HQS 610 Topic 6 Benchmark – Technology and Medical Errors
HQS 610 Topic 6 Benchmark – Technology and Medical Errors – Step-by-Step Guide
The first step before starting to write the HQS 610 Topic 6 Benchmark – Technology and Medical Errors, it is essential to understand the requirements of the assignment. The first step is to read the assignment prompt carefully to identify the topic, the length and format requirements. You should go through the rubric provided so that you can understand what is needed to score the maximum points for each part of the assignment.
It is also important to identify the audience of the paper and its purpose so that it can help you determine the tone and style to use throughout. You can then create a timeline to help you complete each stage of the paper, such as conducting research, writing the paper, and revising it to avoid last-minute stress before the deadline. After identifying the formatting style to be applied to the paper, such as APA, you should review its use, such as writing citations and referencing the resources used. You should also review how to format the title page and the headings in the paper.
How to Research and Prepare for HQS 610 Topic 6 Benchmark – Technology and Medical Errors
The next step in preparing for your paper is to conduct research and identify the best sources to use to support your arguments. Identify the list of keywords from your topic using different combinations. The first step is to visit the university library and search through its database using the important keywords related to your topic. You can also find books, peer-reviewed articles, and credible sources for your topic from PubMed, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, and Google Scholar. Ensure that you select the references that have been published in the last words and go through each to check for credibility. Ensure that you obtain the references in the required format, for example, in APA, so that you can save time when creating the final reference list.
You can also group the references according to their themes that align with the outline of the paper. Go through each reference for its content and summarize the key concepts, arguments and findings for each source. You can write down your reflections on how each reference connects to the topic you are researching about. After the above steps, you can develop a strong thesis that is clear, concise and arguable. Next you should create a detailed outline of the paper so that it can help you to create headings and subheadings to be used in the paper. Ensure that you plan what point will go into each paragraph.
How to Write the Introduction for HQS 610 Topic 6 Benchmark – Technology and Medical Errors
The introduction of the paper is the most crucial part as it helps to provide the context of your work, and will determine if the reader will be interested to read through to the end. You should start with a hook, which will help capture the reader’s attention. You should contextualize the topic by offering the reader a concise overview of the topic you are writing about so that they may understand its importance. You should state what you aim to achieve with the paper. The last part of the introduction should be your thesis statement, which provides the main argument of the paper.
How to Write the Body for HQS 610 Topic 6 Benchmark – Technology and Medical Errors
The body of the paper helps you to present your arguments and evidence to support your claims. You can use headings and subheadings developed in the paper’s outline to guide you on how to organize the body. Start each paragraph with a topic sentence to help the reader know what point you will be discussing in that paragraph. Support your claims using the evidence conducted from the research, ensure that you cite each source properly using in-text citations. You should analyze the evidence presented and explain its significance and how it connects to the thesis statement. You should maintain a logical flow between each paragraph by using transition words and a flow of ideas.
How to Write the In-text Citations for HQS 610 Topic 6 Benchmark – Technology and Medical Errors
In-text citations help the reader to give credit to the authors of the references they have used in their works. All ideas that have been borrowed from references, any statistics and direct quotes must be referenced properly. The name and date of publication of the paper should be included when writing an in-text citation. For example, in APA, after stating the information, you can put an in-text citation after the end of the sentence, such as (Smith, 2021). If you are quoting directly from a source, include the page number in the citation, for example (Smith, 2021, p. 15). Remember to also include a corresponding reference list at the end of your paper that provides full details of each source cited in your text. An example paragraph highlighting the use of in-text citations is as below:
The integration of technology in nursing practice has significantly transformed patient care and improved health outcomes. According to Smith (2021), the use of electronic health records (EHRs) has streamlined communication among healthcare providers, allowing for more coordinated and efficient care delivery. Furthermore, Johnson and Brown (2020) highlight that telehealth services have expanded access to care, particularly for patients in rural areas, thereby reducing barriers to treatment.
How to Write the Conclusion for HQS 610 Topic 6 Benchmark – Technology and Medical Errors
When writing the conclusion of the paper, start by restarting your thesis, which helps remind the reader what your paper is about. Summarize the key points of the paper, by restating them. Discuss the implications of your findings and your arguments. End with a call to action that leaves a lasting impact on the reader or recommendations.
How to Format the Reference List for HQS 610 Topic 6 Benchmark – Technology and Medical Errors
The reference helps provide the reader with the complete details of the sources you cited in the paper. The reference list should start with the title “References” on a new page. It should be aligned center and bolded, in sentence sentence care. The references should be organized in an ascending order alphabetically and each should have a hanging indent. If a source has no author, it should be alphabetized by the title of the work, ignoring any initial articles such as “A,” “An,” or “The.” If you have multiple works by the same author, list them in chronological order, starting with the earliest publication.
