The ???Never??? List: Promoting Patient Safety by Preventing Medication Error

Abusham Ahmed*

Medication errors represent the largest category of adverse events affecting hospitalized patients. Some fatal medication errors occurred as a result of administration of an incorrect drug and/or improper dosing of a drug. After repeated incidences of such serious medication errors, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization (JCAHO) has established essential patient safety goals requiring each health care organization to implement comprehensive medication reconciliation at admission, transfer, and discharge in a way that maintains patient safety at all times.
The purpose of this “Never” list is to present a gentle reminder to all healthcare providers to be more vigilant towards some serious medication errors.