Prevention of Medical Errors in Nursing Practice

Medical errors are among the most common health-threatening mistakes that affect patient care. This online activity reviews the categories of medication errors, at-risk patient populations, and best practices in error analysis and reporting.

STATEMENT OF NEED

Medical errors are among the most common health-threatening mistakes that affect patient care, accounting for as many as 250,000 deaths per year in the United States (Makary & Daniel, 2016). Medical errors are considered a global problem, affecting as many as 20% of patients in primary and outpatient care, and complicating the primary conditions for which the patients needed medical attention (WHO, 2019). These errors can lead to adverse outcomes such as increased mortality, increased duration of hospitalization, and increased medical expenses, in addition to decreased confidence in the health care system. Despite their high occurrence, medical errors remain frequently underreported in health care organizations (WHO, 2019; Jember et al, 2018).

TARGET AUDIENCE

Nurses, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

- Differentiate the four categories of medication errors
- Identify challenges in avoiding medical errors unique to at-risk
populations
- Describe best practices in error analysis and reporting