3 Common Medical Error Types

Nobody’s perfect, including nurses; therefore, it is wise to accept that mistakes will happen even if you are the top student with at par knowledge levels during LPN training Illinois and maintain excellent patient relations. Mistakes have long-lasting and complex ramifications in healthcare, so it is vitally essential that nurse practitioners and healthcare professionals learn about where and why mistakes happen so that they may avoid or correct them as soon as possible.

Types of Medical Errors in Nursing

Here are some common types of medical errors in the nursing plan of action so healthcare providers may prevent or correct themselves more efficiently for the plan of care.

Medication Errors

Nurses make medication errors more often than any other mistake. This error does not require special knowledge or experience – all nurses can make these errors regardless of the length of experience working as nurses. Instead, inattention often causes these kinds of medication errors. Hence, it’s essential that when working with patients, you pay close attention while caring for them, as it will prevent future mistakes in the nursing process. You also remember the 5 rights of medication administration when administering medicines to individuals:

Correct medications: You need to follow the doctor’s instructions for which medication you should use. Check with your doctor, pharmacy, and patient’s chart multiple times to ensure you have it right during the care interaction.

Correct patient: Accidentally giving medication to the wrong patient could prove deadly in terms of allergies or medical complications, so always use your chart when giving out prescriptions to ensure if mistakes happen, they’ll be immediately corrected – potentially saving you from more trouble!

• Proper dose: When selecting medication dosage instructions, strictly abide by them and follow written prescriptions. Double-check patient charts before measuring out medications.
• Timely administer medication: It can be hard to remember to give patients their medication at just the right time if you’re a nurse; set alarms so you don’t forget! To keep on track and remember to administer their dosage.
• Be sure to administer medication correctly: Be certain you understand how best to administer medication, as patients can react negatively if given orally rather than intravenously. Make sure your physician provides exact instructions before giving any doses as per their health conditions.

Documenting medication administration is critical. Record it on a patient care chart so incoming nurses and doctors know when it was last administered and inform themselves accordingly. Registering will protect you against allegations of mistakes while holding you accountable for all actions taken by documenting everything as you go along. You should look for the best nursing schools near me if you wish to build a rewarding career in the nursing profession.

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Document and Chart Errors

Unfortunately, nurses on duty frequently commit errors regarding documentation in hospitals. When entering nursing school, many probably didn’t anticipate how much paperwork would be involved throughout their careers – recording information in medical records such as critical patient findings is an integral component of recording critically essential data and is vital in keeping patients safe while receiving necessary treatments due to physician orders changing frequently and shift changes occurring frequently as risk factors.

Charts serve as maps showing progress toward recovery for patients. By monitoring past treatments that did not work well enough and tracking chart errors that arise from carelessness, simple mathematical or grammatical mistakes, or just from simple neglect, the information in these charts can be significantly compromised and cause more damage than good.

Assign duties even if it seems unnecessary. Here are the significant areas to focus on:

• Health history
• Patient allergiesWhat, when, where, and how to take medications?
• All discontinued medications
• Changes in patient condition
• Orders or observations from a physician
• Nursing actions
• Scheduled testing/treatments

Different types of medical errors in charting and documentation can be reduced if done timely and thorough. Wait to leave charting until the end of your shift – fill in charts as they’re filled out, or else risk missing something important!

Infection Errors

Hospitals can be both healing and treating environments; at the same time, they also contain many germs that spread infections indiscriminately throughout. When bacteria and viruses come together under one roof, it poses risks that must be mitigated as much as possible to address the original medical needs of their patients. Hygiene is critical to protecting patients against infection issues. Follow all rules and regulations your facility sets regarding cleanliness and hygiene practices; pay close attention to industry-standard precautions when working towards continuous care of patients; learn proper cleaning and disinfection techniques for wounds and instruments.

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Final Thoughts

It is essential to recognize that this list does not encompass all the possible types of medical error nurses make; instead, it lists only some of the more frequent errors. While it can be daunting to consider all that could go wrong in healthcare environments, being attentive to detail, thorough documentation, and knowing all protocols related to nursing and facility can help avoid mistakes from happening in future care scenarios. 

Don’t give up; every nurse makes errors throughout their career, and you will become an even greater nurse by trying your hardest and continuing learning as a nursing student with Illinois college of nursing accreditation.