Majority Of Medication Errors Research Articles

A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY ON SEVERITY AND ASSESSMENT OF MEDICATION ERRORS IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Objectives: This study mainly aims to assess the severity and occurrence of medication errors (MEs) in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital and suggest solutions for reducing MEs. Methods: It is a retrospective study of patients receiving medication during treatment. The techniques used during this study to identify MEs are direct observation of patients, daily review of medication charts by clinical pharmacists, daily audit of prescriptions, and using medication administration records. Results: The study revealed that the majority of MEs fall under the age groups of 51–60 (45), 41–50 (40), 61–70 (31), 31–40 (19), 21–30 (17), 71–80 (16), 81–90(7), 11–20(6), 1–10(3), and 91–100 (1), respectively. Among 185 patients, males were 100 and females were 85, indicating that MEs occurred more in males than females, and the personnel involved in MEs were more nurses than physicians. Conclusion: By assessing the severity and occurrence of MEs, we identified the most common risk factors for the occurrence of MEs. The study concludes that educating nurses, implementing an evidence-based treatment strategy, and fostering communication and collaboration among hospital pharmacists, doctors, and nurses can help to decrease the occurrence of MEs.

Evaluating Medical Decision-Making: Using the EHR to Assess and Structure Resident Autonomy.

Evaluating Medical Decision-Making: Using the EHR to Assess and Structure Resident Autonomy.

Medication Misadventures Among COVID-19 Patients in Saudi Arabia

Background: Due to the need for early and effective medications for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), less attention may have been paid to medication safety during this pandemic.Objectives: This study aimed to examine the incidence, nature, and seriousness of medication errors (MEs) and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) among hospitalized patients with COVID-19.Materials and methods: This is a retrospective study of MEs and ADRs reported at the King Saud Medical City (KSMC) between April 2020 and September 2020.Results: A total of 343 MEs and 416 ADRs were reported during the study period. The incidence of MEs was 19% (19/100). Seventy-five MEs (21.5%) reached the patient but did not cause any harm. Wrong dose (n=101, 29.4%) was the most common type of MEs. Physicians were the most common source of MEs (87.5%). Antibiotics (32%) and antineoplastics (25%) were the most common drug categories involved in MEs and ADRs, respectively. Thirty-nine percent (n=163) of the ADRs were of serious nature. 24% (n=100) required hospitalization, 5% (n=21) were life-threatening, 16 (3.8%) required intervention to prevent permanent impairment or damage, and 6.2% (n=26) resulted in the discontinuation of treatment.Conclusion: The reporting of MEs appears to be high among COVID-19 patients in a large tertiary care setting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The majority of MEs were caused by dosing errors and errors in drug frequency, mostly ascribed to physicians, which may be indicative of burnout or stress among them. The reporting of MEs and ADRs can be improved by providing incentives to healthcare professionals (HCPs) and promoting a non-punitive culture. Further studies should explore the clinical consequences of medication misadventures in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

A Prospective Open‐Label Observational Study of a Buffered Soluble 70 mg Alendronate Effervescent Tablet on Upper Gastrointestinal Safety and Medication Errors: The GastroPASS Study

ABSTRACTUpper gastrointestinal (GI) side effects are a main reason for discontinuing bisphosphonate treatment, an important therapeutic option for osteoporosis patients. Consequently, the development of novel formulations with improved tolerability is warranted. In this multicenter prospective, observational, postauthorization safety study conducted in Italy and Spain, postmenopausal women (PMW) with osteoporosis (naïve to bisphosphonates) were treated weekly with a buffered soluble alendronate 70 mg effervescent (ALN‐EFF) tablet (Binosto®) and followed for 12 ± 3 months. Information was collected on adverse events (AEs), medication errors, persistence, and compliance using the Morisky‐Green questionnaire. Patients (N = 1028) aged 67 ± 9 years (mean ± SD) received ALN‐EFF weekly. The cumulative incidence of upper GI AEs (oesophageal toxicity, gastritis, gastric ulcers, and duodenitis) related to ALN‐EFF (primary endpoint) was 9.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.9–11.6%), the vast majority being of mild intensity. The most frequently occurring upper GI AEs related to ALN‐EFF were dyspepsia (2.7%), gastroesophageal reflux disease (2.4%), and nausea (2.2%). None of the relevant upper GI AEs listed in the primary endpoint and no serious AEs were reported. At least one medication error occurred in 29.9% (95% CI 27.1–32.8%) of patients. However, the majority of medication errors were associated with administration instructions applicable to any oral bisphosphonate and only seven medication errors were associated with the ALN‐EFF formulation. ALN‐EFF was discontinued in 209 of 1028 (20.3%) patients. The most frequent reasons for discontinuation were AEs related to ALN‐EFF (46.9%) and patients' decision (42.6%). Compliance with ALN‐EFF was high, reflected by a mean Morisky‐Green score of 92.8 ± 18.6. PMW with osteoporosis treated with ALN‐EFF in a real‐world setting experienced few upper GI AEs. In addition, they had a low discontinuation and high compliance compared with other formulations, suggesting that ALN‐EFF may increase patient satisfaction and therefore long‐term adherence and efficacy. © 2021 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Medication errors and adverse drug reactions in psychiatry department: A prospective observational study

