Help - Pleeeeeeesw

[angel's RN]

I am taking a Pharmacology course, and I need some statistics on the number of Medication errors annually in the US, and in SC. Anyone have any ideas as to where I might find this information? I have looked thru (it seems like hundreds!!) articles online via my serch engine, and I can't seem to find what I am looking for. THANKS!!!!

[jimthorp]

You might want to visit this web site: http://www.nccmerp.org/

[lauralassie]

call your hospital pharmacy or call your state board of pharmacy. They usually have loads of info on any med or where to find the info.

[RNfromMN, BSN, RN]

I found a bunch of statistics here: http://www.cardinal.com/clinicalcenter/education/statistics/index.asp

About 42 percent of the U.S. public says either they or a family member has experienced a medical error. Although the public has been provided with actions they can take to protect themselves against medical errors, consumers are unlikely to engage in very many of them, according to a study supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (HS11500). Consumers with more self-efficacy (confidence in their ability to prevent medical errors), however, indicate that they would be more likely to take preventive action.

This is all regarding South Carolina from this website:

http://www.southcarolinamalpracticelawyers.com/news.cfm/Article/66286/Consumers-Unlikely-To-Engage-In-Protecti.html

So's this:

http://www.mederrors.com/poc/poc_5_1.html#4_1

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

Institute of Safe Medication Practices has a website too. www.ismp.org

Also, www.ihi.org

[Saifudin]

I did a presentation 2 years ago for the international day of nursing on patient safety and focused on this report. It is dated but a start. You can try the Institute of Medicine (iom.edu) and also try JCAHO. If you didn't search patient safety give it a try.

IOM REPORT

The issue of patient safety was shot into public view and stunned the American public and health care professions when in 1999 when the national academy of science's Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a report "To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. The report stated that between 44,000 and 98,000 persons die in US each year as a result of medical errors."

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

Be careful about quotes. The above one was what was printed in a lot of newspapers but the IOM report actually was based on an extrapolated figure. I have read the study. They did not survey every US hospital but took the stats from the ones they did survey and multiplied that by all the 4000+ hospitals to come up with a "maybe" figure. You could guess that from the fact that the high number was twice the low number, which shows it was manufactured, not real. Just want you to be aware since you will be graded on how you interpret the studies you read.