Evaluating the role of clinical pharmacist in the detection and reduction of medication errors in a specialized burn unit.

Abstract

This study evaluated the frequency and types of medication errors and the role of clinical pharmacist in the reduction of medication errors in a burn unit. The clinical pharmacist monitored medication use process in all patients admitted to the burn unit in the 4-month interventional study. Direct observation and chart review methods were used to detect medication errors. Medication errors were classified according to the classification of American Society of Health-system Pharmacists. The seriousness of medication errors was categorized based on the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention index. During the study, 1653 drugs were prescribed to 94 patients. Totally, 259 medication errors were identified. The rates of medication errors were 2.75 errors/patient, 0.16 errors/ordered medication, and 0.98 errors/prescription. The most common type of errors was prescribing error (61.8%) followed by dispensing error (14.7%). Regarding the seriousness of medication errors, 1.9%, 21.6%, 45.9%, 30.1%, and 0.4% of errors were in the categories B, C, D, E, and F, respectively. Antibiotics had the highest rate of errors. Of all detected medication errors, 64.5% were intercepted or corrected by the clinical pharmacist interventions. Medication errors were not rare in the burn unit. Providing clinical pharmacy services to burn patients to reduce the incidence of medication errors is highly recommended.