The study was aimed to analyse the pattern of medication errors and drug interaction induced adverse drug reactions in the psychiatry department of a tertiary care hospital. A Prospective observational study being conducted in the inpatient and outpatient department of psychiatry in a tertiary care hospital, Erode, Tamil Nadu for over six months. A total of 80 prescriptions with psychiatric illness and 174 medication errors were observed. Of the 174 medication errors observed, 132(75.8%) were incomplete prescriptions making the highest number of medication errors. The highest number of errors occurred due to Prescription error 156(89.0%), followed by administration error 8(4.5%). According to the NCCMERP classification, the majority of medication errors were coming under category B 120(68.9%) but there is no harm. The demographic reports of outpatients in the present study showed a higher incidence of medication errors in patients with the age group of 31-40 years 25(36.7%). Considering the factors contributing to a medication error, refusal of the patient to take the drug 27(39.7%) followed by forgetting 13(19.1%) due to the vulnerable characteristics of the patient was more significant. Although there is a general lack of awareness, many patients and bystanders are unaware of their diagnosis and medications. It is, therefore, a crucial step to educate and make them aware of the correct use of medicine.

Risk of Medication Errors With Infusion Pumps

The risk of medication errors with infusion pumps is well established, yet a better understanding is needed of the scenarios and factors associated with the errors. Our study explored the frequency of medication errors with infusion pumps, based on events reported to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS) during calendar year 2018. Our study identified a total of 1,004 events involving a medication error and use of an infusion pump, which occurred at 132 different hospitals in Pennsylvania. Fortunately, a majority of medication errors did not cause patient harm or death; however, we did find that 22% of events involved a high-alert medication. Our study shows that the frequency of events varies widely across the stages of medication process and types of medication error. In a subset of our data, we manually reviewed a free-text narrative field in each event report to better understand the nature of errors. For example, we found that a majority of wrong rate errors led to medication being infused at a faster rate than intended, and user programming was the most common contributing factor. Overall, results from our study can help providers identify areas to target for risk mitigation related to medication errors and the use of infusion pumps.

Debunking the myth that the majority of medical errors are attributed to communication.

Many articles, book chapters and presentations begin with a declaration that the majority of medical errors are attributed to communication. However, this statement may not be supported by the research reported in the literature. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify where errors are reported in the research literature. A systematised review was conducted of research articles over the last 20years (1998-2018) indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL) using term combinations: medical errors, research and communication. Inclusion was based on reported generalised primary research of medical error and the reported causes. This systematised review resulted in 2881 research articles, which produced 42 that met the inclusion criteria. Although there was some overlap, three categories of errors were dominant in this research: errors of commission (20 articles; 47.6%), errors of omission (six articles; 14.2%) and errors through communication (four articles; 9.5%). There were 12 (28.5%) articles in which all three categories together significantly contributed to error. Of these 12 articles, errors of commission or omission were dominant in nine articles (21.4%) and errors of communication were prevalent in only three articles (7%). The assertion that the majority of medical errors can be attributed to miscommunication is not supported by this systematic review. Overwhelmingly, most reported errors are attributed to errors of omission or commission. Intentionally or unintentionally providing misinformation may mislead patient safety initiatives, and research and funding agency priorities.

