Reference no: EM133700542

Question

Visual design is vital to ensuring the right medication is given to the right patient. I think color and scheme of the medication is the most impactful, solely based on the stories of the Quaid twins receiving an adult dose of heparin, and the nurse who recently administered Vecuronium instead of Versed. Both of these cases had medications with similar names and color schemes but were easily overlooked by the nurse. Human factors are inevitable, and errors will happen, however, design of a medication can make or break a patient, literally, and if the labels are clearly and visibly different, mistakes would be hard to make. For example, the Heparin doses should have been in completely different colors, not different shades of blue. Vecuronium, in my opinion, shouldn't have even been in the same drawer as Versed, but because it was, it should be labeled with a warning since it's a paralytic. Design will help nurses differentiate medications which improves the safety of patients, and patient safety is the most important thing in healthcare.