Medication errors can occur during any step in the medication administration process - from the ordering by a healthcare provider to preparation by a pharmacist to delivery to the patient by a nurse.

There often are even more steps involving other members of the healthcare team, such as technicians or transporters.

As the final step in the administration process and the last line of defense against medication errors, nurses must follow the rights of medication administration to minimize the risk of medication errors:

Although errors may occur at any point, they are most common at the ordering or prescribing stage. During or following medication administration is when many types of medication errors in nursing are discovered.

Some Common Medication Error Types Include:
Failure to obtain or consider allergy history Consideration of patient renal or liver function
Causes of Medication Errors To reduce the occurrence of medication errors in nursing, faculty and nursing students need to understand the common causes of medication errors and the risk factors, such as poor communication, high volume, and lack of monitoring, that make errors more likely. Some Common Causes of Medication Errors Include:
Poor handwriting or translation Lack of consideration of patient age or other health conditions

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