The staff at a day-surgery clinic are meeting because there have been two significant medication errors committed over the past few weeks. In order to prevent future medication errors, the nurses at the clinic should:

Question

A) take measures to ensure that they are not disturbed when pouring medications.
B) have each medication checked and co-signed by another nurse.
C) collaborate with the physicians to determine whether clients are being prescribed any nonessential medications.
D) cluster the timing of medication administration to reduce the number of times that a client is given medications.

Answer 1

Ans: A
Feedback:
Distraction is a major cause of medication errors. In general, it is not necessary to have two nurses co-administer medications in order for them to be given safely. Performing a medication reconciliation with physicians may reveal that some medications are non-essential, but this does little to enhance overall medication safety. Clustering the administration of medications does not equate with improved safety and reduction of errors.