Why Are Medication Errors In Nursing Homes So Common?

People generally move into nursing homes because they have medical support needs. They cannot live independently anymore, and their family members may not be able to provide them with the regular assistance they require for health and safety.

Older adults who need multiple medications sometimes move into nursing homes because of their care needs. Especially in cases where older adults require injectable drugs that they cannot self-administer, relocating to a nursing home is often the best option available. Unfortunately, it is shockingly common for the professionals working at nursing homes to make mistakes when administering medication to residents.

Why do people assigned to care for vulnerable individuals make so many mistakes?

Nursing home staff are often overwhelmed

A significant percentage of nursing homes operate under the control of for-profit businesses. The way that the facility functions prioritizes profit above all else. To keep the facility profitable, the company running the nursing home may minimize staffing.

The facility may have the minimum number of workers possible on schedule. The company may hire multiple professionals with minimal training for every licensed nurse or other highly-trained professional on staff. Such practices can negatively impact the standard of care of the facility.

Workers without much training can overlook mistakes that nurses and other experienced professionals could identify and prevent. Understaffing also puts pressure on how workers allocate their time. They may rush through patient interactions instead of dedicating their full attention to each resident.

Their choices might ultimately result in preventable mistakes with significant implications for the residents in their care. They might miss doses or mix up medications. They might fail to communicate to new workers arriving for the next shift about delays or adverse reactions to medications previously administered.

Distraction caused by visitors or other residents approaching a professional during drug administration can also contribute to elevated error rates when professionals dispense medications. Delaying pain or blood pressure medication by an hour is unlikely to have catastrophic consequences for patients. Providing them with the wrong medication or missing doses entirely could cause a variety of adverse outcomes.

Patients could have a negative reaction to a medication that they don’t usually receive. They might also experience a drug interaction if they receive the wrong medication or may experience an overdose if they receive too much of one drug in a short amount of time.

When medication errors result in adverse outcomes for nursing home residents, their concerned family members may have grounds for a nursing home negligence lawsuit. Holding facilities accountable for poor care standards is one of the only ways to convince them to put resident care needs ahead of short-term profit.