ABSTRACT
Objectives: Medication errors have a large impact on patient safety and on healthcare cost. Errors occur due to a combination of human and system-related failure. The pharmacist prevents all drug related problems. The objective of this study was to explore pharmacist intervention and prevented medication errors in Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology at a Tertiary Hospital in East Province, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This article describes 12 months retrospective cohort study of pharmacist intervention and prevented medication errors in year of 2015. This was a retrospective study conducted at 500-bed Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology in a Tertiary Hospital in East Province, Saudi Arabia. This system was a part of medication safety program. A tertiary hospital had medication safety officer with medication safety committee. All errors or unexpected events related with the medication system or a step in the medication process shall be reported using the medication error from/sheet. The form consisted of patient information, the sources of medication errors and qualification of committing errors. The type of medication errors, description of errors, causes of errors, approval to prevent the errors and the consequence of medication errors by using National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP) system. Results: The total number of prevented medication errors were 1654 within 827 patients’ prescriptions. The medication errors had been made by physicians followed by nurses. The sources of errors were general practitioner 631 (38.15 %) followed by consultant 554 (33.5%). The most common error was made in Pediatrics (1-month to 6 years) followed by young adults (18-40 years). An occurred error, most of the time was afternoon 872 (52.72%) errors followed by morning duty 685 (41.4%) errors. The majority kind of mistakes were prescriber-related 1216 (73.52%) followed by patient-related errors 426 (25.75%). The outcome of medication error was 1651 (99.82%) occurred which did not reach the patient. The most common medications involved in errors were Paracetamol syrup, iron tablet, folic acid tablet and calcium tablet. There were three errors for high-risk medication prohibited for instant: insulin, enoxaparin and heparin. Conclusion: This article presented the pharmacist’s role in preventing medication errors, especially with pediatrics populations. Pharmacists have a crucial system-level role in planning and important medication safety programs and enhancement initiatives within health care organizations. The expanded role of pharmacists in preventing medication errors associated with patient safety programs and avoid the needless cost
ABSTRACT
Objective: Patient satisfaction is considered as a measure of the quality of care in health system. Investigation of satisfaction with pharmaceutical services will disclose gaps in training and barricades of implementation. The study examined patient satisfaction of pharmaceutical services at Ministry of Health Hospitals at East Province in Saudi Arabia. Methods: It is a 4-months cross-sectional self-administered survey of patient satisfaction of pharmaceutical care in Ministry of Health Hospitals at East Province, Saudi Arabia. The survey comprises two parts; the first part was demographic data about the patients, the second part was several domains about various pharmaceutical care services at East Province in Saudi Arabia. The 5-point Likert response scale system used with closed and ended questions. The survey scattered through five hospitals in East Province involved a public, pediatrics, maternity and psychiatry hospitals ambulatory care patient. All data and variables analyzed by Microsoft Excel program version 10. Results: The study sample size was 892. Out of 892 patients, 815 (95.66%) was Saudi and 37 (4.34%) was non-SaudiSaudi. Of that 213 (25%) was female and 639 (75%) was male. The majority of patients were between the ages of 20-40 (61.33%) and 41-60 years (39.44%) old. The average score of pharmacy location and related issues was 3.69/5.00. The domain of pharmacy location was ranked highest (4.05/5.00), while the domain of pharmacy waiting area was ranked lowest (3.47/5.00). The average score of medication related issues was 4.28/5.00. The domain of the drug label stickled with all medications was ranked highest (4.43/5.00), while the domain of the medication reconciliation was ranked lowest (3.56/5.00). The average score of pharmacist related issues was 4.66/5.00. The domain of the pharmacist assure by your name before dispensing was ranked highest (4.58/5.00), while the domain of the pharmacist provides you with medication counseling and encourages you to ask questions was ranked lowest (3.91/5.00). The overall pharmacy evaluation was 4.55/5.00. Conclusion: The patient satisfaction of pharmacy services was adequate at MOH hospital in East Province, Saudi Arabia. The outcomes showed a lack in pharmacists ‘interaction with patients and exertions should be focused towards involvement in a more patient-oriented training in Saudi hospital pharmacies.