Medication Errors In Health Care

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Pages: 2

“Medication errors were once the eighth leading cause of death in the United States” (Keane 2014). With 44,000 to 98,000 annual deaths it is apparent that medication errors are still prevalent in health care settings. According to Ferner and Aronson, a medication error is defined as a “failure to the drug treatment process that leads to or has the potential to lead to harem to the patient” (Agyemang & White 2010). Medication mistakes are common but with proper education and training they can be prevented. These errors can be caused by a variety of factors including interruptions while administering medications, misidentification of resident, poor communication between medical professionals, and general hospital chaos (Nazarko 2015).