NHS FPX 4000 Assignment 3 Attempt 1 Analyzing a Current Health Care Problem or Issue

Drug administration is an integral part of nursing. Medication errors can be pernicious to a patient’s health. Medicines are prescribed by the doctor and dispensed by the pharmacist but the responsibility of current administration rests with the nurse. Each nurse is responsible for their practice. The result of medication errors varies from mild to deadly. Medication errors have been an ongoing issue in all healthcare settings. Healthcare organizations should ensure and maintain effective measures to prevent medication errors. 

According to National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Prevention and Analysis (NCCMERP,2021), a medication error is defined as “any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of a healthcare provider, patient or consumer”. Some of the factors associated with this cause are transcript errors, look -alike, sound -alike medication packages, and nurse- patient ratio. This assessment will expand upon mediation errors issue, analysis of the problem/issue, potential solutions for the problem, ethical considerations, and implementation of the solution. 

                     Elements of the Problem/Issue 

Medication errors can be detrimental to a patient’s health and they pose a serious threat to a patient’s safety. These errors can add significant harm or even death to patients. The data shows that in the United States more than 250,000 deaths per year are appertaining to medication errors (Dirik et.al, 2019). A medication error can increase the length of stay at the hospital and the cost of the treatment.