Medication errors were common in a single-center study of a burn unit, but interventions using a clinical pharmacist helped detect or fix many of these errors, according to research published in Burns. In the 4-month interventional study, Naemeh Nikvarz, PharmD, and a colleague reviewed the medication use process for all patients, using direct observation and chart review to identify medication errors. In total, 1,653 drugs were prescribed to 94 patients, with 259 medication errors detected, for a rate of 2.75 medication errors per patient. The most frequent kinds were prescribing error (61.8%) and dispensing error (14.7%), and the highest rate of error was seen with antibiotics. The clinical pharmacist intervention intercepted or adjusted 64.5% of all errors. “Providing clinical pharmacy services to burn patients to reduce the incidence of medication errors is highly recommended,” the researchers wrote.