Recognizing the Ordinary as Extraordinary: Insight Into the "Way We Work" to Improve Patient Safety Outcomes.

The Institute of Medicine (now National Academy of Medicine) reports "To Err is Human" and "Crossing the Chasm" made explicit 3 previously unappreciated realities: (1) Medical errors are common and result in serious, preventable adverse events; (2) The majority of medical errors are the result of system versus human failures; and (3) It would be impossible for any system to prevent all errors. With these realities, the role of the nurse in the "near miss" process and as the final safety net for the patient is of paramount importance. The nurse's role in patient safety is described from both a systems perspective and a human factors perspective. Critical care nurses use specific strategies to identify, interrupt, and correct medical errors. Strategies to identify errors include knowing the patient, knowing the plan of care, double-checking, and surveillance. Nursing strategies to interrupt errors include offering assistance, clarifying, and verbally interrupting. Nurses correct errors by persevering, being physically present, reviewing/confirming the plan of care, or involving another nurse or physician. Each of these strategies has implications for education, practice, and research. Surveillance is a key nursing strategy for identifying medical errors and reducing adverse events. Eye-tracking technology is a novel approach for evaluating the surveillance process during common, high-risk processes such as blood transfusion and medication administration. Eye tracking has also been used to examine the impact of interruptions to care caused by bedside alarms as well as by other health care personnel. Findings from this safety-related eye-tracking research provide new insight into effective bedside surveillance and interruption management strategies.

Towards patient safety: assessment of medication errors in the intensive care unit in a developing country’s tertiary care teaching hospital

ObjectivesTo determine the incidence, causes, patterns and outcomes of medication errors (MEs) in the intensive care unit.MethodsThe ME reporting system was established using the principles based on prospective, voluntary, open,...

The impact of a computerized physician order entry system on medical errors with antineoplastic drugs 5years after its implementation.

Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems reduce medical errors (MEs). Nevertheless, a CPOE system may also lead to new types of errors, especially when it is first implemented. The objectives of this study were to determine the impact of a CPOE on the number of MEs and to identify the types of MEs in prescriptions issued by the Haematology Department 5years after the implementation of the CPOE system. We conducted a prospective analytical study on the implementation of a CPOE system at the Pharmacy Department of the Hospital Ramon y Cajal (Madrid, Spain). The study comprised three phases: a pre-implementation phase, an implementation phase conducted in the Haematology Department and a post-implementation phase, which was conducted 5years after the implementation of the CPOE system. One hundred and fifty prescriptions per pre- and post-implementation phase were consecutively included in the study. A previously described classification scheme was used to detect and classify MEs. The implementation of a CPOE system was associated with a large reduction in MEs. One hundred and fourteen patients (pre-implementation phase) were compared to 82 patients (post-implementation phase). The total number of MEs per 100 patients decreased from 236·8 (95% CI: 212·1-261·3) to 10·9 (95% CI: 5·8-19·6), with an absolute risk reduction of 36·2 (95% CI: 32·6-39·9). The percentage of prescriptions with an ME decreased from 37·5% to 1·2% (P<0.001). In the pre-implementation phase, the drugs most frequently associated with MEs were rituximab (35·9%), cyclophosphamide (13%) and methotrexate (7%). In the post-implementation phase, 44·4% of prescription errors involved methotrexate. Five years after the implementation of the CPOE system, the majority of MEs were eliminated, the number of remaining errors (quantity, concentration and ambiguous prescription errors) decreased, and no new types of ME were detected. The CPOE system almost completely eliminated MEs with antineoplastic drugs in the Haematology Department. No new types of MEs were observed once physicians had become accustomed to using the system. However, some MEs were not eliminated. Constant diligence is needed to analyse and evaluate MEs associated with the CPOE system and their causes, such that the limitations of CPOE can be identified and overcome and the medication-use process associated with antineoplastic agents improved.

