Table 5 Examples of medication administration errors in the ICU of JUSH, April 2011
From: Medication administration errors in an intensive care unit in Ethiopia
S. no | Examples of medication administration errors |
|---|---|
1 | Crystalline penicillin was administered 5 times a day instead of 6 times for all patients, i.e. it wasn’t administered at 2:00 am for all patients |
2 | Metronidazole IV was mostly missed in the ICU because of lack of the drug in that preparation |
3 | Quinine IV was mostly missed because it wasn’t available |
4 | Lovastatin was mostly missed because of lack of the drug |
5 | Rate of administration of dopamine was 80drops/min which was different from what was labeled on the IV fluid bag, i.e. 30 drops/min for a 60 years old male patient |
6 | Doses of ceftriaxone were missed for a 35 years old female due to lack of the drug |
7 | Dose and rate infusion of metronidazole was arbitrarily determined for a 4 years child (250 mg was given in 500 mg/100 ml ) |
8 | Ampicillin was given to an 8 years old male child although the order sheet reads as Cloxacillin |
9 | An 18 years female patient continued taking methyldopa even after the physician ordered to discontinue the medication |
10 | Most medications in the morning were being given after 7:00 am instead of 6:00 am |
11 | Most medications in the afternoon (especially during the weekends) were given before 5:00 pm |
12 | The morning dose of ceftriaxone was missed for an 8 years female child |