Medication
errors can take myriad forms. Some common types of mistakes in medication are
described below
Prescribing:
Errors in prescribing include irrational, inappropriate, and ineffective
prescribing, underprescribing and overprescribing (prescribing faults) and
errors in writing (illegible prescription).
Omission
errors: Failure to give a scheduled medication dose
Incorrect
timing: Medications should be administered at their scheduled times; failure to
give a medication dose on time may cause either underdosing or
overdosing. Food may also alter the absorption of some medications.
Incorrect
duration: Taking medications for shorter or longer duration than has been
prescribed.
Administration
errors: Improper route of administration, giving the drug to the wrong patient,
giving an extra dose of the drug, or administering drugs that are given IV at
the incorrect rate, which may cause severe adverse drug reactions.
Use of inappropriate abbreviations, confusion of
metric and other dosing units
Confusion between sound-alike drug names
Prescribing contraindicated drugs.
Monitoring
errors: Failure to follow-up or to consider the patient’s liver and renal
function or allergies or potential for drug-drug or drug-food interactions or
not reviewing repeat prescriptions.
Compliance
errors: Not adhering to the protocol or rules or dispensing and prescribing
medications
Expired product: Use
of expired medications may occur because of their improper storage.
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