Evaluation of Medication Errors in an Infectious Diseases Ward of a Teaching Hospital in Iran

Background: medication errors (mes) and adverse drug reactions (adrs) areamong the main causes of adverse events in hospitals, leading to disability anddeath in up to 6. 5% of hospital admissions. application of appropriatemeasures for identifying medication errors and assessing potential adverse drugevents are of clinical interest. methods: this was an observational studyperformed in the infectious diseases ward of imam reza hospital in tabrizduring the july 2013 to march 2014. medical files and drug charts of 200patients were reviewed, and errors in physician and nursing levels weredetermined. for detecting medication errors, treatment regimens of patientswere evaluated, and then compared with the standard practice guidelines anddrug references. presence of any incompatibilities were considered as mes.results: during the study period, 126 mes (0.63 errors per patient) weredetected, occurring as incorrect time (38. 1%), incorrect dose (29. 37%),omission (11. 9%), administration error (9. 52%), incorrect dosage form (4.76%), incorrect drug (2. 38%) and incorrect route (3. 97%). physicians andnurses were responsible for 48 (38.1%) and 78 (61.9%) of medication errors,respectively. conclusions: mes occur in all steps of drug therapy, includingprescription, dispensing, preparation, transcription and administration, causinga great concern for hospitalized patients. strict controlling and trainingprograms for medical students and nurses regarding rational use andprescription of drugs, and presence of clinical pharmacists in the medical wardsare highly recommended for preventing these types of errors.