Medication errors can drive nurses to feelings of guilt, and sometimes worse. However, nurses are human, and medication errors can happen. We have a responsibility to find ways of minimising them though, to keep our patients safe. Medication errors can happen anywhere along the chain of the process. Errors can occur with prescribing, documenting, transcribing, dispensing, administering and monitoring. At all these points along the chain, a nurse has to step in and double-check that everyone, from the doctor to the pharmacist, performed their job correctly. A nurse also has to double-check themselves.
CPD Duration 5 minutes