Browsing by Subject "katkeamaton lääkehoitoprosessi"

The medication-use process in hospitals includes several risks which can lead to medication errors. Medication errors can be prevented and managed by adding automation and technology solutions to the medication-use process, such as clinical decision support system (CDSS) integrated into electronic medication administration record (eMAR), unit dose drug distribution system (UDDDS), automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) and bar-code medication administration (BCMA). A closed loop medication management process can be created by integrating different methods and technologies seamlessly. It improves medication safety by decreasing human errors and allows the access to the patient’s medication information in real time. The closed loop medication management process is not yet fully in use in any Finnish hospital, but parts of it have already been implemented. Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) wants to improve the closed loop medication management process by piloting the use of unit dose (UD) bags in the medication- use process and to study its effects on medication safety. The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of the medication dispensing errors and procedural errors, the working time of the nurses, and the nurses' opinions on the current drug dispensing model in a hospital ward before the introduction of the unit dose drug distribution system. The study was conducted as a mixed-method study, which utilized an observational method and an online survey. The data were collected at HUS internal medicine inpatient ward by observing the dispensing of morning medicines for ten days and through an electronic survey sent to the ward’s nurses. The overall incidence of dispensing errors in the current drug dispensing process was 40,1 % (553/1379). Of these, 3,2 % (44/1379) were medication dispensing errors, and after the excluding prescribing errors (n=22), the incidence was 1,6 %. These prescription errors were mainly related to prescribing medications outside the hospital's formulary. In addition, the incidence of procedural errors was 37 % (509/1379). Of the procedural errors, 57 % (292/509) were related to the unattached or missing barcodes and 37 % (186/509) to hygiene deficiencies in drug dispensing. On average, nurses spent 4,5 minutes per patient on medication dispensing and patients had 7 morning medications. The results of the survey also revealed problems related to barcodes as well as hygiene deficiencies, which supported the results of the observations. Significant safety risks, such as unattached barcodes, missing barcodes, and deficiencies in hygiene were identified in the current drug dispensing process. The study indicates that system-based risk management approach is not yet fully understood in hospital units. The root cause of procedural errors should be investigated more and review the ward's instructions with staff, to reduce their incidence in the future. At the end of 2021 a unit dose drug distribution model will be piloted in the ward, which may be one possible way to reduce errors related barcodes and hygiene. In addition, to improve the medication safety, physicians should order medications from hospital's formulary, so that generic substitution would no longer need to be made at the distribution stage. It would be useful to include a category of incorrect orders in the future research setups that investigate medication errors in the dispensing phase to identify such potential risk situations.