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Plan Development

Upon examining a substantial body of research on medication administration errors in

acute care settings It is necessary to establish a thorough drug safety plan in healthcare settings.

Standardized medicine administration procedures, technology use, staff education and training,

and ongoing quality improvement projects should all be part of this strategy. The literature

provides evidence regarding the efficacy of various treatments in mitigating pharmaceutical

mistakes.

Recommended Protocol

The suggested protocol consists of a number of crucial elements. Standardized

medication practices must first be implemented across the whole healthcare establishment.

Standardized methods for ordering, dispensing, and administering medications are among these

practices. They reduce variance and encourage uniformity in the administration of medications.

Standardized techniques have been shown to be useful in minimizing medication errors in

research studies like Suclupe et al. (2020) and ISAACS et al. (2020).

Second, the protocol promotes technology as a means of improving drug safety. This

entails using barcode medicine administration technologies and electronic prescription systems.

Research conducted by Zheng et al. (2021) and Samadbeik et al. (2022) has demonstrated that

the use of technology can greatly increase the precision and effectiveness of medication

management procedures.

Third, the protocol highlights how crucial staff training and education are. To improve

their knowledge and abilities, healthcare personnel should continue their education and training
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in pharmaceutical safety procedures. Studies by Sessions et al. (2019) and Manias et al. (2020)

highlight the importance of instruction and training in reducing medication mistakes.

Lastly, the methodology contains guidelines for ongoing quality enhancement. This

include putting procedures in place to keep an eye on drug errors, analyze the underlying causes,

and carry out quality-improvement projects. Research by Martin et al. (2023) and Brennan-

Bourdon et al. (2020) emphasize the value of ongoing quality improvement in raising

pharmaceutical safety.

There is evidence from the literature to support the reasoning for this protocol's

implementation. Standardized pharmaceutical methods decrease variety and increase

consistency, hence lowering the likelihood of errors. Medication errors decrease when accuracy

and efficiency are improved by technology. Healthcare workers are better equipped to recognize

and avoid mistakes thanks to education and training, and continuous quality improvement makes

sure that medication safety procedures are continuously learned from and improved.

Synthesis of MSN Education Essentials

By combining organizational and systems leadership fundamentals from relevant MSN

coursework, putting in place a pharmaceutical safety plan supports multiple important areas.

Essential V: Health Care Policy, Finance, and Regulatory Environments; Essential VII:

Interprofessional Collaboration for Improving Patient and Population Health Outcomes;

Essential II: Organizational and Systems Leadership; and Essential I: Background for Practice

from the Sciences and Humanities (Lowe et al., 2021). These basics stress evidence-based

practice, effective leadership, and teamwork, underscoring the need of putting these procedures

into place in healthcare organizations.

Support Needed
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Support from a range of stakeholders is required to create and implement the suggested

procedure. This comprises the dedication and involvement of the leadership, the distribution of

resources for staff training and the adoption of new technologies, cooperation amongst

interdisciplinary teams, and the creation of a culture of safety and ongoing improvement (Lowe

et al., 2021). It might be necessary to add equipment like barcode scanners, automated

dispensing cabinets, electronic prescription systems, training materials and resources, and

software and tools for quality improvement. While necessary for carrying out the medication

safety protocol in healthcare settings, these resources come with costs that must be budgeted for.

These costs include initial investments in technical infrastructure, ongoing maintenance,

employee training, and infrastructure for quality improvement projects. While there may be a

one-time cost, the long-term benefits in terms of better patient outcomes and lower healthcare

costs make the investment worthwhile.

Staffing Plan

Medication safety officers or champions should be assigned by staffing plans to supervise

protocol implementation and compliance monitoring. It is important to make sure that

pharmaceutical safety procedures are integrated into current workflows and that healthcare

personnel have defined roles and responsibilities (Lowe et al., 2021). Maintaining adequate

workforce numbers is necessary to handle the increased workload brought on by the adoption of

new technology and initiatives to enhance quality.

Alruthea, S., Bowman, P., Tariq, A., & Hinchcliff, R. (2021). Interventions to enhance

medication safety in residential aged‐care settings: An umbrella review. British Journal of

Clinical Pharmacology, 88(4), 1630-1643. https://doi.org/10.1111/bcp.15109

Brennan-Bourdon, L. M., Vázquez-Alvarez, A. O., Gallegos-Llamas, J., Koninckx-Cañada, M.,

Marco-Garbayo, J. L., & Huerta-Olvera, S. G. (2020). A study of medication errors

during the prescription stage in the pediatric critical care services of a secondary-tertiary

level public hospital. BMC Pediatrics, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-020-02442-

ISAACS, A. N., CH’NG, K., DELHIWALE, N., TAYLOR, K., KENT, B., & RAYMOND, A.

(2020). Hospital medication errors: A cross-sectional study. International Journal for

Quality in Health Care, 33(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzaa136

Manias, E., Kusljic, S., & Wu, A. (2020). Interventions to reduce medication errors in adult

medical and surgical settings: A systematic review. Therapeutic Advances in Drug

Safety, 11, 204209862096830. https://doi.org/10.1177/2042098620968309

Martin, C. V., Joyce‐McCoach, J., Peddle, M., & East, C. E. (2023). Sleep deprivation and

medication administration errors in registered nurses—A scoping review. Journal of

Clinical Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16912

Samadbeik, M., Ahmadi, M., Sadoughi, F., & Garavand, A. (2022). Developing a multifaceted

evaluation tool for electronic prescribing system: A study from a developing country.

Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.5812/ijpr.123821

Sessions, L. C., Nemeth, L. S., Catchpole, K., & Kelechi, T. J. (2019). Nurses’ perceptions of

high‐alert medication administration safety: A qualitative descriptive study. Journal of

Advanced Nursing, 75(12), 3654-3667. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14173

Spruce, L. (2019). Back to basics: Medication safety. AORN Journal, 111(1), 103-112.

https://doi.org/10.1002/aorn.12891

Suclupe, S., Martinez‐Zapata, M. J., Mancebo, J., Font‐Vaquer, A., Castillo‐Masa, A. M.,

Viñolas, I., Morán, I., & Robleda, G. (2020). Medication errors in prescription and

administration in critically ill patients. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 76(5), 1192-1200.

https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14322

Zheng, W. Y., Lichtner, V., Van Dort, B. A., & Baysari, M. T. (2021). The impact of introducing

automated dispensing cabinets, barcode medication administration, and closed-loop

electronic medication management systems on work processes and safety of controlled

medications in hospitals: A systematic review. Research in Social and Administrative

Pharmacy, 17(5), 832-841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.08.001