Each reference entry should include specific elements depending on the type of source. For books, include the author’s last name, first initial, publication year in parentheses, the title of the book in italics, the edition (if applicable), and the publisher’s name. For journal articles, include the author’s last name, first initial, publication year in parentheses, the title of the article (not italicized), the title of the journal in italics, the volume number in italics, the issue number in parentheses (if applicable), and the page range of the article. For online sources, include the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) or the URL at the end of the reference. An example reference list is as follows:
References
Johnson, L. M., & Brown, R. T. (2020). The role of telehealth in improving patient outcomes. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 35(2), 123-130. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000456
Smith, J. A. (2021). The impact of technology on nursing practice. Health Press.
HQS 610 Topic 6 Benchmark – Technology and Medical Errors Instructions
The purpose of this assignment is to analyze the use of technology in the reduction of medical errors.
Identify a specific medical error and one of the types of technology that has been developed to aid in ensuring patient safety by reducing such errors. Create a PowerPoint presentation of 12-14 slides (not including title slide and reference slides) on the benefits and challenges of the technology for the example you have identified. Include the following in your presentation:
1. Describe your chosen medical error and the technology that has been used to address it.
2. Explain how the identified technology assists in improving quality and safety outcomes.
3. Discuss how you would monitor the success of the identified technology in improving quality and safety outcomes.
4. Describe three pros and cons (each) of the use of this technology in your example and in general (e.g., reliability, accessibility, training required, cost, clinician judgement, etc.).
5. Provide an example or develop a situation in which the use of this technology could still lead to a medical error. Have a look at HQS 610 Topic 7 DQ 1.
This assignment requires a minimum of three peer-reviewed references.
Include a title slide, references slide, and comprehensive speaker notes.
Refer to the resource, “Creating Effective PowerPoint Presentations,” located in the Student Success Center, for additional guidance on completing this assignment in the appropriate style.
While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite Technical Support Articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.
Benchmark Information
This benchmark assignment assesses the following programmatic competency:
MSN Health Care Quality and Patient Safety
6.1: Identify, mitigate, and monitor quality and safety opportunities.
HQS 610 Topic 6 Benchmark – Technology and Medical Errors Example (Speaker Notes Only)Technology Used to Address Medication Administration Errors
Introduction
Hello. Good morning and welcome to today’s presentation. My name is, and today’s focus is a medical error and a healthcare technology used to address it. Medical errors occur when there is a deviation from the norm in care provision. Medical errors are a global leading cause of unintentional harm and death in healthcare facilities.
Rodziewicz et al. (2021) note that medical errors are attributed to about 100000 deaths annually, costing the healthcare system approximately $20 billion annually. Medication administration errors are the most common in a hospital setting, ranging from near misses with no harm to patients to sentinel/adverse events leading to significant morbidity or death. These errors occur anywhere between prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, and administering medications. Healthcare technologies have been leveraged to help prevent these medical errors.
Presentation Overview
The chosen medical errors are medication administration errors, and the selected technology to address this issue is Barcode Medication Administration (BCMA) technology. The presentation will evaluate how the technology helps improve the quality of care and patient safety. It will also evaluate how to monitor the success of the technology. In addition, the presentation will explore the pros and cons of the technology regarding its reliability, accessibility, training needed, and clinical judgement, among others. Lastly, it will explore an example illustrating situations whereby BCMA utilization to reduce medication administration errors could still lead to errors.
Chosen Medical Error-Medication Administration Errors
The chosen medical error is a medication administration error. These errors occur when care providers, primarily nurses, give patients medications. They occur when nurses give the wrong medicines, doses, route, or with frequency or misidentify patients. These errors can range from harmless near misses (errors are detected before they occur) or adverse events such as death and morbidity (for example, amputation).
Medication administration is a primary nursing role and is directly related to the nursing profession hence the interest in the problem. According to Alrabadi et al. (2021), the leading factors associated with these errors include poor medical and health literacy, poor communication, such as missed or insufficient information, and distractions during medication administration. Tsegaye et al. (2020) show that fatigue and burnout significantly increase the risk of committing errors.
Technology Used to Address Medication Administration Errors
Barcode medication administration errors were implemented as a confirmation technology. They help nurses and other care providers confirm all medication rights before administering medications. The technology comprises a scanner, monitor, and patient digital wristband. Care providers scan the patient’s digital wrist band and the medications prescribed to the patient appear on the monitor, and the nurse confirms them before administering.
Owens et al. (2020) note that the technology is helpful in units such as the ICU and emergency department, where patients are non-responsive, and the haste nature may prevent the nurses from conforming to medication rights before administration. However, the technology can be implemented in any healthcare unit wishing to reduce medication administration errors.
