NHS-FPX 4000 Assessment 3 Analyzing a Current Health Care Problem or Issue Essay

NHS-FPX 4000 Assessment 3 Analyzing a Current Health Care Problem or Issue Essay

Analyzing a Current Health Care Problem or Issue

Healthcare providers, like nurses, encounter problems or issues that impact the quality of care offered to patients and the associated patient outcomes. Patient safety issues like medication errors happen in healthcare facilities leading to increased cost burden and longer stays. Medication errors impacts patient safety culture that denotes to promotion of safety through shared organizational values based on important beliefs and practices. Medication errors are a critical public health problem as among the leading causes of mortality and increased hospitalization in the U.S. health care system (Justinia et al., 2019). The purpose of this paper is to analyze medication errors as a current health care issue or problem that requires interventions by proposing possible solution, and the ethical implications of the selected option. The paper also discusses the implementation of the solution to attain quality patient care.

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Elements of the problem

Medication errors are entail any error that happens in the medication use process. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asserts that over 100,000 medication errors are reported year with more than 400,000 medication error-associated harm and injuries happening annually. Again, the U.S. healthcare system loses over $40 billion each year due to medication errors. However, a majority of these errors are preventable. Again, statistics show that between 7,000 to 9,000 deaths occur in the U.S due to medication errors. The majority of the medication errors happen when ordering or prescribing drugs and medications because of a healthcare provider writing wrong medication, use of wrong route, giving of wrong dosage, and wrong frequency of the drugs (Gardner et al., 2019). These aspects account for over 50% of the medication errors. Study evidence show that all patients are at risk for medication errors and hence effective prevention strategies are important. The most impacted health population are those in critical and emergency care, trauma facilities, those with mental health issues, and those severely ill. The vulnerability of these populations emanates from their inability to follow instructions or question medications and interventions during care and treatment. For instance, patients should give informed consent before the administration of medication. However, this may not be possible when dealing with the identified populations.

Again, a study by Afaya et al. (2021) shows that a majority of healthcare providers do not report these errors for corrective and long-tern actions to reduce their prevalence. MacDowell et al. (2021) observe that medication errors occur due to the failure of providers to consider the five rights of the medication administration process that include right patient, right medication, right time and right route as well as dose. The study notes that the increased failure of providers to integrate these aspects emanates from the ever-increasing complexity of the medication use process where a multidisciplinary care team works collaboratively to provide patient-centered care delivery. The implication is that the prevalence of medication errors and their associated negative or adverse effects are critical public health concerns that should be addressed through comprehensive analysis.

Analysis of Medication Errors

Hospitals and healthcare providers focus on the provision of quality care and promotion of patient safety through better care delivery. However, the occurrence of medication errors continues to rise with increased levels of concerns about the existence of a patient safety culture in healthcare settings. Medication errors lead to increased cost of care and longer stays in hospitals. These errors also lead to poor patient care experience. Therefore, it is essential for stakeholders to understand the possible effects of medication errors to the healthcare system, particularly concerning patient safety, healthcare cost burden, patient outcomes and the satisfaction of healthcare workers and managers. As part of the healthcare professionals, nurses are well positioned to advocate improved patient safety through a reduction in the number of errors by encouraging the establishment and nurturing of a safety culture in the clinical setting.

Nurses and other healthcare providers should not take these errors are mere events but aspects that have significant effects on the overall level of competency and quality care delivery.

Evidence suggests that training and provision of workshops assist providers who include nurses to understand guidelines and policies concerning errors (Gardner et al., 2019). The implication is that ensuring that an organization and its staff adopt quality care and safety cultures is important to addressing the problem of medication errors. Medication error can also happen at home even after discharge and it is essential to consider patient education.

Considering Options: Solutions or Answers

The advent and increased deployment of health information technologies, systems and applications through portable devices is one of the ways that providers and health organizations can address the issue of medication errors. In their article, Rodziewicz et al. (2022) assert that continuous education on medication errors is essential for nurses to reduce the prevalence and help patients avoid these instances. The article advances that through effective training and adherence to set protocols, nurses and other providers can mitigate medication errors and improve patient outcomes. The article also details diverse interventions and options available to reduce and prevent the occurrence of medication errors like embedding a safety culture in the organization and compliance to regulatory requirements by accreditation bodies and agencies like The Joint Commission (TJC) (Gardner et al., 2019). Again, the increased use of technological applications through health information technology and systems can help mitigate medication errors. Clinical decision support system (CDSS), electronic health records (EHRs) interoperability, and barcoding can help mitigate these errors. Again, having pharmacists accessible to help with the calculation of the correct dosage is essential to addressing the medication errors happening in healthcare facilities. The implication is that the integration of the bundled interventions to medication errors can help providers and organizations address the challenge and offer quality patient care where necessary to improve quality outcomes.

