Medication errors

Abstract

Medication errors are a subset of all medical errors that patients are exposed to upon a visit to hospital. Errors related to drugs do not all result in an adverse drug event and not all adverse drug events are the result of an error. However, all medication errors are preventable. They can occur during any phase of the medication of a patient, from the prescription to the actual ingestion or administration of the drug to the patient. The incidence of medication and medical errors is difficult to determine, due to differences in practices in hospitals worldwide, and frequency of reporting. Nonetheless, errors do occur and so it is incumbent upon the medical community, in the interest of patient safety, to be aware of the problem and be constantly vigilant to keep errors at a minimum. A systems based approach is part of the strategy to address medication errors in hospitals.