Barcode Medication Administration Technology
Complete BCMA technology with wristband, scanner and monitor to double-check medications before administration to help prevent medication errors
Evidence From Research
Literature support is vital for any technology or invention in healthcare due to the current shift to evidence-based practices—numerous literature support BCMA utilization. According to Owens et al. (2020), BCMA is a technology dedicated to increasing efficiency in medication administration and is associated with decreased medication administration error rates and improved nurses’ satisfaction. Hanson and Haddad (2021) support the findings and note that BCMA increases care efficiency and nurses’ thus positively impacting nurses’ satisfaction.
Unlike popular belief, BCMA does not increase the workload or disrupt the workflow when implemented carefully, as supported by Barakat and Franklin (2020). However, errors in the technology lead to more medication administration errors. Lian et al. (2023) show that BCMA produces better health outcomes when used with other healthcare technologies such as CDSS and CPOE.
Barcode Medication Administration Technology in Improving Quality and Safety Outcomes
Barcode medication administration technology increases accountability and responsibility in medication administration processes. The technology also helps ensure that all rights to medication are duly met. When BCMA IS correctly implemented, all medication rights are confirmed before medication administration, eliminating confusion and promoting quality patient outcomes.
BCMA also helps detect errors committed in the previous stages of medication administration by adding a vital confirmatory step. The step helps avoid errors, especially those committed due to poor care literacy, especially in nursing students and new hire nurses. For example, entering wrong doses during transcription creates a mismatch between physical and health information records and helps detect errors.
The technology enhances communication and workflow. The health information systems are interconnected and eliminate time wasted when recording care from one care parodied to another. BCMA makes all patient information pertinent to their care available to all care producers connected to the system within minutes of its update. Thus, BCMA is a vital technology that enhances care quality and safety outcomes.
Monitoring the Success of BCMA
Monitoring is an essential step in project/organizational success. Monitoring helps determine if the avenue selected is achieving the goals and objectives it purports to meet. Küng et al. (2021) note that the goals of the BCMA include eliminating medication administration errors, improving error identification and management, reducing care costs associated with medication errors, improving patient satisfaction and self-reported healthcare experiences, and improving staff satisfaction. These objectives form the basis of the technology’s effectiveness evaluation.
Monitoring the Success of the BCMA Technology
There are various interventions to use in monitoring the effectiveness of the technology. Surveys on patient satisfaction with care experiences give healthcare providers an idea of how care technologies impact them. Mitchell et al. (2021) state that satisfaction scores and self-reported healthcare experiences are important to care quality measures.
Surveys on care provider satisfaction and attitude toward the technology are also important and will help determine the acceptability, operability, and technology usability. The technology helps identify errors and prevent them; thus, analyzing the medication errors and near misses reporting and medication administration error rates is vital in analyzing the technology’s success.
Pros OF BCMA
Barcode medication administration technologies have various advantages. BCMA technologies are easy to use with the initial training because and a good background in the nursing profession. The technologies improve accuracy in medication administration and admirable care aspects. Naidu and Alicia (2019) note that the technology allows for double-checking medications, hence an enhanced workflow and associated staff satisfaction.
The technology satisfaction can operate without electricity (with batteries), thus efficiency even in power outages. Millichamp and Johnston (2020) note that BCMA supports medication reconciliation in healthcare, which helps eliminate errors and improve interprofessional collaboration. Thus, BCMA is a vital medication administration error detection and prevention technology.
Cons of BCMA
BCMA faces various limitations and disadvantages despite its widespread success in limiting medication administration errors. The technology requires several devices for each patient for successful implementation; hence they are expensive to install and maintain. In addition, they require initial staff training during implementation, and staff education can also be expensive. The technology may also be prone to errors in these initial stages and, thus, tedious work in monitoring its implementation.
Taft et al. (2023) note that the technology is prone to technological breakdowns, which can increase the error rates and breakdown information and workflow. Errors in setting the technology and supporting resources, such as coding medications, can lead to significant medication administration errors. Taft et al. (2023) state that poor implementation of technology (errors in implementation) lead to workflow disruption, increased workload, and significant medication errors.
Example of a Situation the Technology Could lead to a Medical Error
When patients’ medications are prescribed, the health information system assigns the prescribed medication a unique code. When a care provider, primarily a nurse, scans the patient’s wristbands, the medication appears on the screen. Adams et al. (2021) note that when medications are assigned the wrong code, the pharmacists also dispense the wrong medication and ultimately, patients receive the wrong medication.
According to Taft et al. (2023), coding errors are rare but are associated with major and catastrophic medication administration errors. Healthcare professionals are urged to be vigilant and review the patients beyond their current care interventions to understand their condition and medication rationale. In an environment without haste in medications, experienced/knowledgeable care providers Xan detect such errors and thus ensure quality health outcomes.
