title: [Patient safety and the paradox in medication use].
abstract: Administering medication to patients is a complex process with various phases which contemplate a series of inter-related decisions and actions involving professionals from a number of disciplines as well as patients themselves. Errors may occur in any phase of such process. This article describes the indexes, terminology and classification of medication errors and determines the approaches which explain their occurrence, namely the person-centered approach and the system-centered approach. The aim of the paper was to contribute, through theoretical elements, to the strategic discussions concerning the improvement of care standards in health care institutions in our country, focusing on patient safety related to drug therapy.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Enfermagem Geral e Especializada da Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto Universidade de São Paulo.
authors.forename: Silvia Helena De Bortoli
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cassiani
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000145:classification / Q000401:mortality; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000592:standards; D009626:Terminology as Topic