[Medication administration errors at an emergency service: knowing to decrease risk].

Area of Science:

• Clinical Pharmacy
• Patient Safety
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Medication administration errors pose significant risks in emergency services.
• Existing studies on medication errors in emergency departments show varied results and methodologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence, characteristics, types, and consequences of medication administration errors in an emergency department.
• To propose strategies for preventing medication administration errors.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving direct observation of adult patients in internal medicine emergency areas.
• Data collected by four nursing observers and analysis of reported medication errors from a voluntary reporting system.

Main Results:

• Observed medication administration errors occurred in 19% of cases, significantly higher than the 14 reported errors.
• Incorrect administration rate (67%) was the most common error type, followed by preparation (16%) and timing (14%) errors.
• Furosemide and methylprednisolone were the most implicated medications; no patient harm was reported.

Conclusions:

• The prevalence of medication administration errors in the emergency department is high.
• Understanding error types is crucial for developing targeted prevention strategies.
• Implementing improvement actions can enhance patient safety in emergency settings.