In the U.S. medical system, one of the significant problems is medication error, which can include several medical issues, such as incorrect dosages to the patients, administration of wrong drugs to the patients, and missed dosages. All these medication errors can severely affect patient outcomes; however, in some instances, healthcare providers can make errors that may not impact or cause adverse events to the patient. The main role of creating a patient safety culture is to ensure that we eradicate the risk of medication errors, and if they happen, the healthcare provider should prioritize patient wellness and make a report of the same to the charge nurse or supervisor. Reporting a medical error has faced many challenges, such that most of the errors go unreported or undocumented because of the fear of harsh and punitive measures the supervisors or charge nurses may take against the nurses who commit such errors (Aljabari & Kadhim, 2021). Despite the risk of punitive measures, it is the life or health of a patient or subsequent patients on the line; therefore, the nurses should take the sole responsibility and report such errors to avoid a repeat of the same.

Whether a medication error causes an adverse event with a patient or does not cause an adverse event, it is an error that should be reported and acted upon accordingly. The two nurses committed a medication error, irrespective of the outcome of the error; therefore, all the nurses must remain still upon the realization of an error, ensure the patient is safe, and make a formal report to the charge nurse or supervisor (Schroers et al., 2021). In the scenario where one nurse causes a medication error that leads to an adverse event with a patient, it is only just that the nurse be punished and fined for the wrong; however, for this nurse who committed a medication error that never led to an adverse event, the supervisor or hospital management should punish them by undergoing mandatory retooling to recap lessons to horn their skills and be more prepared to work even under pressure or tough situations but deliver the best outcomes for the patients.

References

Aljabari, S., & Kadhim, Z. (2021). Common barriers to reporting medical errors. The Scientific World Journal, 2021(1), 6494889. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6494889

Schroers, G., Ross, J. G., & Moriarty, H. (2021). Nurses’ perceived causes of medication administration errors: a qualitative systematic review. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 47(1), 38-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjq.2020.09.010