Enhancing Quality and Safety NURS-FPX4020 Capella University February 2021/2022

Enhancing Quality and Safety NURS-FPX4020 Capella University February 2021/2022 Introduction 1 ENHANCING QUALITY AND SAFETY Patient safety is key to high quality health care. Preventable adverse events in the hospital affect both patient care quality and patient safety. Despite technological advances in the healthcare field, medication errors seem to be increasingly highlighted, despite having advances to prevent such adverse events. Medication errors, both in the home and in a healthcare setting, are becoming more difficult to control due to polypharmacy with a growing geriatric population, lack of patient education in regards to medications, and mislabeling. In this overview, factors affecting medication adverse events and evidence based solutions to prevent errors and improve patient safety and quality of care are discussed. Factors Affecting Patient Safety Various factors affect patient safety in regards to medication administration and use. In an analytical study conducte