Medication errors: types, causes and impact on nursing practice

Medication safety is a worldwide concern and a health priority, particularly in the UK. Safe and accurate medicine administration depends on correct prescribing and dispensing. Medication administration in hospital is the final stage of the medication process; nurses should be able to recognize errors in this process and prevent these errors from reaching the patient. Focusing on the serious consequences for those nurses involved in medication errors not only results in low reporting rates, but can also hamper effective improvements in medication safety, and lead to failure to discover the underlying contributory factors. This article explores the personal and organizational factors that contribute to medication errors among nurses within hospital ward settings.