Another example of a medication error that can occur when using BCMA is when care providers are inexperienced. Mulac et al. (2021) note that policy deviations occur when care providers do not understand the technology and seek other ways to complete tasks. Whilst the technology is seemingly easy to use, it may be difficult to complete without adequate knowledge, and thus care providers bypass it and fail to utilize it to save on time.
In addition, health literacy is significant in BCMA implementation. The healthcare professional must have adequate knowledge to interpret the information provided correctly. The inability to correctly interpret the information or detect errors may still lead to errors. Nurses must thus be knowledgeable in the use of the technology and care delivery to harness the full power of the BCMA technology.
Conclusion
Medical errors are significant healthcare issues that can lead to patient harm and adverse outcomes. Medication administration errors are also significant medical errors. Barcode Medication Administration (BCMA) is the healthcare technology solution to address medication administration errors. BCMA aims to reduce medication errors by ensuring accurate patient and medication identification through barcode scanning.
While BCMA is an effective tool, it is important to note that it is not entirely error-free. Evaluating technologies such as BCMA ensures their effectiveness and continuous improvement. Regular evaluation and oversight help identify areas for enhancement and contribute to the ongoing efforts of minimizing and eliminating medical errors in healthcare settings. Thank you for your time. Any questions are now welcome.
References
•Adams, K. T., Pruitt, Z., Kazi, S., Hettinger, A. Z., Howe, J. L., Fong, A., & Ratwani, R. M. (2021). Identifying health information technology usability issues contributing to medication errors across medication process stages. Journal of Patient Safety, 17(8), e988-e994. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PTS.0000000000000868
•Alrabadi, N., Shawagfeh, S., Haddad, R., Mukattash, T., Abuhammad, S., Al-rabadi, D., Farha, R. A., AlRabadi, S., & Al-Faouri, I. (2021). Medication errors: a focus on nursing practice. Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, 12(1), 78-86. https://doi.org/10.1093/jphsr/rmaa025
•Hanson, A., & Haddad, L. M. (2021). Nursing rights of medication administration. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing.
•Küng, K., Aeschbacher, K., Rütsche, A., Goette, J., Zürcher, S., Schmidli, J., & Schwendimann, R. (2021). Effect of barcode technology on medication preparation safety: a quasi-experimental study. International Journal For Quality In Health Care, 33(1), mzab043. https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzab043
•Liang, M. Q., Thibault, M., Jouvet, P., Lebel, D., Schuster, T., Moreault, M. P., & Motulsky, A. (2023). Improving medication safety in a paediatric hospital: a mixed-methods evaluation of a newly implemented computerized provider order entry system. BMJ Health & Care Informatics, 30(1). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjhci-2022-100622
•Millichamp, T., & Johnston, A. N. (2020). Interventions to support safe medication administration by emergency department nurses: An integrative review. International Emergency Nursing, 49, 100811. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ienj.2019.100811
•Mitchell, A. L., Hegedüs, L., Žarković, M., Hickey, J. L., & Perros, P. (2021). Patient satisfaction and quality of life in hypothyroidism: An online survey by the British thyroid foundation. Clinical Endocrinology, 94(3), 513-520. https://doi.org/10.1111/cen.14340
•Mulac, A., Mathiesen, L., Taxis, K., & Granås, A. G. (2021). Barcode medication administration technology use in hospital practice: a mixed-methods observational study of policy deviations. BMJ Quality & Safety, 30(12), 1021-1030. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2021-013223
•Naidu, M., & Alicia, Y. L. Y. (2019). Impact of barcode medication administration and electronic medication administration record system in clinical practice for an effective medication administration process. Health, 11(05), 511.
•Owens, K., Palmore, M., Penoyer, D., & Viers, P. (2020). The effect of implementing barcode medication administration in an emergency department on medication administration errors and nursing satisfaction. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 46(6), 884-891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jen.2020.07.004
•Rodziewicz, T. L., Houseman, B., & Hipskind, J. E. (2022). Medical Error Reduction and Prevention. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.
•Taft, T., Rudd, E. A., Thraen, I., Kazi, S., Pruitt, Z. M., Bonk, C. W., Busog, D., Franklin, E., Hettinger, A. Z., Ratwani, R. J., & Weir, C. R. (2023). “Are we there yet?” Ten persistent hazards and inefficiencies with the use of medication administration technology from the perspective of practicing nurses. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 30(5), 809-818. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocad031
•Tsegaye, D., Alem, G., Tessema, Z., & Alebachew, W. (2020). Medication administration errors and associated factors among nurses. International Journal of General Medicine, 1621-1632. https://doi.org/10.2147IJGM.S289452
•Zheng, W. Y., Lichtner, V., Van Dort, B. A., & Baysari, M. T. (2021). The impact of introducing automated dispensing cabinets, barcode medication administration, and closed-loop electronic medication management systems on work processes and safety of controlled medications in hospitals: A systematic review. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 17(5), 832-841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.08.001
