Ask most healthcare professionals why they do their job and you are likely to hear about their compassionate desire to improve the quality of someone’s health and life. Ironically, the humanistic quality that makes healthcare professionals great is the same quality that makes it prone to error. Humans make mistakes, and in the realm of healthcare even simple mistakes can be deadly. To check your brain's ability to avoid medication mistakes (and see how easy it is to make them), complete our three brain teasers below.
Instructions: Give yourself no more than 30 seconds per problem. To make it more challenging (and realistic); try completing this task while being interrupted by colleagues multiple times.
Brain Teaser Problem 1: Color or Words
Say the ink color of each word.
Was it more difficult than you expected?
Brain Teaser Problem 2: The Medication Name Game
Which of these medication names doesn't belong?
Did you get them all? Are you sure?
Brain Teaser Problem 3: Medication Label Clones
Find the medication labels that are different.
Did you get them all? Are you sure?
It's Critical to Avoid Medication Mistakes
Making a mistake on any of the brain teaser problems above isn’t the end of the world, but making a mistake with drugs that look and/or sound alike could result in the injury or death of a patient in the real world. In addition to illegible writing and communication breakdowns in healthcare teams, some of the more common reasons for mistakes include, but are not limited to:
- Complex or confusing directions for use
- Ambiguous drug names that can be confused with other drug names
- Product packaging and labels that are too similar in color and design
- Medical jargon and abbreviations mistaken for other abbreviations
Of course, most hospitals are fully aware of the consequences of human error and employ an array of checks and balances to prevent them. However, according to the FDA, 1.5 million medication errors are made in the US each year, resulting in 1.3 million patient injuries and contributing to over 7,000 deaths. That’s a pretty large margin for error, and one that is completely unacceptable when you consider that most of these mistakes are preventable.
Closing the Margin for Medication Error
In addition to increased efficiency and productivity, modern technology is helping forward-thinking hospitals achieve patient safety goals by dramatically reducing the possibility of human error in the drug distribution process. Hospitals today are fortunate to have access to systems with advanced RFID technology, like the Intelliguard® Kit and Tray Management System, to automate and validate the process of procedural and emergency kit and tray replenishment in the hospital pharmacy, ensuring clinicians and anesthesiologists have the right dose of the right medication for patients – every time.
To learn more about these systems and how they can help save lives, increase Hospital Safety Scores and prevent costly mistakes at your hospital, visit Intelliguard® RFID Solutions for Critical Inventory.
