discussion post 7

Read the article by Aiken and associatesLinks to an external site.. She has been exploring the topic of patient safety for a number of years and has been applying her research findings across international boundaries.(Patient Safet Essay Sample)

• Consider your topic of interest and the purpose for exploring this topic.
• What outcomes would you like to see emerge from this?
• How would you measure these outcomes?
• Include in your discussion an analysis of how Aiken measured her selected outcomes.(Patient Safet Essay Sample)

Responses need to address all components of the question, demonstrate critical thinking and analysis, and include peer reviewed journal evidence to support the student’s position.

Please be sure to validate your opinions and ideas with citations and references in APA format.

Patient Safet Essay Sample-Sample solution

According to the World Health Organization, patient safety means the absence of preventable harm that patients encounter and healthcare professional’s prevention of unnecessary harm. Vaisamoradi et al. (2020) report that globally, unsafe accounts for 64 million disability-adjusted years on an annual basis. At the same time, there is increasing awareness on the need to focus on patient safety by lowering the prevalence of adverse events commonly described as an unintended injury that emanate from a health care episode. Among everyday adverse events are medication errors, hospital falls-related injuries, and hospital-acquired infections. Consequently, this essay purposes of exploring the clinical issue of medication errors within the Australian context.(Patient Safet Essay Sample)

Medication Errors History and Relevance to Healthcare and Nursing

Lin et al. (2019) report that approximately a quarter-million hospital admissions are due to medication-related problems which costs the Australian health care budget about $1.4 billion. An extra 400 000 patients presentations in the ED are usually attributed to medication errors despite the fact that half of these cases are preventable. Be that as it may, pharmacological interventions remain the most commonly used treatment in medical and nursing care because they contribute to improved health when used correctly(Patient Safet Essay Sample). On the flip side, medications lead to harm to the prevalence of medication, implying that they are related to more errors and adverse events(Patient Safet Essay Sample). Suffice it to say that knowledge on how adverse events occur contributes to knowledge on how the same can be prevented at the individual patient level and healthcare agency level. Studies indicate that between 2001 and 2013, medication errors related to hospital admissions in Australia stood at 2-3 %( Roughhead et al., 2013). When subpopulations are studied the elderly population indicated a 12% of all medication admissions. Other Australian studies the researchers above noted that on the accuracy of medication charts regarding hospital admissions, there was one omitted medication in the medical history of every two people admitted. Granted medication histories are taken during the time of admission to hospitals and remain a point of weakness through which most medication errors occur.(Patient Safet Essay Sample)

The signification of medication errors to healthcare and nursing practice is pegged on the fact that omission of therapy and prescribing errors emanating from prescription errors can be resolved if only healthcare professionals paid more attention to the delivery of patient-focused care. Usher et al. (2017) opine that since the early history of nursing in the mid-1860s, Florence Nightingale and other nursing pioneers did acknowledge that the healthcare and nursing environments can be a cause of harm to patients. Taking an example of first world statistics, Markel & Daniel (2016) observed that in the United States, preventable hospital errors are the leading cause of death. Usher et al. (2017) also reported that in the case of Australia, a study of Victorian healthcare agencies in 2003- 2004 there was a 7% episodes of care where at least one adverse event was noted. Subsequently, healthcare professionals led by nurses have a mandatory responsibility to ensure that patient care delivered to those seeking healthcare services is safe and adheres to the set clinical standards not just by Australian standards but also from the best evidence-based practices across the world.(Patient Safet Essay Sample)

The Connection between Preventing and Controlling Healthcare-Associated Infection Standard (PCHAIS) and Medication Errors

