What are the Most Common Medication Errors in Nursing Home Facilities?
Many people do not realize just how commonly medication errors are made in nursing homes. According to the National Institute of Health, 92 percent of nursing home facilities have reported medication errors, making it the leading type of nursing home neglect and abuse. Medication errors always have the potential to be devastating but when seniors are the victim, they are placed at much greater risk. As more of the population ages, more people are moving into these facilities, meaning even more seniors may be harmed.
If you have a loved one in a nursing home and believe they have been the victim of medication malpractice, your family may be entitled to compensation. Our Miami medication error lawyer can help you get it.
What is the Standard of Care for Nursing Homes Administering Medication?
Nursing homes have a legal duty of care to administer any prescription or over-the-counter medication prescribed or recommended by a resident’s doctor. There are five components in particular nursing home facilities that must pay attention to when administering any medication. Those are the drug, patient, route, dosage, and time. Essentially, staff members in nursing home facilities must make sure they are administering the appropriate medication to the right patient, in the right dosage, at the accurate time, and that they are using the right method to administer it.
Nursing home staff members must keep a medication administration record (MAR) for every resident that receives medication, which is most in these facilities. The MAR informs all staff members when medication was administered to a certain patient, to reduce the risk of overmedicating a resident.
What are the Most Common Medication Mistakes Made in Nursing Home Facilities?
Any time staff members are not vigilant about properly administering medication, a mistake can occur. Medication errors can occur in a number of ways, but according to one in-depth study, the most common of these are as follows:
- Failure to record the administered dosage, in 32 percent of cases
- Administering too much of a medication, in 14 percent of cases
- Administering too little of a medication, in 7 percent of cases
- Administering medication to the wrong patient, in 6 percent of cases
- Administering the incorrect medication to a resident, in 6 percent of cases
Although there are many different ways medication errors happen in nursing homes, there are also many types of drugs that are commonly administered incorrectly. These include insulin, oxycodone, lorazepam, fentanyl, warfarin, and hydrocodone.
Our Medication Error Lawyer in Miami Can Help You Make Things Right
No one should suffer from harm while in a nursing home, but it happens more often than most people want to believe. If your loved one has suffered harm, our Miami medication error lawyer at Dolan Dobrinsky Rosenblum Bluestein can help. We know how to hold nursing homes accountable for their negligence, and we will help your family claim the full compensation you deserve. Call us now at 305-371-2692 or fill out our online form to schedule a free consultation.