Local initiative to reduce medication errors in hospitals
(Random kitty photo from flikr)
SFGate.com describes a study carried-out at bay area hospitals. Hospital nurses developed procedures for alerting their colleagues they were dispensing medicine, and they shouldn’t be disturbed.
Prescription for success: Don’t bother nurses
– Accuracy in administering medications improved from an average of 83.8 percent at the start of the program in 2006 to 93 percent after 18 months and 98 percent after 36 months.
– Between September 2006 and September 2009, medication errors at the hospitals dropped by an average of 87.7 percent.
– The adherence to a series of “best practice” principles, which included such techniques as checking two forms of patient identification before administering drugs and explaining each medication to the patient, increased from 79.5 percent at the start of the program to 96 percent after 36 months.
I’d be interested to know how much of the improvement came from telling their patients what they were giving them. Thing2 and I have caught quite a few doctor errors that way. They have standard procedures/medications they give, and they may not remember that you are allergic or have some other contra-indication for the standard treatment.
KIT
November 11th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
I always find it a bit disconcerting when I find that I need to remind my doctor of an allergy, a test they suggested I get, or similiar but I’ve come to realize it is definitely best to proactive with your own healthcare. This does not always come easily to me as I have that inbred southern coaching about not being “pushy”.