Unit 1 lec

• Introduction to Medication Safety:

  • Patient Harm
  • Patient Safety
  • Third WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge
  • Strategic Framework of Global Patient Safety Challenge
  • Case Scenario
• Key Steps for Ensuring Medication Safety:

  • Appropriate Prescribing and Risk Assessment
  • Medication Review
  • Dispensing, Preparation and Administration
  • Communication and Patient Engagement
  • Medication Reconciliation at Care Transitions
• Health Care Interventions:

  • Intended to benefit patients but can also cause harm
  • Most common interventions are pharmacologic
  • Drugs have associated risks like adverse drug reactions due to doses
• Patient Harm:

  • Most are preventable
  • Adverse events are the 14th leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally
  • ADR vs. ADE
• Patient Safety:

  • Essential for universal health coverage and achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Prioritizing SDGs as pharmacists
• Medicines:

  • Most common therapeutic intervention
  • Over half are prescribed, dispensed, or sold inappropriately
  • Examples of inappropriate use and associated risks
• Third WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge - Medication Without Harm:

  • Goal to reduce severe, avoidable medication-related harm by 50% globally
  • Prioritizing areas like high-risk situations, polypharmacy, and transitions of care
• Strategic Framework of the Global Patient Safety Challenge - Medication Without Harm:

  • Involvement of patients and the public
  • Systems and practices of medication
  • Medicines
  • Health care professionals
• Proper compliance allows substances to be undetectable
• Missing one dose can cause a rebound in viral load and potential transmission
• Reporting is submitted to the FDA
• In multicellular organisms, specialised exchange surfaces are required for efficient gas exchange due to a higher surface area to volume ratio
• Case Scenario: Mrs. Garcia, a 65-year-old woman, experienced complications due to medication errors
• Key Steps for Ensuring Medication Safety:

  • Appropriate prescribing and risk assessment
  • Medication review
  • Dispensing, preparation, and administration
  • Communication and patient engagement
  • Medication reconciliation at care transitions
• Appropriate prescribing and risk assessment:

  • Prophylactic aspirin and NSAID without a gastroprotective agent can lead to gastrointestinal bleeding
  • NSAIDs increase the risk of cardiovascular events, especially in patients with a history of heart attacks
  • Health care professionals should prescribe responsibly after analyzing risks and benefits
• Medication review:

  • Polypharmacy can put patients at risk of adverse drug events and interactions
  • Review needed when aspirin and diclofenac are prescribed together
  • ACE inhibitor should be temporarily stopped after blood loss
• Dispensing, preparation, and administration:

  • Diclofenac was continued after discharge, causing harm
  • High-risk situation as diclofenac has the potential to cause harm
• Communication and patient engagement:

  • NSAID should have been discontinued when Mrs. Garcia was severely ill
  • Lack of communication led to adverse effects not being identified earlier
• Medication reconciliation at care transitions:

  • Diclofenac led to hospital admission and should have been communicated at discharge
  • Medication reconciliation process helps ensure accurate and complete medication information transfer
• Relationship between medication errors and adverse drug events:

  • Medication-related harm is caused by failures in various stages of medication management