Prospective Study: Identification of incidence and types of medication error

Abstract

Medication process comprises with many steps, which demand the involvement of various inter-departmental healthcare professionals that can raise the chances for medication error in any stage.   A prospective study was carried out to identify the incidence and types of medication error in selected tertiary care hospital, Indore. 250 medication records of patients, admitted in selected tertiary care hospital, Indore were evaluated. Data was collected by examining patient’s medication record, their feedback and observation of medication administration practice of their concerning nurses through medication prescription, transcription and administration checklist as per the NABH norms. Data reveals Prescription faults and errors (71.16%) are more common in comparison to transcription (10.62%) and administration (20.2%) related to medication errors. Prescription errors all the parameters ranged above 60% that indicates more corrective steps and strategies has to be adopted for reducing the risk related to wrong processing of medication.