Drug-Dispensing Errors in the Hospital Pharmacy

Anacleto, Tânia Azevedo; Perini, Édson; Rosa, Mário Borges; César, Cibele Comini

doi:10.1590/s1807-59322007000300007

Cited by 44 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…[3, In some research papers mixed methods were used to determine the incidence and causes of dispensing errors. [15,30,43,65] Table 3 [3, [64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71] summarizes the research methods employed by the identified research papers. This review has identified that the majority (88%, n = 21) of UK research papers employed incident report forms to investigate dispensing errors.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incidence, type and causes of dispensing errors: a review of the literature

James¹,

Barlow²,

McArtney³

et al. 2009

International Journal of Pharmacy Practice

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Objectives To identify, review and evaluate the published literature on the incidence, type and causes of dispensing errors in community and hospital pharmacy. Method Electronic databases were searched from 1966 to February 2008. This was supplemented by hand-searching the bibliographies of retrieved articles. Analysis of the findings explored the research methods, operational definitions, incidence, type and causes of dispensing errors. Key findings Sixty papers were identified investigating dispensing errors in the UK, US, Australia, Spain and Brazil. In general, the incidence of dispensing errors varied depending on the study setting, dispensing system, research method and operational definitions. The most common dispensing errors identified by community and hospital pharmacies were dispensing the wrong drug, strength, form or quantity, or labelling medication with the incorrect directions. Factors subjectively reported as contributing to dispensing errors were look-alike, sound-alike drugs, low staffing and computer software. High workload, interruptions, distractions and inadequate lighting were objectively shown to increase the occurrence of dispensing errors. Conclusions Comparison of the reviewed studies was confounded by differences in study setting, research method and operational definitions for dispensing errors, error rate and classification of error types. The World Health Organization is currently developing global patient safety taxonomy. Such a standardized taxonomy for dispensing errors would facilitate consistent data collection and assist the development of error-reduction strategies.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incidence, type and causes of dispensing errors: a review of the literature

James¹,

Barlow²,

McArtney³

et al. 2009

International Journal of Pharmacy Practice

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show abstract

“…Further decentralization, adequate manpower deployment and staff training on DE will minimize dispensing mistakes and uncertainty. [14] Interprofessional teamwork was rated average (Scale: 2.18). However, in real work situation, hospital pharmacists in Nigeria are yet to be integrated as vital members of health care delivery at ward level, since the clinical pharmacy practice is still rudimentary in Nigeria hospitals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[12,13] DE at work tend to increase with high level of interruption, distraction, noise, exhaustion, illegible doctor's prescription, failure to check patient's name with prescription, wrong dose calculation, absent-mindedness, incorrect drug, poor labels, wrong time of dispensing, talkative patients or clients and patients in a hurry. [2,[13][14][15][16][17] Pharmacist's error could be mechanical or judgmental. [18] Other DE could be errors of omission or commission.…”

Section: Dispensing Errorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dispensing errors and uncertainty: Perspectives of pharmacists in a tertiary health facility in Lagos, Nigeria

Anyika

Omosebi

2015

JHA

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Introduction: Dispensing errors (DE) and health care uncertainty impact on health outcomes in a variety of ways. The aim of initiating therapy is to enhance patient wellness but human error probabilities sometimes cause harm or even fatalities and litigations. Objective: The aims of this study are to discuss the underlying factors in dispensing errors, health care uncertainty and therapeutic outcomes, and to identify the extent of human-and system-based sources of errors by exploring hospital pharmacists' attitudes and dispositions to DE and uncertainties; and the implications for patient safety in a tertiary hospital. Methods: The study involved a sample of 44 pharmacists who were administered a survey research inventory designed to assess pharmacists' attitudes and involvement in DE and uncertainty on a variety of important dimensions. Results: Overall the survey research data showed high rating of five human-based dimensions that would minimize dispensing errors, two human-system based, while three system-based (structural) issues were rated as dimensions that would aggravate DE in uncertain health care scenarios. Conclusions: The practical importance of the results for pharmacy practice and therapeutic outcomes are discussed and some suggestions made on how to minimize DE and uncertainty and the policy implications in the hospital pharmacy setting.

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“…Medication errors accounted for 50% of adverse events detected in a study carried out in a private hospital in the city of Campinas (São Paulo State) 14 . In anoother study performed in a public hospital in the city of Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais State), 82% of 422 prescription order forms presented at least one dispensing error 15 . Administrative errors represented about 27% of adverse events identified in a Brazilian multi-centre study 16 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Brazil, every year, millions of prescriptions do not follow the legal requirements that are necessary to guarantee correct dispensing and administration of medication 18 . Moreover, different studies have shown that the inadequacies of prescriptions and the difficulties in understanding them risk patient safety 1,15,19 . Therefore, the aims of this study were to analyze the quality of prescriptions at four Brazilian hospitals and to identify possible errors caused by inadequacies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%