Abstract
In order to prevent adverse events in regard to medication, pharmacists at pharmacies and hospitals must be actively involved in the risk management of drugs.
As a first step for a risk management in regard to drugs at the Nanto General Hospital's pharmacy, an analysis of medical incidents was conducted and measures to prevent dispensing errors were taken. As a result, the number of medical incidents decreased significantly, especially, calculating errors. In addition, visual efforts such as medicine cabinets' arrangements and drug indications to prevent dispensing errors were newly executed. These steps effectively increased pharmacists' attention and consciousness to prevent medical incidents.
Furthermore, as another step of risk management in order to decrease improper preservation or use of drugs at the hospital, the volume, cost and factors of drug damages and injection-mixing errors were investigated. Pharmacists also suggested other measures to improve the work environment at other stations and to reform the overall consciousness at the hospital like wrong impressions and thorough confirmations of instructions by physicians. As a result, a decrease of drug damage and injection-mixing errors was observed.
Because of the improvement of the work environment and the reformation of the consciousness of each medical worker, risk management in regard to the drug supply at the Nanto General Hospital as a whole can be considered effective.
