Healthcare Informatics
Safety is recognized as minimizing risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance. Please review the QSEN competencies related to Informatics (http://qsen.org/competencies/pre-licensure-ksas/#informatics) and Safety (http://qsen.org/competencies/pre-licensure-ksas/#safety). For this discussion, please respond to each of the following prompts:
1. Describe a safety-enhancing technology that you use in your practice. Provide a full description that helps the reader understand its use and features.
2. In your experience, has the technology described help reduce the intended safety risk for which it was intended? Strengthen your discussion by fully describing why or why not?
Sample Solution
One safety-enhancing technology that I use in my practice is Barcode Medication Administration (BCMA). BCMA is a system that uses barcodes to scan medication labels and patient wristbands before administering medications. This helps to ensure that the correct medication is given to the correct patient at the correct dose.Full Answer Section
BCMA works by having each medication and patient wristband have a unique barcode. When a nurse is ready to administer a medication, they scan the barcode on the medication label and the barcode on the patient's wristband. The BCMA system then verifies that the medication and patient match, and it also checks to make sure that the dose is correct. BCMA has a number of features that make it a valuable safety-enhancing technology. First, it helps to prevent medication errors. Medication errors are one of the most common types of errors in healthcare, and they can have serious consequences. BCMA helps to prevent medication errors by ensuring that the correct medication is given to the correct patient at the correct dose. Second, BCMA helps to improve the efficiency of medication administration. By automating the process of verifying medication and patient information, BCMA can help nurses to save time and focus on providing care to patients. Third, BCMA can help to improve patient safety by providing a record of all medications that have been administered. This record can be used to track a patient's medication history and to identify any potential drug interactions. 2. In your experience, has the technology described help reduce the intended safety risk for which it was intended? Strengthen your discussion by fully describing why or why not. In my experience, BCMA has helped to reduce the intended safety risk for which it was intended. I have seen firsthand how BCMA has helped to prevent medication errors. For example, I once had a patient who was accidentally given the wrong medication. However, because we were using BCMA, the error was caught before the medication was administered. This prevented the patient from being harmed. I have also seen how BCMA has helped to improve the efficiency of medication administration. For example, I used to spend a lot of time verifying medication and patient information. However, with BCMA, this process is now automated. This has allowed me to save time and focus on providing care to patients. Overall, I believe that BCMA is a valuable safety-enhancing technology. It has helped to prevent medication errors, improve the efficiency of medication administration, and improve patient safety. Additional Information- BCMA is a relatively new technology, but it has been shown to be effective in reducing medication errors.
- BCMA is not without its challenges. For example, it can be difficult to keep the barcode labels up-to-date.
- Despite the challenges, BCMA is a valuable safety-enhancing technology that has the potential to improve patient safety.