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Is There a Problem? The Evidence of Types and Causes of Medication Errors by Healthcare Workers

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Medication Management in Older Adults

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Abstract

While medication errors are likely to occur more commonly in older adults, simply on the basis of the probability of the greater use of medication in this population, do these errors constitute a significant problem? This chapter discusses the types of errors that we are likely to see in older people and how those errors occur within the various healthcare settings. Incomplete reporting is a subject that little is known about. This issue, according to the Australian literature, highlights that a minority of doctors and nurses (<20%) are reporting near miss medication errors and only 40% of doctors report errors that resulted in a patient receiving therapeutic intervention. This is in spite of the belief among doctors and nurses in a cross-sectional survey that errors should be reported.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geriatric Medicine, St Vincent’s, Melbourne, Australia

    Michael Murray

Authors
  1. Michael Murray
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Correspondence to Michael Murray .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Division of Nursing and Midwifery, Latrobe University, Bundoora, 3552, Australia

    Susan Koch

  2. School of Medicine, Victory Springs Senior Health Associates, Johns Hopkins University, Business Center Drive 210, Reisterstown, 21205, USA

    F. Michael Gloth

  3. , Institute of Social Participation, Latrobe University, Bundoora, 3552, Australia

    Rhonda Nay

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Murray, M. (2010). Is There a Problem? The Evidence of Types and Causes of Medication Errors by Healthcare Workers. In: Koch, S., Gloth, F., Nay, R. (eds) Medication Management in Older Adults. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-457-9_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-457-9_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-60327-456-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-60327-457-9

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