Table 1 Categories of error types used in this study[15]
Prescribing | Dispensing | Administration and monitoring | |
|---|---|---|---|
Decision making | Communication | ||
- Allergy | - Allergy information | - Ambiguous information on label | - Contamination |
- Incompatibility errors | |||
- Calculation error | - Decimal place error | - Incompatibility errors | - Extra dose |
- Interaction drug and disease | - Ambiguous drug name | - Contamination | - Lack of control of patient identity |
- Expired drug | |||
- Interaction between drug and laboratory test | - Ambiguous drug prescription | - Omission of dose | - Omission of dose |
- Drug to drug interaction | - P.r.n. prescription without a maximum limit | - Omission of documentation of drug dispensing | - Lack of documentation of the drug administration |
- Extra drug | - P.r.n. prescription without a minimum dose interval | - Omission of control of the drug prescription | - Lack of control of agreement between administered drug and prescribed drug |
- Omission of a drug prescription | |||
- Wrong concentration | - Omission of indication for treatment including p.r.n.prescriptions | - Substitution error | - Unordered drug |
- Wrong drug form | - Unordered drug | - Wrong dose | |
- Wrong dose | - Unordered electrolyte | - Wrong patient | |
- Wrong dosing interval | - Wrong concentration | - Wrong dosing interval | |
- Wrong drug | |||
- Illegible handwriting | - Wrong drug form | - Wrong rate | |
- Wrong route of administration | - Omission of rate of infusion | - Wrong dose | - Wrong route of administration |
- Wrong duration of treatment | - Discrepancy between dose intervals | - Extra dose | - Wrong technique |
- Wrong strength/unit | - Wrong strength per unit | - Wrong time | |
- Omission of ordering laboratory tests | - Discrepancy between indication of dose | - Wrong dilution fluid | - Omission of documentation of side-effects of the drug treatment |
- Wrong transcription |