: Factors Related to Errors in Medication Prescribing

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(429 Words)
Medical prescription errors occur far too frequently, and the results can be dangerous and even deadly. Consider the following issues, which may play a part in this dangerous situation.
Doctor’s handwriting
The stereotype is that doctors have horrible handwriting, and this can cause a calamity indeed. The pharmacist might just try to guess what it says or assume, but then they could be wrong and you could be in trouble. There are many letters and numbers that can be confused for each other very easily. In order to help avoid this as a problem, you might want to take a look at the prescription to make sure that it is legible. If there is any doubt in your mind, then the pharmacist might experience it as well and it is okay to ask the doctor to rewrite it or clarify it on the paper.
Exhaustion
Unfortunately, may doctors and nursing are very tired. If they are in a hospital setting, then they may be running very long shifts. With so many patients and medications it might not be too difficult to accidently give the wrong prescription to someone. You might want to double-check with your doctor to make sure that something is correct.
Similar names/numbers of prescriptions
There are many medications with similar names. Also, sometimes people get confused with dosage and might give .5 of something instead of .05. Everything should be checked and double-checked for accuracy.
The game of telephone
Remember the game of telephone from childhood, where a bunch of kids sat in a row and passed a whispered message from one end to the next? A prescription often has to take a similar path. The doctor might tell the nurse who might tell another nurse who calls it in to the pharmacy assistant (or their answering machine) who then tells the pharmacist who fills it. There are many opportunities for one mistaken word, which can turn your helpful medication into a deadly one. Everyone in the chain has a responsibility to ensure that they said and heard right.
You want to do all you can to avoid having medication prescribing errors happen to you. Find out what the doctor is prescribing too you, including the exact dosage. Double-check with the pharmacist that it is exactly what you are getting, again inquiring about the amount. Oftentimes the bottle label will say what the medicine looks like – check for that. You also might want to count to be sure that the correct number is in there. The above errors are some to be on the lookout for.
Updated On: 08/22/2010 Published On: 08/22/2010 Article ViewerClose
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