Medication Errors Despite the Utilization of Electronic Medical Record: Examining The Missing Link From Nurses’ Perspective

Abstract

Background: The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system has proven to be very reliable in reducing medication errors and improving patient safety. It offers quick access to patient's medical information and alerts clinicians on safety issues such as allergies to medication, wrong patient, wrong medication, or other factors such as contraindication or potential drug interactions. Despite widespread implementation of the use of the EMR system in hospitals across the United States, medication errors still occur, with thousands of medication error-related incident reports being filed yearly. Antibiotics, anticoagulants, anti-hypertensive agents, and oral hypoglycemic agents are the most reported medicines involved in medication errors. To lock the loopholes leading to such errors, the missing links must be identified and fixed. Objective: The study sought to find out the missing links that lead to medication errors despite utilizing the EMR system from the nurses’ perspectives and proffer solutions to close the missing links. Method: The study was a qualitative analysis from case studies with incident reports filed by nurses on medication errors in hospitals in different States across the United States. Results: Eight missing links that lead to medication errors while using the EMR were identified in the study. Solutions for medication error prevention were recommended. Conclusion and Recommendation: Medication errors still occur despite the deployment of the EMR system. The study identified medication errors that still occur despite the utilization of EMR from nurses' perspectives and recommended solutions for fixing the missing links. It was recommended that as hospitals review each incident report involving medication errors, the error should be reviewed as a breakdown in the system and not as intentional.