Essay Ethernet Vs. Token Ring

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction………………………………………………………………………3

1. Problem Statement…………………………………………...……………………...4

1.2        Aim and Objectives…………………………………………………………………..5

1.3        Rationale………………………………………………………………   …………...6

Chapter 2: Background………………………………………………………..……………7

2.1        Types of Medication Errors……………………………………………..………….7

2.2        Causes of Medication Errors……………………………………………….………9

2.3        On the Role of Patient ……………………………………………..……………... 9

Chapter 3: The Nature of Reflection……………………………………………………..13

3.1        Theoretical Framework: Kotter’s Eight-Step Model…………………………….13

3.2        Technique Review (Research Design): The Critical Incidents Technique……19

3.3        Reflective Model……………………………………………………………………22

3.4        Rationale: Critical Analysis of Theory and Model………………………………25

Chapter 4: Applied Reflection and Initial Discussion…………………………………...26

4.1       Description……………………………..……………………………………..........26

4.2       Feeling……..……………………………………………………………………….27

4.3      Evaluation….…………………………………………………………..……………27

4.4     Analysis………………………………………………….………………..…………28

4.5     Conclusion……………………………………………………….…………..……...28

4.6     Action Plan……………………………………………………….…………….…...29

4.7     Emerging Issues…………………………………………………….……………...31

Chapter 5: Further Discussion and Implications for Practice……………..…………...33

5.1     The Need for a Nursing-Focused Plan……………………………….……….….34

Chapter 6: Conclusion……………………………………………….………………….…37

List of References…………………………………….………….………………………...42

Appendix A …………………………………………………………………………….……47

Appendix B …………………………………………………………………………………50

Appendix C …………………………………………………………………………..…….51

Prevention of Medication Errors

Chapter 1: Introduction

        To begin with, I am a staff nurse currently working in a haemodialysis department in Southeast Asia. In this paper, I would like to discuss about prevention of medication error. Medication errors refer to all preventable events that are likely to lead to, or cause inappropriate use of medications. The misuse is likely to cause patient harm in cases where the medication extends control to the part of consumers, patient groups or professionals. In addition, some medication errors may be linked to professional practice, systems, procedures and healthcare products, while others may be attributed to monitoring, education, use, administration, distribution, dispensing, compounding, nomenclature, packaging, product labelling, order communication and prescription (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2007).

        Medication errors exhibit significant implications on the safety of patients. The implication points to the imperativeness of identifying and analysing the errors towards preventive mechanisms that could improve clinical practice errors. In turn, the improvement prompts the prevention of adverse effects arising from the errors (Hogan et al. 2008). Given that error reduction forms one of the most significant and initial stages in medication, Tam et al., (2008) asserted that approaches to the practice pose variations in routine care and research. Bonnabry et al., (2008) affirmed by indicating that the nature of the medication context determines the state of errors and modes of reduction. Such documentation indicates that medication errors are existent and that appropriate preventive mechanisms remain dire in the ever-changing and globalization-driven economy in which aspects such as technological evolution are in dominance.  

According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (2007), some of the mechanisms responsible for the reduction of medication errors include patient monitoring, incident reporting, direct observation and claims data, the use of administrative databases, computerized monitoring and chart reviews. The approaches are perceived to account for significant reductions in merits and limitations in the medical arena. For instance, reporting has been associated with disclosure of medication errors in which adverse drug-related implications have led to the diffusion of cultures of safe practice. In addition, data comparison and combination has been attributable for the increase in system reliability (Morimoto et al. 2004). As such, the process of preventing medication errors accounts for significant levels of patient safety in various settings while seeking to reduce fiscal and human costs, learning from errors and building safer systems. This paper examines the concept of preventing medical errors, with particular focus on the critical incident technique. It is also worth noting that the prevention of medication errors is a change-related process that requires effective change management in the healthcare sector. As such, Kotter’s Eight-Step Model will be used as a theoretical framework on which the study bases while seeking to understand the previous and current state of error reduction – towards future success in healthcare service provision.