Solution

Sharing patient health information through seamless systems and use of health information technology can help reduce medication errors in organizations. Interoperability in healthcare entails seamless flow, exchange, and sharing of patient health information among different providers to make better decisions and understand the various aspects of care provision. The integration of health technologies through electronic health records, clinical decision support system, computerized physician order entry (CPOE) are some of the technologies that organizations and providers can adopt to reduce medication errors. In their study, Skog et al. (2022) opine that smart pump interoperability reduces medication errors associated with intravenous infusion administrations. Through an observational study, the researchers indicate that leveraging interoperability alongside other aspects of health technology is essential to assisting providers deal with medication errors.

Interoperability helps organizations develop ways to prevent medication error mortalities by ensuring that they can share data across systems and applications. Through this approach, provider have a better understanding of how and why these errors happen and empowers them to take necessary measures (Justinia et al., 2021). By simply standardizing data within a single healthcare, providers cannot prevent errors. However, through increased interoperability by leveraging health information systems and applications, providers and organizations can reduce and prevent errors in different forms and ways.

Ethical Implications

The implementation of the solution, use of health information technology (HIT) interventions and systems, to reduce medication errors requires a consideration of ethical values associated with healthcare provision that include beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice. Again, the acceptability of the proposed solution or intervention requires an alignment with the organizational values and culture as well as participation of nurses and other cadres of healthcare professionals, especially physicians and pharmacists (Gardner et al., 2019). Training and education of staff, integration of health information technology (HIT) require stakeholders to adhere to the existing ethical values like conferring benefits to patients, ensuring that no harm occurs, protection of patient informed consent, and fairness in the use of the solution.

In this case, the use of HIT components and provision of necessary training and education to nurses on the use components of EHRs, clinical decision support systems and even CPOE focus on improving patient safety, reducing harm and protection of their privacy while also ensuring equitable access to the resources. This implies that the organization should adhere to existing legal frameworks and regulatory aspects like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) provision on protected health information and nursing standards set by professional associations like the American Nurses Association (ANA). The implication is that staff training on the use of these tools is inevitable as it will allow the organization to reduce the prevalence of medication errors.

Implementation of Solution

The implementation of these two interventions; integration of HIT and staff training require participation of leaders and organizational resources. Therefore, it is important to develop a clear and comprehensive program or initiative that details the different causes, risk factors, consequences and organizational capacities to implement the suggested approaches. The organizational management should incorporate a budget to implement the suggested solutions or options with the aim of developing a safety culture based on the need to improve overall care outcomes (Sodre Alves et al., 2021). The leveraging of HIT requires organizational leaders and managers to set priorities and develop budgetary allocation to meet the installation of the systems and training of providers to help them acquire sufficient skills and knowledge on their working to reduce medication errors.

Conclusion

Medication errors are significant concern for healthcare providers and organizations because of their negative effects on patients, health care organizations and systems. Medication errors are a leading cause of death and disability, a rise in healthcare costs, and longer stays in hospitals. The use of technology, especially HIT, and provision of staff training is essential in addressing these errors and improving overall healthcare outcomes. Developing and implementing evidence-based solutions is critical to dealing with these errors and reducing their prevalence in healthcare settings and practice.

References

Afaya, A., Konlan, K. D., & Kim Do, H. (2021). Improving patient safety through identifying

barriers to reporting medication administration errors among nurses: an integrative review. BMC health services research, 21(1), 1-10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-07187-5

Gardner, R. L., Cooper, E., Haskell, J., Harris, D. A., Poplau, S., Kroth, P. J., & Linzer, M.

(2019). Physician stress and burnout: the impact of health information technology. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 26(2), 106-114. DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocy145.

Justinia, T., Qattan, W., Almenhali, A., Abo-Khatwa, A., Alharbi, O., & Alharbi, T. (2021).

