title: Medication errors from an emergency room setting: safety solutions for nurses.
abstract: Medication errors represent a failure in the medication use process and can increase morbidity and mortality. The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention maintains a taxonomy that assists in standardized reporting, evaluating, and trending of medication error data. Many emergency departments are overcrowded from the increased responsibility of providing emergency and nonurgent medical care. Nursing staff in emergency departments is inadequate to handle the overload of patient visits. As a result, care is fragmented and methods designed to support patient safety are compromised. The most frequently reported error in emergency department care is medication error. This article analyzes methods to reduce medication errors in the emergency department.
authors.affiliation: Anita Thigpen Perry School of Nursing, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, 3601 Fourth, Mail Stop 6264, Lubbock, TX 79430-6264, USA.
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hillin
authors.forename: Rodney W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Hicks
mesh_terms: D015984:Causality; D003441:Crowding; D016529:Emergency Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006287:Health Planning Guidelines; D006801:Humans; D007591:Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000451:nursing* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008510:Medication Systems, Hospital; D024802:Nurse's Role; D010355:Patient Identification Systems; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D017751:Safety Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology