Abstract
Medication errors represent a major health system problem in all countries, reducing patient safety and increasing health-related costs. Among the various types of medication errors, we can mention dispensing errors. They are related to the activity of the hospital pharmacy and can cause serious consequences for the patient. The aim of this study was to conduct a bibliographic search in online databases on medication errors that occurred in the hospital environment during dispensation, identifying the causes and strategies to reduce such errors. The main dispensing errors observed were content and labeling errors. The main causes associated with errors were: lack of knowledge on the part of the team, excessive working hours, interruptions and distractions, similarity in the names, labels and packaging of medicines, absence of double checking and reduction of the pharmacist's assistance activity. Based on the identification of causes, strategies related to communication, working conditions and the environment, information on medicines and the packaging and labeling of medicines were described in order to reduce dispensing errors.
Highlights
The Pharmacy Service is responsible for the safe and effective use of medicines in the hospital, playing a key role in the integration of prescription, dispensing and administration processes (COSTA, VALLI, ALVARENGA, 2008)
It is necessary to maintain an effective hospital distribution system to ensure that the patient receives the medications according to the medical prescription (RIBEIRO, 2013) and has policies and procedures that prevent errors (COSTA, VALLI, ALVARENGA, 2008)
Medication error is defined as any preventable event that, or potentially, could lead to inappropriate use of medication when the medication is under the control of health professionals or the patient, which may or may not cause harm to the patient (ANVISA, 2013)
Summary
The Pharmacy Service is responsible for the safe and effective use of medicines in the hospital, playing a key role in the integration of prescription, dispensing and administration processes (COSTA, VALLI, ALVARENGA, 2008). It is necessary to maintain an effective hospital distribution system to ensure that the patient receives the medications according to the medical prescription (RIBEIRO, 2013) and has policies and procedures that prevent errors (COSTA, VALLI, ALVARENGA, 2008). Among medication errors are errors related to dispensing (ARONSON, 2009). These are defined as errors by pharmacy staff, including pharmaceuticals when carrying the dispensing of drugs for hospital units (ASHP 1993)
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