Medication Errors and Patient Safety: Evaluation of Physicians’ Responses to Medication-Related Alert Overrides in Clinical Decision Support Systems. Acta Informatica Medica, 29(4), 248. doi: 10.5455/aim.2021.29.248-252

MacDowell, P., Cabri, A. & Davis, M. (2021). Medication Administration Errors. Patient Safety

            Net. https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer/medication-administration-errors

Rodziewicz, T. L., Houseman, B. & Hipskind, J. E. (2022 December 4). Medical Error

Reduction and Prevention. StatPearls [Internet]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499956/

Skog, J., Rafie, S., Schnock, K. O., Yoon, C., Lipsitz, S., & Lew, P. (2022). The Impact of Smart

Pump Interoperability on Errors in Intravenous Infusion Administrations: A Multihospital Before and After Study. Journal of Patient Safety, 18(3), e666-e671. DOI: 10.1097/PTS.0000000000000905

Sodre Alves, B., De Andrade, T., Oliveira Filho, A. L., & Lyra Junior, D. (2021). Harm

Prevalence Due to Medication Errors Involving High Alert Medications: A Systematic

Review. Journal of Patient Safety, 17(1), 1. DOI: 10.1097/PTS.0000000000000649.

Assessment 4 Instructions: Analyzing a Current Health Care Problem or Issue

Write a 4-6 page analysis of a current problem or issue in health care, including a proposed solution and possible ethical implications.

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Introduction

In your health care career, you will be confronted with many problems that demand a solution. By using research skills, you can learn what others are doing and saying about similar problems. Then, you can analyze the problem and the people and systems it affects. You can also examine potential solutions and their ramifications. This assessment allows you to practice this approach with a real-world problem.

Instructions

Note: The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. At a minimum, be sure to address each point. In addition, you are encouraged to review the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.

1. Describe the health care problem or issue you selected for use in Assessment 2 (from the Assessment Topic Areas media piece) and provide details about it.
   • Explore your chosen For this, you should use the first four steps of the Socratic Problem-Solving Approach to aid your critical

thinking. This approach was introduced in Assessment 2.

• Identify possible causes for the problem or

2. Use scholarly information to describe and explain the health care problem or issue and identify possible causes for Identify at least three scholarly or academic peer-reviewed journal articles about the topic.
   • You may find the How Do I Find Peer-Reviewed Articles? library guide helpful in locating appropriate

You may use articles you found while working on Assessment 2 or you may search the Capella library for other articles.

• You may find the applicable Undergraduate Library Research Guide helpful in your
• Review the Think Critically About Source Quality to help you complete the following:
  • Assess the credibility of the information

• Assess the relevance of the information

3. Analyze the health care problem or
   • Describe the setting or context for the problem or Describe why the problem or issue is important to you.
   • Identify groups of people affected by the problem or
   • Provide examples that support your analysis of the problem or 
4. Discuss potential solutions for the health care problem or
   • Describe what would be required to implement a solution. Describe potential consequences of ignoring the problem or issue.
   • Provide the pros and cons for one of the solutions you are
5. Explain the ethical principles (Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, Autonomy, and Justice) if potential solution was
   • Describe what would be necessary to implement the proposed
   • Explain the ethical principles that need to be considered (Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, Autonomy, and Justice) if the potential solution was implemented.

Provide examples from the literature to support the points you are making.

Example Assessment: You may use the following to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like:

Assessment 4 Example [PDF]

Additional Requirements

Your assessment should also meet the following requirements:

Length: 4–6 typed, double-spaced pages, not including the title page and reference page.

Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

APA tutorial: Use the APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX] for guidance.

Written communication: Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.

Using outside sources: Integrate information from outside sources into academic writing by appropriately quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing, following APA style.

References: Integrate information from outside sources to include at least three scholarly or academic peer-reviewed journal articles and three in-

text citations within the paper.

APA format: Follow current APA guidelines for in-text citations of outside sources in the body of your paper and also on the reference page.

Organize your paper using the following structure and headings:

Title page. A separate page.

Introduction. A brief one-paragraph statement about the purpose of the paper.

Elements of the problem/issue. Identify the elements of the problem or issue or question.

Analysis. Analyze, define, and frame the problem or issue. Considering options. Consider solutions, responses, or answers. Solution. Choose a solution, response, or answer.

Ethical implications. Ethical implications of implementing the solution.

Implementation. Implementation of the potential solution.

Conclusion. One paragraph.

Competencies Measured:

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria: Competency 1: Apply information literacy and library research skills to obtain scholarly information in the field of health care.

• Use scholarly information to describe and explain a health care problem or issue and identify possible causes for Competency 2: Apply scholarly information through critical thinking to solve problems in the field of health care.
• Analyze a health care problem or issue by describing the context, explaining why it is important and identifying populations affected by Discuss potential solutions for a health care problem or issue and describe what would be required to implement a solution.

Competency 3: Apply ethical principles and academic standards to the study of health care.

• Explain the ethical principles (Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, Autonomy, and Justice) if potential solution was implemented Competency 4: Write for a specific audience, in appropriate tone and style, in accordance with Capella’s writing standards.

Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.

• Write following APA style for in-text citations, quotes, and