The Sterile Cockpit: An Effective Approach to Reducing Medication Errors

Abstract

How one nursing unit tried to limit interruptions during medication administration by adapting the aviation industry rule.

Article Content

Medication errors occur all too often, and the risks they pose to patients are unacceptable. According to a 2006 Institute of Medicine report, at least 1.5 million preventable medication-related adverse events occur in the United States every year, but the true number could be much higher.1 The same report estimates that each event increases hospital costs by $5,857, for an annual cost of $3.5 billion in 2006 dollars. The report further notes that this figure doesn't take into account out-of-hospital costs, lost earnings, or any compensation for pain and suffering. Because medication administration is an important part of the nurse's role, medication error prevention should be a primary focus of nursing care delivery and quality improvement.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A care home worker in Germany is still in hospital after being among a group that received the first known overdoses of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19, local authorities said on Tuesday.

Eight workers in an elderly care home received five times the recommended dose of the vaccine on Sunday.



“One lady is currently being looked after as an inpatient,” said a spokeswoman for the northern district of Vorpommern-Ruegen, without giving further details about her condition.

Three other workers who had gone to hospital for checks after developing flu-like symptoms were now back at home

Party on, geezers.

Cops rushed to a venue in England to break up what they thought was an illegal rave — only to discover it was a crowd of elderly folks waiting to get a coronavirus vaccine, according to reports.

Worried neighbors called police to report revelers possibly flaunting COVID-19 regulations outside the Saxon Hall event space before dawn Friday in Essex, according to Echo News.

Instead of ravers, cops found retirees — some as old as 90, hobbling around on walking sticks — while in line for shots.

“It was really funny when the police arrived as they had been notified that there was a ‘rave’ taking place at Saxon Hall — only to find 80- and 90-year-olds on wheelchairs, zimmer frames and walking sticks, patiently queueing for their vaccinations,” Saxon Hall chairman Dennis Baum told the local outlet.

Essex police quickly realized there were more grannies than glowsticks at the event, and helped direct traffic around the building, which is generally used for weddings and banquets.

“It was absolute chaos and very cold. The [parking lot] became chockablock with 80-year-old-plus drivers,” Baum told the Harwich and Manningtree Standard. ”Grumpy old men and grumpy old women were in abundance.”