Reflection on Learning April 7

Running head: Interprofessional collaboration 2

Interprofessional collaboration 2

Interprofessional collaboration in Preventing Medication Errors

Chamberlain University

Leonard Einstein

04/06/2021

Assembling an interprofessional team to address the recurring medication error requires collaboration among stakeholders whose departments contribute to the common medication error cases. One of the major causes of medication errors is miscommunication among the physicians and nurses and between the doctor/nurse and the patient. Medication errors occur in ordering or prescription of the drugs, documentation, transcribing, administering which includes use of wrong route of administration, the incorrect dosage, dispensing and monitoring (Tariq et al, 2021).

It is also crucial to double check medications that are contraindicated for a specific population group, medications that are contraindicated for certain diseases, medications that cannot be prescribed if the patient is taking another medication. For example if a patient is taking amitriptyline for depression, the patient cannot concurrently take any nervous system depressant such as a benzodiazepine which can lead to further respiratory depression and respiratory failure.

Based on the root causes of medication errors outlined, the interprofessional team would involve the hospital health administrator, a representative from the nursing department, nurse educator, representative from the pharmacology department, the health information technician and the lead physician. The members of the team would have unique roles depending with the department in which each works in. The health administrator as part of the hospital management has a better access of the decision-making processes and implementation of policies and recommendations made or suggested in meetings. The responsibility of the health administrator as part of the health administrator is to ensure that the recommendations made during the team meetings aligns with the hospital policies. Also, the health administrator has the ability of presenting the discussed prevention strategies to the hospital board which effects the policies into regulations.

A representative from the nursing department serves a significant role in the team based on the fact that some of the medication errors related to monitoring arise from the inefficiencies in the nursing staff section, the nurse is the individual who actually administer the medication so it has a crucial role in preventing medication by making sure that double check the appropriate drug for the appropriate disease, the appropriate dosage , the appropriate route of administration ( example oral or intravenous) . Nursing team members should to understand that is very important to talking if they believe confused or feeling that an instruction is entered erroneously. When they feel allowed to corroborate correctness of directives, the probability of a medication administration error is diminished.

The nursing representative would assist in providing the possible reasons for the medication errors which are related to the department. The nurse representative has a responsibility of ensuring continuous vigilance and proper administration of medications to patients. As a key player in the administration of care, inclusion of a nursing representative helps in effecting the strategies developed in the team. The nurse educator has the role of ensuring that the nursing students develop the right skills and professionalism which reduce medication errors before starting the actual practice. The representative from pharmacology has the responsibility of sharing reasons for the medication errors associated with drug dispensing and ways to rectify the inefficiencies. The health information technician has the responsibility of developing strategies to reduce medication errors associated with transcribing and communication across doctors through the systems and electronic health records. The lead physician serves the responsibility of oversight in the team and providing overall recommendations on how to prevent medication errors (Tariq, 2021).

In ensuring accountability and task distribution, the team should identify all tasks required to be completed after which the tasks are allocated amongst team members. The leader of the team has to ensure agreement from team members to taking the tasks awarded. In distributing the tasks to the team members, a criterion has to be used which involves: work prioritization, evaluation of skills, availability, development and interests. In following up with the progress of the tasks delegated, one-on-one recapitulations should be done where each of the team members give an update of their progress (Unknown, 2021).

In facilitating effective communication and collaboration, various strategies should be used such as enhancing open communication among team members. Also, the communication tools should be streamlined and ensuring that the teammates are aware of each other’s focus throughout the day. Focusing on the listening skills and follow up would be important in ensuring there is smooth flow of communication among the members of the team (Gharaveis et al, 2018).

Reference

Gharaveis, A., Hamilton, D. K., Pati, D., & Shepley, M. (2018). The impact of visibility on teamwork, collaborative communication, and security in emergency departments: An exploratory study. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 11(4), 37-49.

Tariq A. Rayhan; Vashisht Rishik; Sinha Ankur; Scherbak Yevgeniya (2021). Medication Dispensing Errors and Prevention. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519065/

Unknown (2021). Managing Research Products. National Center for Research Methods. https://www.restore.ac.uk/mrp/services/ldc/mrp/resources/peopleskills/overview/index.shtml