Write a 4-6 page analysis of a current problem or issue in health care, including a proposed solution and possible ethical implications. Introduction In your healthcare career, you will face many problems that demand a solution. You can learn what others are doing and saying about similar issues using research skills.

Analyzing Medication Errors as a Current Health Care Problem

Medication errors are preventable. Common medication errors occur as a result of patients taking the wrong medication, the wrong amount of dosage, dose omissions, and overdosing (Dirik et al., 2019). Medication errors can also occur when drugs are combined without consideration of their interactions. When patiently using medicines at a rate that is not recommended.

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Due to the complex nature of medication errors on a patient’s health, safety career, and reputational outcomes of healthcare professionals and organizations linked to medication errors, it is important to explore various solutions that can help reduce and prevent medication errors. This assessment analyzes medication errors as a health care issue of concern, their causes, the content and significance of medication errors, the affected populations, potential solutions, and ethical principles to consider when implementing solutions for medication errors.

Possible Causes for Medication Errors

Medication errors can be linked to mistakes within practice settings, such as during medication prescriptions, dispensation, administration, carrying out procedures, healthcare product labelling, and poor communication. Existing literature has linked all these factors to medication errors during the preparation or administration of medication. According to Escrivá Gracia et al. (2019), medication errors have a significant relationship with the level of medication knowledge. Medication errors also occur due to a lack of experience with prescribing, dispensing, and administering medications or making rushed decisions during the prescription or administration phases of the medication process. Newly graduated nurses are likelier to have limited nursing experience in medication prescription or administration. They, therefore, are more likely to make related errors. Errors may also result from nurses and other care providers prescribing and administering medications beyond their authority. Other system-related factors contributing to medication errors include lower levels of professional staffing and poor physician-nurse relationships. Medication errors can also occur as a result of patients taking multiple medications for one condition or comorbid conditions, especially in elderly patients or receiving care from various providers. The nature of the environment while administering medications, such as patient disturbances, can also lead to medication errors.

Context and Significance of Medication Errors

Medication errors can occur within in-hospital and out-of-hospital settings during prescription, recording, preparation, and administration. As a registered nurse, I am interested in medication errors due to their significance. Medication errors are common in nursing practice and threaten patient and nursing outcomes. The nurses’ work settings contribute to making major mistakes at some point in the medication process. However, nurses also identify, flag, and prevent medication errors before they occur or cause patient harm.

Medication errors disrupt the treatment process and may lead to patient harm and failure to achieve treatment goals. This means they may have serious outcomes besides those of the targeted disease (Escrivá Gracia et al., 2019). Medication errors also can induce extra care needs, prolong the length of stay, increase care costs, and cause death. The consequences related to medication errors prevent nurses from reporting identified medication errors (Dirik et al., 2019). Medication errors are linked to adverse mental and emotional health outcomes for the involved providers, leading to burnout, posttraumatic stress syndrome, lack of work motivation, and intentions to leave (Robertson & Long, 2018).

Populations Affected by Medication Errors

Medication errors have direct and indirect effects on all patient populations and caregivers. All patient populations are at risk of being affected by medication. Children are at the highest risk of medication errors, especially those in inpatient settings, pediatric intensive care wards and emergency departments. This may be due to insufficient evidence supporting dosage and medication options in pediatric care. Medication errors are also common among patients using different types of medications or patients with multiple comorbidities. Elderly patients, due to age-related disease comorbidities, are more likely to be affected by medication errors.

Potential Solutions for Medication Errors

Several solutions have the po