Study and Evaluation of Medication Errors in Medicine and Orthopedic Wards of a Tertiary Care Hospital

Aims: The main aim of the present study was to detect and evaluate the incidence, types, factors and severity of medication errors in the medicine and orthopedic wards of a tertiary care hospital. Study Design: This was a prospective and observational study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Medicine and Orthopedic wards of Sri Adichunchanagiri Hospital and Research Centre, B.G.Nagara-571448, Karnataka, India, between June 2014 to February 2015. Methodology: The patients who satisfied inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled after obtaining their consent. The required data was collected in the Case Record Form and reviewed daily from the day of admission to discharge in the posted department. Different types of medication errors was identified, documented and the severity of medication error was identified by using NCC MERP guidelines. Results: A total of 200 inpatient cases from orthopedic ward and medicine ward were collected, 100 cases from each ward. In orthopedic ward, 40% patients were of 20-39 years age and in medicine ward, 48% patients were of 60-79 years age. A total of 136 and 103 medication errors were observed in orthopedic and medicine ward, among them 65% and 62% were prescription errors, 25% and 18% were administration errors, 6% and 12% were transcription errors and 4% and 8% were dispensing errors. The cause of medication errors were 64.7% and 62.1% were due to physicians, 31.6% and 30.1% were due to nurses and 3.7% and 7.8% were due to pharmacists in orthopedic and medicine ward. Majority of medication errors 68.4% and 62.1% were belonged to category-B severity in orthopedic and medicine ward respectively. Conclusion: Clinical pharmacist can play a major role in preventing medication errors by early detection. Since our system lacks a well-organize detection and reporting mechanism, Hence, as the first step we must implement a system where errors are routinely detected and reported.

Assessment of the Legibility of the Handwriting in Medical Prescriptions of Doctors from Public and Private Hospitals in Quezon City, Philippines

Researches show that majority of medication errors can be attributed to the illegibility of the doctors’ handwriting. The aim of this study is to evaluate the legibility of doctors’ handwriting in both private and public hospitals in Quezon City, Philippines. To comprise the prescription, error-prone drugs, abbreviations and symbols in prescriptions were collected based on related literature and were divided into prescription components (medicine name, numbers, abbreviations, and text). A randomly selected pool of licensed doctors from Quezon City hospitals were asked to write these and were classified either in the surgical, medical and intensive care category. Each prescription was assessed by a pharmacist, a young adult (20-34 years old), a middle-aged adult (35-49 years old), and a senior citizen (50 years old and up). The assessors’ misinterpretations of the prescriptions were tabulated. The factors significantly affecting the legibility of the handwriting of doctors were then subjected to an analysis of variance (ANOVA). From the tests, it was determined that the doctors have similar handwriting regardless of specialization. Abbreviations should be avoided to decrease confusion. Pharmacists are most likely to interpret prescriptions correctly among the assessing groups.

Community Pharmacists in Malaysia: Are They Ready for the Next Leap Forward?

Results: Ninety two patients were included in the study. 7353 drug doses were reviewed. 1563 (21.3%) medication errors were identified. The majority of medication errors identified were documentation errors during administration process (59%). These were followed by errors detected during transcription (15%), dispensing (14%), and prescribing (7%). Five percent of errors were associated with errors in drug distribution and health insurance systems. Pharmacist identified eight incomplete medication histories during medication reconciliation, intercepted 24 dispensing errors and prevented eight administration errors. Conclusions: Pharmacist’s clinical review activities can detect and intercept medication errors during medication delivery process. The success of such activities however requires the collaboration of other healthcare professionals, as well as patients.

Identifying medication error chains from critical incident reports: A new analytic approach

Research into the distribution of medication errors usually focuses on isolated stages within the medication use process. Our study aimed to provide a novel process-oriented approach to medication incident analysis focusing on medication error chains. Our study was conducted across a 900-bed teaching hospital in Switzerland. All reported 1,591 medication errors 2009-2012 were categorized using the Medication Error Index NCC MERP and the WHO Classification for Patient Safety Methodology. In order to identify medication error chains, each reported medication incident was allocated to the relevant stage of the hospital medication use process. Only 25.8% of the reported medication errors were detected before they propagated through the medication use process. The majority of medication errors (74.2%) formed an error chain encompassing two or more stages. The most frequent error chain comprised preparation up to and including medication administration (45.2%). "Non-consideration of documentation/prescribing" during the drug preparation was the most frequent contributor for "wrong dose" during the administration of medication. Medication error chains provide important insights for detecting and stopping medication errors before they reach the patient. Existing and new safety barriers need to be extended to interrupt error chains and to improve patient safety.

