LORIGA-DECISION

1

Professional Practice, Safety, and Workforce Issues

Topic 6- Medication Administration Safety and Error Prevention

Student name: Yaneisy Loriga

Course: Decision Making-DBX-DL01

Instructor: Nora Hernandez Pupo

Institution: Florida National University

Date: March 19, 2026

I. Introduction

1. Background

Errors in administering medication are one of the most frequently (Chalasani et al., 2023).

The role of nurses in medication delivery is absolutely central and so, nurses are at the point of control of patient safety and error prevention.

Thesis Statement

Medication administration errors in nursing can be effectively prevented through the combination of evidence-based decision-making models and a robust leadership approach since both strategies can positively influence clinical accuracy, patient harm, and the creation of a culture of safety and accountability within medical systems (Välimäki et al., 2024).

II. Body;

First Topic: Topic Analysis / Context

Point A: Causes of Medication Errors in Nursing Practice

The causes of medication errors usually include distraction between administration habits, exhaustion, and excessive number of patients to a nurse (Bell et al., 2023).

Complex medication, such as polypharmacy and high-risk medications.

Problems in system are associated with problems like unclear physician orders, ineffective communication and insufficient technological support.

Point B: Influence on Nursing Practice and Patient Results.

Adverse drug events may result due to medication errors, extended hospitalization, higher healthcare expenses, and even death of the patient (Laatikainen et al., 2021).

Nurses can undergo emotional traumas, de-confidence, and fear of punishment.

Absence of standardized safety practices may introduce inconsistency in practice and lowering perceptions of overall quality of care.

Second Issue: Comparative Analysis.

Point A: Bedside Nurse Approach.

Safety Bedside nurses are attentive to the five rights (right patient, drug, dose, route, and time) of drug administration and ensure their safety.

They make decisions often based on clinical experience, routine practice and institutional decision-making.

It is the limited amount of time, frequently interruptive disturbances and excessive workloads which may, however, prevent their ability to employ safety measures periodically

Point B: Approach of Working Class as an Advanced Practice Nurse.

Evidence-based guidelines, clinical decision support systems, and critical thought are examples of how the applied practice nurses reduce error in medication.

The nurse leaders can assist in developing safety precautions, developing education programs and setting a culture of error reporting and learning.

Their availability helps bedside nurses to improve their systems, reduce various risk variables, and augment interdisciplinary collaboration.

Third Issue: Application and Implication.

Point A: Theories and Models Implementation.

The clinical decision-making models can be used in ensuring that nurses are correct when checking on the orders of medication (Laatikainen et al., 2021).

The theory of transformational leads to the development of a safety culture through open communication, collaboration, and quality constant improvement (Zulkarnain et al., 2025).

Point B: Implications

a. Benefits

Less medication errors and a higher patient safety outcome.

Greater nurse confidence, competence, and responsibility medication administration.

b. Limitations

Lack of resources

The fear of blame and resistance to change.

c. Recommendations

Introduce the continuous program of accommodating the heads with medication safety and medication error prevention.

Implement standard protocols and technology including barcode medication administration systems.

Staff must be motivated to report, thus, promoting a non-punitive culture.

III. CONCLUSION

The errors linked with medication administration remain to be the acute problem.

Effective leadership approaches and evidence-based decision-making can help reduce errors.

References

Bell, T., Sprajcer, M., Flenady, T., & Sahay, A. (2023). Fatigue in nurses and medication administration errors: A scoping review. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 32(17-18), 5445–5460. Wiley online library. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16620

Chalasani, S. H., Syed, J., Ramesh, M., Patil, V., & Pramod Kumar, T. M. (2023). Artificial Intelligence in the Field of Pharmacy practice: a Literature Review. Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy, 12(100346), 100346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcsop.2023.100346

Laatikainen, O., Sneck, S., & Turpeinen, M. (2021). Medication-related adverse events in health care—what have we learned? A narrative overview of the current knowledge. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 78(2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-021-03213-x

Välimäki, M., Hu, S., Lantta, T., Hipp, K., Varpula, J., Chen, J., Liu, G., Tang, Y., Chen, W., & Li, X. (2024). The impact of evidence-based nursing leadership in healthcare settings: A mixed methods systematic review. BioMed Central Nursing, 23(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02096-4

Zulkarnain, A., Lestari, P., & Kholil, K. (2025). The Influence of Safety Communication on Safety Culture and Operational Excellence in High-Risk Industries. Eduvest - Journal of Universal Studies, 5(10), 12697–12708. https://doi.org/10.59188/eduvest.v5i10.52134