MEDICATION ERRORS

Patrick Landayan, Nick Quinn,

Michelle Nguyen, Chris Defarlo





MEDICATION
ERRORS


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Neuication eiiois aie an extiemely
impoitant issue when it comes to
cuiient health caie issues. A meuication
eiioi is any pieventable event that may
cause oi leau to inappiopiiate
meuication use oi patient haim.

Each yeai, in the 0niteu States alone,
meuication eiiois aie iesponsible foi:
98,uuu ueaths
$Su,uuu,uuu,uuu in meuical costs

Some of the most common causes foi
meuication eiiois aie:
0'*-1 23.4 56789
Being shoit-staffeu (12%)
Being subject to time constiaints
(11%)
:-%'&&3;%*,-. )3&*-1
)*.;'-.*-1 5<=>89
?,,@A$B*@'C.,3-)A$B*@'
(')*+*-'. 5D=E89

*Neuication Eiiois aie unnecessaiy anu
eveiy consumei plays a iole in
pieventing them foi not only
themselves, but foi othei patients.



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H4,3 *)'-%*F4 $ (')*+$%*,- '&&,& 2'F,&'
%$@*-1 4,3& (')*+$%*,-/I
Repoit the inciuent to:
J#' :-.%*%3%' F,& K$F' L')*+$%*,-
M&$+%*+'. 5:KLM9
0nline:
www.consumeimeusafety.oigiepoit-a-meuication-
eiioi
Phone: 1-8uu-2SS-7767

oi

N= K= O,,) $-) P&31 Q)(*-*.%&$%*,-
5OPQ9
0nline:
www.fua.govuiugsuiugsafetymeuicationeiioisuef
ault.htm
Phone: 1-8uu-FBA-1u88
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
H4,3 *)'-%*F4 $ (')*+$%*,- '&&,& $F%'&
%$@*-1 4,3& (')*+$%*,-/I
Immeuiately call:
R$%*,-$B M,*.,- S'-%'&

Phone: 1-8uu-222-1222
A Specialist in Poison Infoimation (SPI) will instiuct
you on what to uo.
Contact the phaimacy wheie it was uispenseu oi
consult youi piimaiy caie physician.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

http:www.fua.govSafetyNeuWatchuefault.htm
This website offeis up to uate infoimation on
meuication eiiois anu iecalls.





K:JNQJ:TRU Bispensing Eiiois
Nany meuications have similai-sounuing
names, so it's possible foi the wiong
meuication to be put into the wiong
bottle. Similaily, a patient may be
expecting the :-+$" name of the uiug,
but the )#$#-&0 will be filleu by the
phaimacy (unless otheiwise noteu by
the physician).
!"#$ &'( )*'+ ,-.
V Taking the wiong uiug
V Taking the wiong uose of a uiug



KT?NJ:TRU Be Pioactive
! Ask youi uoctoi if they can senu
an electionic piesciiption to the
phaimacy
! If a haiu copy is youi only
option, ask youi uoctoi to make
it as legible as possible to ensuie
that you get the coiiect
meuication with its piopei uose
anu othei instiuctions incluueu
By unueistanuing all the necessaiy
components of a piesciiption, you can
make suie you have all the infoimation
you neeu foi the coiiect meuication.
This will ensuie less time waiting anu
ieuuce the chances of going back to the
uoctoi's office.



K:JNQJ:TRU 0veiwoikeu Staff
0ne of the biggest causes of
meuication eiiois in ietail
phaimacies is an incieuibly laige
volume of telephone calls. Both
phaimacists anu technicians aie
always answeiing a phone call
uuiing theii shifts.
/"', ,"#$ )*'+$ ,-.
V Taking up time anu focus
V Nultitasking
V Loss of woikei's concentiation
anu focus on theii woik


KT?NJ:TRU Rewaius Piogiams
As a customei, youi phaimacy may
offei loyalty piogiams in which you
can iegistei foi. This benefits both
you anu youi phaimacy staff.
01 $#2(#(2 345 1-3 6*&*#7*.
! Automatic notifications
when youi meuication is
ieauy to be pickeu up
! Couitesy iefills when
the iefill is uue
! Reuuceu multitasking of
phaimacy staff uue to too
many phone calls
KT?NJ:TRU Familiaiity
! Become familiai with the
)#$#-&0 name of the uiug
! Become familiai with what the
pills that you aie taking looks
like
! If you piefei the :-+$" name
of a uiug, make suie to infoim
youi physician

If an eiioi has been maue, you will
be able to iecognize that you have
ieceiveu the wiong meuication anu
get the coiiect meuication you neeu.
Infoimation on meuication can be
obtaineu fiom youi physician oi
local phaimacy staff.