Utilization of Medication Bags To Improve the Medication Reconciliation Process and Identify Medication Errors in a Heart Failure Clinic

Introduction: The Heart Success Clinic at CMC-Northeast Medical Center in Concord, North Carolina is a transitional outpatient clinic designed to follow primary heart failure patients after hospital discharge. The goal of the clinic is to reduce readmission rates and improve heart failure management. The team consists of a Nurse Practitioner, Pharmacist, and 3 Nurse Navigators. Our program intensively manages heart failure patients, focusing on disease education, medication management, and dietary instruction. Medication related problems have been shown to increase the likelihood for readmission to the hospital, increase health care costs, increase patient costs, and increase the risk for patient harm. Medication errors may go undetected without thorough evaluation of prescrition bottles and medication lists. Hypothesis: Providing a bag for patients to bring their prescription and nonprescription medication bottles to clinic visits should improve the medication reconciliation process and help identify medication related errors. A bag that is durable, easy to clean, and simple to transport should improve the long-term success in encouring patients to bring all medications to clinic visits. Methods: The Heart Success Clinic opened in May 2012. After 4 months of service, the clinic obtained soft-sided medication cooler bags which were provided to patients in October 2012. Each patient received a bag during their first clinic visit. Nurse Practitioner and Pharmacist provider notes were used to compare baseline rates of medication errors and compliance with bringing medications to clinic visits for 4 months prior to and after initiation of the medication bag program. Results: Prior to initiating the use of medication bags, patients brought medication bottles to 40% of new visits and 39% of follow up visits. Post initiation of medication bag program, patients brought in medication bottles for 54% of new visits and 57% of follow up visits. Prior to medication bags, 84 medication errors were identified. After medication bag initiation, 158 medication errors were identified, representing a 91% increase in detection of medication errors. The number of patient visits were similar before and after initiation of the medication bag program. The number of identified medication errors tripled in patients using the medication bags. The majority of medication errors identified were related to cardiac medications. Patients continued to bring medication bags to subsequent visits without a drop-off in utilization. The majority of patients were seen for 4 clinic visits before they were transitioned back to their primary care physician or cardiologist for long-term follow up care. Conclusions: The utilization of medication bags significantly improved the medication reconciliation process and increased the identification of clinically significant medication errors in a primary heart failure population.

Commentary on ‘Design and Validation of an Error Capture Tool for Quality Evaluation in the Vascular and Endovascular Surgical Theatre’

The study by Mason et al. presenting the Imperial College Error CAPture (ICECAP) tool aims to provide vascular surgeons with a valid and reproducible tool for identification and categorization of common errors during vascular and endovascular operations. Despite some methodological limitations that have been properly addressed, six primary categories (communication, equipment, procedure independent pressures, technical, safety awareness and patient related) and 20 sub-categories were determined as the most frequent and important vascular procedural errors. “To err is human”. This famous adage by Alexander Pope was used in a report issued in November 1999 by the U.S. Institute of Medicine in order to increase awareness towards preventable medical errors in hospitals that exceeded deaths by motor-vehicle accidents, breast cancer and AIDS. Among the report’s main conclusions was that the majority of medical errors were not a “bad apple” problem. They did not result from individual recklessness or the actions of a particular group, but mainly by faulty systems, processes and conditions that lead to errors or fail to prevent them. But are errors during surgical operations as complex and multidisciplinary as plane crash errors? Interestingly, ElBardissi et al. successfully adapted and applied in the OR the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS); a universally accepted human error framework that was originally used by the US air force to investigate and analyze human factors and errors in aviation. This model illustrated that the organizational influence (climate, resource management and policies) impact supervisory processes (scheduling, training, and oversight), which in turn establish the preconditions (technological and teamwork related) that produce errors.

How ISO-15189 laboratory accreditation assures patient safety? / Kako ISO-15189 akreditacija laboratorija osigurava bezbednost pacijenta?

