NR 520 Module 6 Assignment_Drivers of Health

Introduction Health-related policies are designed to support and protect the health and safety of an employee in the workplace and create a company culture of health. Health-related policies cover many aspects of health care. Some improve communication, prevent disease and illness, decrease human error and improve patient outcomes and safety. Patient safety is top priority in any facility. The use of electronic medication administration systems reduces the number of medication errors by verifying the “five rights” of medication administration every time a medication or vaccine is administered. Barcode medication administration systems operate on e-Mar systems and unifies all patient information in the patient’s chart where it becomes easily accessible to involved in the care of the patient. This paper will explain the purpose of health- related policies, how they impact the safety and quality of care a patient received and how the policies affect the practice of an advanced practice nurse. Policy Background and Purpose Barcode scanning systems reduce the chances of human error and electronically verify all patient data. Every time a medication barcode is scanned, a nurse is exercising the five rights of medication administration. The five rights of medication administration system is used to verify that a nurse is interacting with the right patient, administering the right dose of the right medication at the right time by the right route (Jessurun et al., 2021). This conformation is done by one simple scan of a medication barcode, vaccine barcode or a patient’s identification wrist band. Approximately 7,000 deaths occur in the form of errors that include ordering dispensing, administering or documentation. The use of a barcode medication administration system positively impacts the workflow for nurses by verifying patient information, increasing efficiency and improving workflows in facilities. services are down and often forcing nurses to revert to paper charting which can cause errors when information is being transcribed (Jessurun et al., 2021). When medications and vaccines cannot be scanned, extra caution should be exercised by the nurse to ensure that the five rights of medication administration are being followed. Clinics must be set up and programmed with the barcode medication administration system in combination with e-Mar for the barcode scanning system to be used. To help reduce the occurrence of medication errors, the BCMA was designed by Glenna Sue Kinnick in Topeka, Kansas in 1999. The implementation of the barcode scanning system was meant to enhance accuracy of medications administered and to transcribe information directly into a patient’s chart in real-time. These systems can alert nurses of any wrong medication being scanned, alert the patients allergies and notify of any contraindications before a medication is given. Approximately 87% of medication errors can be reduced just by using a barcode scanning system (Mulac et al., 2021). From an economic standpoint, medical errors raise the cost of healthcare and places stress on Americans to afford healthcare. To prevent unnecessary increases in healthcare, nurses should make every effort to prevent errors and utilize resources available to make practice as safe and efficient