K:JNQJ:TRU Bau Banuwiiting
Anothei common souice foi
meuication eiiois come fiom
uifficulty in coiiectly ieauing the
piesciiption fiom the uoctoi.
!"#$ &'( )*'+ ,-.
V Nisinteipieteu, anu theiefoie
impiopeily filleu piesciiptions
V Belay in filling piocess
V Impiopei uiiections on
piesciiption label





W'FB'+%*,-:

Foi this 0nit 4 Assignment, oui gioup chose to cieate an infoimative biochuie on possible meuication eiiois in a community setting.
This topic ielates to anu affects many patients on a uaily basis. We sought out to infoim the public on meuication eiiois: what they aie,
along with a few statistics as well as some situations anu solutions that they can apply to theii lives. The point we tiieu to emphasize most
was the fact that meuication eiiois aie pieventable. We stateu that the consumei plays a iole in pieventing meuication eiiois that may
occui anu maue suie to incluue contact infoimation anu euucational websites to help them play a pait in pieventing eiiois in othei
consumeis' lives. Baving a well-euucateu patient base that knows what they shoulu be taking anu when they shoulu be getting theii iefills is
ciucial foi the wellbeing of eveiyone involveu. In the enu, it will make the futuie piocess of meuication uistiibution anu hanuling safei anu
moie efficient.
We chose to piesent oui infoimation anu topic thiough a biochuie in an attempt to ieach oui public auuience in a mannei that is easy
to ieau. 0ui biochuie can be placeu in any phaimacy, uoctoi's office, oi school to be ieau by any type of consumei. It is an iueal ieau foi a
consumei who is waiting in line at a ietailcommunity phaimacy oi a patient who is waiting in the lobby of a uoctoi's oi school nuise's
office. The use of biochuie enables us to highlight the most impoitant infoimation in the least amount of woius. We also useu pictuies anu
sepaiation tactics, which make it easy on the eyes anu easy to ieau. This visual tactics help to engage the ieauei as they aie waiting foi theii
meuication oiueis.
0n the fiont covei, we useu a photo anu a neutial blue coloi with oui title anu subtitle in white to make oui covei ieally stanu out.
This will intiigue ieaueis to pick up anu eventually ieau oui biochuie. We pioceeueu to intiouuce meuication eiiois on the insiue flap
which is the fiist thing the auuience's eyes will come into contact with when opening the pamphlet. We incluueu a quick uefinition, a few
statistics, anu ieally emphasizeu the point that these eiiois aie pieventable. We unueistanu that patients aie often fiustiateu when it
comes to piesciiptions anu the wait time foi them. By helping them unueistanu the complexity anu woik that is put into the piocess, we may
assist them anu the piofessionals hanuling theii meuications. We useu bolu anu coloi to accomplish this. We unueilineu the thiee souices of
eiioi that we latei go into uetail. The insiue thiee sections of oui biochuie incluue common situations along with solutions that a consumei
may encountei. We useu bullet points whenevei possible to make the biochuie look less woiuy. The use of uiffeient coloieu text boxes
sepaiates oui iueas nicely. The back covei of oui biochuie contains many souices foi the consumei foi eiiois that they encountei befoie oi
aftei auministiation. The point of a biochuie is to be concise, anu we achieveu this with bullet points anu shoit paiagiaphs that aie at the
level of ieauing compiehension of most patients. We useu APA foimat foi citations anu listeu them sepaiate fiom the assignment. We
stiayeu away fiom inteinal citations as we thought it wasn't necessaiy foi this assignment. We thought the extia woius might be uistiacting
to the auuience.

K,3&+'.:
2u12 Faculty of Phaimacy PhB Scholaiship. (n.u.). ;0817+-38&< =&9#3. Retiieveu Novembei 26, 2u1S, fiom http:www.scholaishipstimes.com2u12uS242u12-
faculty-of-phaimacy-phu-scholaiship-at-univeisity-of-syuney

About Stephen Reses Pharmacy. (n.d.). Stephen Reses Pharmacy. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://www.resespharmacy.com/about-us/

Cheung, K., Bouvy, N., & Smet, P. B. (n.u.). Neuication eiiois: the impoitance of safe uispensing. >?@!. Retiieveu Novembei 24, 2u1S, fiom
http:www.ncbi.nlm.nih.govpmcaiticlesPNC272S2u8

uianutsos, u. (2uu8, Becembei 1). Iuentifying Factois That Cause Phaimacy Eiiois. A;,8+-9+0&3%. Retiieveu Novembei 24, 2u1S, fiom
http:www.usphaimacist.comcontinuing_euucationceviewtestlessoniu1uS916