One of the eight national standards in Australia is the Preventing and Controlling Healthcare-Associated Infection Standard (PCHAIS) whose overarching goal is to enhance prevention of infection and control measures to contain infections through appropriate prescribing practices (Parameswara et al., 2017). As evidence-based systems, the prevention and control of healthcare linked infections strategies should set their focus on medication errors reductions from omitted drug errors, wrong prescription errors and wrong drug administration errors. Slawomirski et al. (2017) advance the notion that one a fundamental responsibility for all healthcare professionals is to not harm the patient while simultaneously doing everything possible to ensure that a patient benefits more from an intervention compared to its delirious impact(Patient Safet Essay Sample). In their study, Slawomirski et al. (2017) determined that patient harm ranks at the 14th position on the causes of global disease burden. However, if the PCHAIS framework is applied by healthcare organizations leaders, the prevention, management and control of connected healthcare infections of which medication errors comprise a significant part would be greatly reduced. Patient outcomes would improve as a result of reduced harm. The PCHAIS evidence-based framework can prevent and control medication errors amongst other healthcare linked infections since patients presenting with or having risk factors for infection would be identified early enough. Early identification would also mean they receive the appropriate treatment and management devoid of medication errors (Mieiro et al., 2019).(Patient Safet Essay Sample)

Why PCHAIS is needed in Australia

Since its inception as a national standard in Australia, PCHAIS intends to improve prevention of infection as well as enhancement of control measures to facilitate the prevention of infections, and the spread of antimicrobial resistance. To achieve the noble goals, these national standards call for appropriate prescribing and proper utilization of antimicrobials(Patient Safet Essay Sample). Like other countries in the world, Australia also needs to prioritize its protocols and guidelines that ensure medication safety is enhanced. Moles (2020) opines that figures on medication-related patient harm are alarming with WHO restating that medication errors and unsafe medical practices remain the leading cause of the harm that is preventable. Australia should, therefore, join the rest of the world to improve the safe and appropriate use of medications.(Patient Safet Essay Sample)

Conclusion

In the provision of patient-centered health care during the 2020s and beyond, there is a need for healthcare providers to ensure safe medical practices are observed. There is a need for professionals to understand that medication errors need not be and should not remain a leading cause of patient harm. Besides, poor patient outcomes, the increased disease burden can be reduced if the healthcare professionals took proactive measures to reduce medication. In the context of Australia, PCHAIS incorporates most the measures which if adhered to would result in reduced medication.(Patient Safet Essay Sample)

References

Lin, R., Semple, S., Kalisch Ellett, L., & Roughead, L. (2019). Medicine safety: take care. Pharmaceutical Society of Australia

Makary, M. A., & Daniel, M. (2016). Medical error—the third leading cause of death in the US. Bmj, 353.

Mieiro, D. B., Oliveira, É. B. C. D., Fonseca, R. E. P. D., Mininel, V. A., Zem-Mascarenhas, S. H., & Machado, R. C. (2019). Strategies to minimize medication errors in emergency units: an integrative review. Revista brasileira de enfermagem, 72, 307-314.

Moles, R. (2020). Medication Safety—A Global Health Priority. The Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, 73(2), 101.

Parameswaran Nair, N., Chalmers, L., Bereznicki, B., Curtain, C. M., Connolly, M., & Bereznicki, L. (2017). Repeat Adverse Drug Reactions-related Hospital Admissions in Elderly Australians. In International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research 22nd Annual International Meeting.

Roughead, L., Semple, S., & Rosenfeld, E. (2013). Literature review: medication safety in Australia. Sydney: Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.(Patient Safet Essay Sample)

Slawomirski, L., Auraaen, A., & Klazinga, N. (2018). The economics of patient safety–strengthening a value-based approach to reducing patient harm at national level: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development–OECD; 2017.

Usher, K., Woods, C., Parmenter, G., Hutchinson, M., Mannix, J., Power, T., … & Jackson, D. (2017). Self-reported confidence in patient safety knowledge among Australian undergraduate nursing students: A multi-site cross-sectional survey study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 71, 89-96.(Patient Safet Essay Sample)

Vaismoradi, M., Tella, S., A Logan, P., Khakurel, J., & Vizcaya-Moreno, F. (2020). Nurses’ Adherence to Patient Safety Principles: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(6), 2028.