), focused on strategies to minimise medication error in emergency room. The article cites that adoption of educational strategies, creation of multidisciplinary committee to prevent and reduce adverse drug event and implementation of a computerized prescription system are some of the intervention to manage medication error. The article adopts a systematic review in this perspective. The evidence presented by article is also peer-reviewed implying that it is relevant for the current practice. 

Importance of incorporating credible evidence

Use of credible sources in evidence based practice creates a robust database for addressing medication errors. The incorporation of credible evidence into ARCC model allows for attaining up to data information concerning modalities for improving patients care. ARCC focuses on team work and collaboration in addressing a healthcare issue. This aspect leads to change of organizational culture to focus on quality improvements in a health care setting. This model also identifies that strengths and major barriers to implementation of EBP. 

One of the major benefits of this model is the ability to adopt continuous improvements in addressing a health care issue. The aspect of inter-professional collaboration enables for attaining evidence based data that can be used to improve cases of medication errors in the health care facility. For example, the model could help address medication errors by setting an inter-professional team that focuses on the loopholes leading to medication errors. Also, the ARCC model can enable the healthcare professional to identify major barriers of EBP implementation leading to improved patients outcomes. 

References 

Berg, C. (2017). Teaching website evaluation: The CRAAP test and the evolution of an approach.

Dos Santos, H. D., Ulbrich, A. H. D., Woloszyn, V., & Vieira, R. (2018). Ddc-outlier: Preventing medication errors using unsupervised learning. IEEE journal of biomedical and health informatics, 23(2), 874-881.

Elmwood, V. (2018). What the CRAAP?: Comparing approaches to teaching web evaluation in FYE programs.

Hubbard, K. E., & Dunbar, S. D. (2017). Perceptions of scientific research literature and strategies for reading papers depend on academic career stage. PloS one, 12(12), e0189753.

Kavanagh, C. (2017). Medication governance: preventing errors and promoting patient safety. British Journal of Nursing, 26(3), 159-165.

Tong, E. Y., Roman, C. P., Mitra, B., Yip, G. S., Gibbs, H., Newnham, H. H., ... & Dooley, M. J. (2017). Reducing medication errors in hospital discharge summaries: a randomised controlled trial. Medical Journal of Australia, 206(1), 36-39.

Wahr, J. A., Abernathy III, J. H., Lazarra, E. H., Keebler, J. R., Wall, M. H., Lynch, I., ... & Cooper, R. L. (2017). Medication safety in the operating room: literature and expert-based recommendations. BJA: British Journal of Anaesthesia, 118(1), 32-43.