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April 2010 study shows medication errors occur as often as once per patient per day in some settings

07-06-10
Catherine Henry Partners Lawyers Newcastle

A study of nurses administering medications in 6 wards at 2 major teaching hospitals in Sydney has shown that interruptions increase the risk of medication errors.

The study concluded that:

"Among nurses at 2 hospitals, the occurrence and frequency of interruptions were significantly associated with the incidence of procedural failures and clinical errors.

Interruptions have been suspected to be a potentially important contributor to hospital medication errors based largely on self reports, surveys and retrospective analyses of voluntary reports.  The incidence of medication errors is considerable, with estimates as high as 1 per patient per day in some settings.  The lack of multisite and comprehensive data suggests that the full magnitude of the problem is still unknown."

(Arch Intern Med/Vol 170 (No. 8) April 26 2010)

 

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