Reference no: EM133712782

Question

The Medication Error I read about involved mistaking one medication type for another based on similar names, albeit common vs generic names. The medical mix up involved the administering nurse and the patient that was given the wrong medication resulting in the patients death. The nurse was to give the patient versed (brand name) a sedative but instead gave the patient vecuronium a paralyzing agent used for invasive procedures. Ultimately the nurse not only lost their license but were also placed on criminal trial for negligence due to the number of safeties in place on these types of medications that were bypassed. When reading the article a few things stood out to me that could have prevented the situation. The first being the use of brand/common names instead of generic names. Health care providers should learn and prioritize the use of generic names over the brand names to help prevent confusion of medications. The second issue that stood out to me was an implied lack of protocol. Going through medical training get my NREMT we were constantly reminded of the 6 rights of medication administration. Using the patient note, the order and the medication, verify the right patient: Full name