Summary Healthcare is a complex profession involving the state-of-art technology and sometimes leading to unintentional harm. Many factors contribute to the occurrence of medical errors. Patient safety is one of the most serious global health issues and defined as the absence of preventable harm to a patient during any process of medical care. The frequency of medical errors is higher than expected. It has been concluded that the majority of medical errors are not because of the individual attitudes but mainly caused by faulty systems or processes leading the staff to make mistakes or fail to prevent them. Patient safety is a shared responsibility comprised of many stakeholders such as society, patients, nurses, educators, administrators, researchers, physicians, government and legislative bodies, professional associations and accrediting agencies. Medical laboratory services are essential to patient care and need to be available to meet the needs of both patients and caregivers. ISO- 15189:2007 Medical Laboratories-Particular requirements for quality and competence, an internationally recognized standard containing requirements necessary for diagnostic laboratories to demonstrate their competence to deliver reliable laboratory services. It applies quality system requirements to the clinical laboratories with a strong focus on responsiveness to the needs of patients and clinicians. Applying the performance improvement strategies focusing on different phases in total testing process will significantly reduce the errors and therefore will improve the patient safety. In this way, laboratory professionals contribute to improvement of safety and outcomes of care by working in interdisciplinary approach manner.

Role of the surgeon in quality and safety in the operating room environment

Medical errors in the OR can result in substantial morbidity, poor functional outcomes and mortality. They are associated with significant increases in direct and indirect healthcare costs. In addition, errors in the OR associated with harm often have a profound negative impact on the patient, their family, and the medical providers' psychological and social well being. The majority of medical errors are believed to be preventable. Rarely, an error is the result of an isolated single failure in the delivery of care. More commonly, multiple linked processes contribute to the error. Poorly designed systems of care delivery, poor information and knowledge transfer, ambiguous communication between providers and poor coordination of care are frequently identified as the underlying drivers of errors. Solving the problem is as complex as the causes. Raising awareness that an error is more than an individual's problem or behavior is the first step toward a solution. Thoughtful planning in developing systems of care delivery through optimizing and leveraging the knowledge of the team members that provide care is the single most important defense against medical errors. Surgeons play an important role in facilitating the development of and empowering the teams they work through their active participation and effective leadership within the operating room team.

Erreurs médicamenteuses en anesthésie : bilan et analyse des signalements reçus à l’Afssaps

Background The purpose of this study was to assess medication errors and risks of medication errors during anaesthetic practice reported at the French Health Products Agency (Afssaps) from 2005 to 2010. Study design Descriptive study. Methods The data are issued of “Medication errors and risks of medication errors” file which group together all cases received by the Medication Errors Unit at Afssaps since 2005. Results A total of 263 cases were observed by the Medication Errors Unit at Afssaps. Among them, 159 cases were risks of medication errors, 76 cases were patent medication errors and 28 were near misses. Among the 76 cases of patent medication errors, out of which 47 cases were appreciated with adverse reaction and 35 cases were classified as serious. Adverse events were classified as haemodynamic, respiratory and neurologic events. Most of the errors occurred during administration (65%), followed by dispensing errors (14%), storage errors (15%) or preparation errors (4%). Sixty-nine percent of cases of wrong drug errors were found, followed by 26% of errors of strength, 3% of incorrect route of administration errors and 2% of patient errors. In most of cases, similarity in packaging was underlined ( n = 83). Conclusion This study showed that the majority of medication errors and risks of medication errors during anaesthetic practice, underline similarity in packaging. Results highlighted the importance of vial labeling presentation (readability and mention understanding) in anaesthetic practice.

Interprofessional education for the quality use of medicines: Designing authentic multimedia learning resources

It is claimed that health care students who learn together will be better prepared for contemporary practice and more able to work collaboratively and communicate effectively. In Australia, although recognised as important for preparing nursing, pharmacy and medical students for their roles in the medication team, interprofessional education is seldom used for teaching medication safety. This is despite evidence indicating that inadequate communication between health care professionals is the primary issue in the majority of medication errors. It is suggested that the pragmatic constraints inherent in university timetables, curricula and contexts limit opportunities for health professional students to learn collaboratively. Thus, there is a need for innovative approaches that will allow nursing, medical and pharmacy students to learn about and from other disciplines even when they do not have the opportunity to learn with them. This paper describes the development of authentic multimedia resources that allow for participative, interactive and engaging learning experiences based upon sound pedagogical principles. These resources provide opportunities for students to critically examine clinical scenarios where medication safety is, or has the potential to be compromised and to develop skills in interprofessional communication that will prepare them to manage these types of situations in clinical practice.