Report Example on Barcode Medication Administration

Introduction

The barcode medication administration system is one of the major patient care technologies that is highly used in clinical settings.
The system was discovered at the Colmery-O'Neil Veteran Medical Center in Topeka, Kansas, US (Saravani & Sheikhtaheri, 2017).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The barcode medication administration system is a technology device that was established to prevent human errors in all levels of medication (Al Mustafa et al., 2018). The system uses a mobile computer, a server, and software to connect to the barcode. The barcode gives health practitioners an easier way to determine the drug to administer as each medication has a unique code (Al Mustafa et al., 2018). In this case, the system relies on the use of code to enhance the application of drugs (Saravani & Sheikhtaheri, 2017). The key use of the system was to ensure patients are given the correct medication within the required time.

Training Requirements

The barcode medication administration system is one of the easiest technologies to learn how to operate. Normally, its training requires an understanding of how to fill and follow the codes within the software (Al Mustafa et al., 2018). In this case, understanding how to encode in barcodes is a key aspect that nurses are required to learn. The process is followed by learning how to measure drug performance according to the computer system (Saravani & Sheikhtaheri, 2017).
Nurses are required to rely on the system as it highlights the kind of medication to use.

Safety

According to Al Mustafa et al. (2018), the application of technology has assisted nurses in improving healthcare performance through quality and safe application of drugs. As such, the system has reduced numerous human errors that are experienced when nurses administer medication. According to Saravani and Sheikhtaheri (2017), the application of the technology system has promoted health care efficiency as it has improved how nurses follow the impact of drugs, thus reducing the effect that may arise due to poor use of drugs.

The system was developed by a nurse who was motivated by a car rental service that was using code to follow its activities. As such, nurses collaborated with the Department of Veterans Affairs in testing and promotion of the system across the United States (Saravani & Sheikhtaheri, 2017).

Conclusion

Before the establishment of the system, there were a lot of issues related to safety, and they were triggered by the rise of human errors during the administration of the drug (Saravani & Sheikhtaheri, 2017). However, the establishment of the barcode medication administration system has improved patient safety by minimizing the rate of adverse drug events and transcription errors. Furthermore, technology minimizes the harmful effect on patients that may occur due to administration errors (Saravani & Sheikhtaheri, 2017).

References

Al Mustafa, S. A., Khan, M., & Hussain, M. (2018). Implementing barcode medication administration systems in public sector medical units. International Journal of Decision Support System Technology (IJDSST), 10(2), 23-39. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/36d2/b53703e0b383428ab0b6234342b2270ce7b1.pdf

Saravani, S., & Sheikhtaheri, A. (2017). Assessing nurses â readiness in teaching hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences for using barcode medication administration system. Journal of Paramedical Sciences & Rehabilitation, 6(2), 69-78.
http://eprints.mums.ac.ir/318/1/JPSR_Volume%206_Issue%202_Pages%2069-78.pdf.