MEDICATION ERROR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MEDICATION ERROR - Essay Example Medication error can occur at the pharmacy, at the doctor’s office, at home, or in the hospital. Various causes of medication error have been cited including confusion regarding different drugs with the same names, inadequate information concerning sensitivities and drug allergies of a particular patient, and difficulty in reading prescriptions that are handwritten among others (Naylor, 2002). In order to have a better understanding of this topic, this paper will discuss medication error in general, with particular reference to the medication safety, prevention, as well as reporting. Medication should at all times achieve its main aim of relieving pain and suffering, managing symptoms of chronic diseases, and treating infectious diseases. Medication safety is one of the main strategies that can help in realizing this goal. Caregivers, pharmacists, and patients should focus on critical elements of medication safety which are safe storage, safe dosing, and safe disposal. Medicines should be stored in the right locations and under the recommended temperatures (Banja, 2005). Safe storage also involves keeping drugs out of reach of children. It also involves keeping them where they can be destroyed such as in the backpack or in the purse. Medication safety further entails safe dosing; under and overdosing are preventable. This starts by ensuring that the right prescription is made. After that, caregivers and patients should be vigilant in reading the medication instructions and labels in order to take the right dose. The final aspect of medication safety is safe disp osal of medicines. In an event that medications are not needed anymore or they are out of date, they should be disposed appropriately. This can be done through community’s medication take-back program, or by dissolving them in water if they are solid, or by removing personal information and any instructions from the