Medical dispensing units
Medical dispensing units can be defined as computerized medical systems in hospital settings utilized for the storage of medication and the dispensing of the medicine at the point of care. Roman et al. (2019) reveal that medical dispensing units have positively impacted patient safety in hospitals in various ways that include their ability to reduce medication errors, reducing the time taken to administer medication, reduce the time that the healthcare providers require to collect medicines from the pharmacy, and the increment in service efficiency. By eliminating human errors in administering medication using medical dispensing units, these technologies promote patient outcomes.
Medical dispensing units are essential as they help reduce human error when administering medication to patients and are essential in saving time that a clinician takes to go through the shelves to collect drugs. The technology is also advantageous as it reduces the workload for nurses and other healthcare professionals by providing electronic administering of medication to patients, and promotes service efficiency by reducing medical errors within the institution (Metsamuuronen et al., 2020).
On the other hand, these units have disadvantages in their use in healthcare institutions. According to Chapius et al. (2015), the use of medication dispensing units requires the healthcare professional to possess high levels of bureaucracy in medicine dispensing, the need to complete balances and checks before the release of drugs, that occasionally, may time more time to administer medication. The pharmaceutic field will be charged with the responsibility of stocking the medication, a factor that is likely to cause friction in the institution. Moreover, since these devices use technology in their operation, professionals need to be adequately trained to gain the skills to operate these devices (Balka et al., 2007).
Chapius et al. (2015) state that one of the significant legal implications associated with the use of medication dispensing units in a healthcare institution is the fear of a security breach. Despite the use of devices guaranteeing the safety of the drugs, there is the likelihood of security breach such as hacking of the dispensing units, that could allocate drugs to wrong patients causing medication errors. In cases of a newly introduced technology, there is also the likelihood of altering the normal functioning of the dispensing system that could result in medical errors. Healthcare professionals are provided with the access codes to access medication through these devices. In cases where the nurse or clinician uses their access to these devices for illegal purposes, it is likely to cause a confidentiality breach.
Despite the changes being experienced in the various ways that hospitals dispense medicines, there are no ethical obstacles that the institution or the professionals are likely to face in their service delivery. There are no drastic changes caused by the system that may lead to ethical dilemmas since the tasks taken by all related parties remain the same. The system has been formulated to increase the institution’s service efficiency, thus reducing the instances of ethical dilemmas within the institutions (Chapius et al., 2015).
In the adaptation of these technologies to helping the vulnerable population, there is not much required to be done. One of the obstacles that an institution is likely to face when implementing the use of these devices is the cost of setting up the system.
There are no more adaptations required for implementing these devices into helping vulnerable populations as the systems are designed to service all patients without being biased based on service delivery or the cost of these services.
Risor et al. (2018) reveal that medication dispensing units impact patient safety outcomes by securing medicines’ storage. The safety of drugs results in patient safety. The devices also help nurses identify the correct medication for particular patients, which reduces medication accidents and promotes patient safety outcomes. According to Zaidan et al. (2016), the use of these systems in the hospital setting increases service efficiency in the medication process, improving the overall quality of care providers by these professionals.
The use of medication dispensing units in the nursing profession has significantly reduced the time taken to administer medicines to patients manually. According to Lehnbom et al. (2013), nurses in healthcare institutions that employed these devices reported a decrease in their work time by over six hours each day. These nurses also reported a reduced number of medical errors reported with the use of these devices. Lehnbom et al. (2013) continue to state that the use of these systems reduced the number of deaths in hospitals within the U.S. that implemented these devices by approximately 36%. The decrease in the mortality rate was achieved by reducing medical errors due to human error. Additionally, the implementation of these devices has also reduced the cost of medical services and has also eliminated the need for these institutions to hire workforce for medication distribution tasks.
The use of medication dispensing units has made work easier for nurse and other professionals in the nursing field by allowing them to track patients’ drug usage, administer drugs to these individuals, and has made it easier to access medication from the pharmacy (Roman et al., 2016). This technology has played a pivotal role in the effectiveness of the services provided in these institutions by eliminating human error in medicine prescription and administering drugs. The system helps the professionals ensure that all patients have received proper medications on a timely basis (Roman et al., 2016). By reducing medication accidents and promoting service efficiency, these devices also improve service quality.
The use of medication dispensing units reduces the time take to administer medication to the vulnerable populations. These individuals require a regular and timely prescription. With the use of these devices, healthcare professionals can achieve timely delivery of medicines and reduce medication errors through the use of these electronic devices (Zaidan et al., 2016). The use of these devices also has a positive impact on providing medication for the vulnerable population by making the drugs readily available for individuals with chronic conditions. The system also helps track the patient’s medication use, which allows the healthcare professional to assess the patient’s recovery process.
Practicing nursing in institutions that have implemented these technologies is advantageous as it reduces the nurses’ workload. According to Zaidan et al. (2016), over 91% of nurses working in institutions that have employed the use of these devices reported reduced working hours by approximately six hours. They also state that the use of these devices eliminated medication accidents that improved patient safety. For nurses working in institutions with the use of medication dispensing units are likely to record enhanced patient outcomes. These devices increase efficiency in service delivery and eliminate human error; therefore, they promote patient outcomes by reducing deaths due to medical errors.
Personally, working in such an institution that employs the use of these services will make work easier for me. The technologies will reduce the time for medical prescriptions and the time taken to collect medication from the pharmacy. Additionally, the use of the devices will also promote my services’ effectiveness by eliminating errors that I would have made as a human.
Medication dispensing units have been designed to store and allocate drugs to patients without biasness on the cost of the medicine or the value of the drugs. The devices also are designed to avail medications on time and can be easily accessed. These policies are appropriate for applying these technological devices in helping vulnerable populations as they re meant to avail the drugs on time and reduce the errors in administering these drugs.
I support the implementation of these technologies as they have a positive impact on patient safety and patient outcomes. Medication dispensing units reduce medical errors in administering medication to patients, which promotes patient safety. Statistics show that these devices have reduced the number of deaths caused by medical errors by over 36%, which has led to a reduction in mortality rate (Lehnbom et al., 2016). Through the elimination of human error in medication, the system increases service efficiency in these institutions. Additionally, the use of medication dispensing units also promotes the quality of care by increasing prescription accuracy.