The Medication Administration Process

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The Medication Preparation and Administration process: Errors occurring due to Staff Interruptions
Staff interruptions remain the primary cause for errors in the process of medication administration to patients in a hospital setting. This paper looks at suggestive mechanisms that can be utilized to prevent and or reduce such occurrences as they pose a major risk factor to the lives of patients involved. The main emphasis herewith being proposed changes for implementation in the work environment of the hospital or other health center. It is obvious that the intensity and probability of error occurrence increase with an increase of physical interruptions. This mostly affects new nurses than the older more experienced ones. However, the process of medication preparation and administration (Biron et al. 75-77).
A major change that would go a long way in achieving reduced errors as hereby stated involves the creation of a ‘No Interruption Zone' (NIZ) or a ‘Patient Safety Zone' within the hospital environment. Also, nurses on duty during stipulated times for drug preparation and administration could also put on some form of distinctive clothing. These should serve the purpose of communicating to other people and staff that they are engaged by activities that require their full attention and so they should not be interrupted at all, except for a number of impending immediate emergencies and similar purposes that cannot be foregone.
All nurses bear a primary role of conducting safe and prescribed preparation and administration of medication. Even small errors in such a setting have the potential of resulting in sign...