key terms
what is addiction?
compulsive and uncontrollable use of a drug substance for reasons other than prescribed.
what is Adverse drug error?
occurs when the prescribed drug initiates an allergy or an adverse drug interaction flag that was missed.
What is ADR (adverse drug reaction)?
a negative consequence to a patient from taking a particular drug, due to the nature of the drug itself, for certain vulnerable populations.
what is alert fatigue?
where the technician and/or the pharmacist starts to have a relaxed attitude and bypasses drug utilization warnings.
What is capture error?
an error that occurs when focus on a task is diverted elsewhere and, therefore, the error goes undetected.
what is contaminated product error?
when aseptic technique is not followed in compounding, and the drug is no longer sterile, causing a microorganism infection.
what is distraction error?
occurs when a technician or pharmacist is interrupted in the middle of a filling process and forgets a portion of key information or train of thought, and some information or a safety decision gets missed.
what is documentation error?
when essential information is not properly noted, such as a prescription, allergy, patient request, or other information in the medication profile, or not properly processing insurance or billing.
what is drug seeker?
a patient who is dependent on or addicted to drugs, who may receive prescriptions for the same or similar controlled drugs from several physicians and pharmacies.
what is a drug tolerance?
when the body adapts to a drug so that higher doses are needed to produce the same pharmacological effect.
what is an extra dose error?
an error in which more doses are received by a patient than were prescribed by the physician.
what is fear error?
occurs when a technician fears the consequences of speaking up and asking the pharmacist or the prescriber to double-check an element of the prescription
what is human failure?
an error generated by failure that occurs at an individual level.
what is incomplete information error?
occurs when full information is not available because the patient was not asked sufficient or proper questions, or the answers were somehow not recorded in the profile, or the patient withheld information deliberately or by accident of memory.
what is an incorrect assumption error?
occurs when an essential piece of information cannot be verified, and an assumption is made.
what is an iPledge program?
a specific risk assessment program for isotretinoin, which can cause a high incidence of birth defects if not properly monitored.
what is medguide?
printed information in which the FDA communicates side effects, adverse reactions, and black-box warnings for high-risk drugs.
what is medication education error?
when the proper medication materials and counsel are not passed on to the patient or the medication administrator.
what is a medication error?
any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the healthcare professional, patient, or consumer.
what is a medication noncompliance?
failure to take medication therapy as the physician instructs; also called nonadherence.
what is MEDMARX?
an internet-based program of the USP for use by hospitals and healthcare systems for documenting, tracking, and identifying trends for adverse events and medication errors.
what is medwatch?
a voluntary program by the FDA that allows any healthcare professional or consumer to report a serious adverse event associated with the use of any drug, biological device, or dietary supplement.
what is a mislabeling error?
when a medication has incorrect information on it, leading to the wrong use of it, or the wrong patient receiving it.
what is an omission error?
an administration error in which a prescribed dose is not given
what is the patient safety organization?
groups designed to collect and analyze error data from more than one health provider and offer quality improvement counsel.