Medication Safety during Anesthesia and the Perioperative Period

Covers how and why medication failures occur in anesthesia and the perioperative period, with essential information on safety interventions.

Alan Merry (Author), Joyce Wahr (Author)

9781107194106, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 March 2021

302 pages
26 x 18.3 x 1.9 cm, 0.79 kg

'a valuable contribution to the medical literature … This book will highlight important concepts in the prevention of medication errors and will definitely help the patients of those who read it.' Robert R. Gaiser, Yale School of Medicine

With medication errors in healthcare an internationally recognised problem, this much-needed book delivers a comprehensive approach to understanding medication safety in the perioperative period. It reviews what medication adverse events are, and how often and where these errors occur, as well as exploring human cognitive psychology and explaining why things can go wrong at any time in a complex system. Detailed discussions around mistakes, judgement errors, slips and lapses, and violations, are presented alongside real-life examples of the indistinct line between negligence and inevitable error. The co-authors bring a wide and practical perspective to the theories and interventions that are available to improve medication safety, including legal and regulatory actions that further or impede safety. Essential reading for anesthesiologists, nurses, pharmacists and other perioperative team members committed to improving medication safety for their patients, and also an invaluable resource for those who fund, manage and regulate healthcare.

1. Introduction to Medication Safety in Anesthesia and the Perioperative Period
2. Frequency and Nature of Failures in Medication Safety during Anesthesia and the Perioperative Period
3. Frequency and Nature of Failures in Medication Safety in the Intensive Care Unit and Ward
4. Impact of Medication Errors on the Patient and Family: Managing the Aftermath
5. Consequences for the Practitioner
6. Why Failures Occur in the Safe Management of Medications
7. Errors in the Context of the Perioperative Administration of Medications
8. Violations and Medication Safety
9. Interventions to Improve Medication Safety
10. Medication Safety in Special Contexts
11. Legal and Regulatory Responses to Avoidable Adverse Medication Events in Anesthesia and the Perioperative Period Part I: General Principles
12. Appropriate Legal and Regulatory Responses to Avoidable Adverse Medication Events in Anesthesia and the Perioperative Period Part II: Practical Examples
13. Barriers to Improving Medication Safety: Why is Patient Safety So Hard?
14. Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Peri-operative care [MNZ], Anaesthetics [MMB], Medicolegal issues [MBQ], Medical administration & management [MBPM]