Improving Medication Administration Safety

"Ultimately, these findings affirm that nurse adherence to safe practices reduces medication administration (MA) errors. Although MA errors account for a minority of overall adverse drug events, they are typically not intercepted by other members of the healthcare team. Integrating these findings into evidence-based staffing considerations, nursing education and clinical practice competency validation has the potential to improve the quality, cost, and outcomes of MA."

Improving Medication Administration Safety: Using Naïve Observation to Assess Practice and Guide Improvements in Process and Outcomes
N Donaldson, C Aydin, M Fridman, M Fole
Journal for Healthcare Quality, 2014, 36: 58–68. doi: 10.1111/jhq.12090

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Improving the accuracy and turn-around time of controlled drug prescribing for patients being discharged home for end-of-life care

"Re-audit after a pilot period showed a significant improvement in both error rate and dispensing time of these medications. This then allowed for better use of staff time within the pharmacy department, and a smoother and safer discharge for our patients going home for end of life care."

Improving the accuracy and turn-around time of controlled drug prescribing for patients being discharged home for end-of-life care

S Daniel, J Patel, D Benson
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2014;3: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u203589.w1595

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Improving the accuracy of operation coding in surgical discharge summaries

" We suggest that specifically designed coding tables be introduced across each surgical department to ensure accurate OPCS codes are used to produce better quality surgical discharge summaries and to ensure correct reimbursement to the Trust."

Improving the accuracy of operation coding in surgical discharge summaries
E Martinou, G Shouls, N Betambeau
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2014;3

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