Medication Safety and Error Prevention – Vol. 1

Medicines are the most common therapeutic intervention in health care, and also one of the most common sources of avoidable harm. Errors can occur at every step from prescribing to administration and monitoring, and the risks are amplified where staffing is stretched, supply chains are varied and electronic safeguards are limited. Yet the majority of errors are preventable with simple, well-understood practices.

This three-volume series gives healthcare workers in pharmacies, hospitals, laboratories and training institutions a practical, standards-based foundation in medication safety. It draws on the World Health Organization’s Medication Without Harm challenge, the work of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), and established safety science, and applies them to realities in Nigeria and Kenya.

Overall learning outcomes

By the end of the three volumes, learners will be able to:

• Explain the scale, causes and consequences of medication-related harm and the principles of a just and open safety culture.
• Classify medication errors and adverse events and recognise the high-alert medicines and situations that require extra safeguards.
• Write, review and verify prescriptions safely, including checks for allergies, organ function, interactions and appropriateness.
• Dispense, label and hand out medicines accurately, with independent checks and effective patient identification.
• Perform common medication calculations accurately and apply methods that catch ten-fold and unit errors.
• Counsel patients using teach-back and plain language, and reconcile medicines at transitions of care.
• Administer medicines safely, including intravenous medicines and delivery devices, and adapt practice for children, pregnancy, older adults and different care settings.
• Monitor therapy, report adverse reactions and quality problems, report incidents, and disclose errors honestly.