Medication errors in a hospital emergency department: study of the current situation and critical points for improving patient safety

Objectives. To determine the frequency of medication errors and incident types in a tertiary-care hospital emergency department. To quantify and classify medication errors and identify critical points where measures should be implemented to improve patient safety. Method. Prospective direct observation study to detect errors made in June and July 2016. Results. The overall error rate was 23.7%. The most common errors were made while medications were administered (10.9%). We detected 1532 incidents: 53.6% on workdays (P=.001), 43.1% during the afternoon/evening shift (P=.004), and 43.1% in observation areas (P=.004). Conclusions. The medication error rate was significant. Most errors and incidents occurred during the afternoon/evening shift and in the observation area. Most errors were related to administration of medications.