Mistakes are common in every profession and the care home sector is of no exception. CHUMS, 2009 found that “on any given day seven out of ten residents were subject to at least one form of medication error”. It is too idealistic to wish for an environment in which no mistakes are ever made, however, it is not so ambitious to plan for an environment in which the mistakes made are fewer than none.
A lot of this is affected by the processes that are in place by which medicines are administered. NICE guidance on managing medicines in care homes (SC1) states that care home providers: “should ensure that a robust process is in place for identifying, reporting, reviewing and learning from medicines errors involving residents.”
This is where a smart, responsive care home management comes in and can help you tackle common medication errors. Here are three ways in which Unieke’s eMAR system can help you avoid common medication errors.
Here is how Unieke’s eMAR system can help you avoid common medication errors
Alerts and Prompts
Most care home staff who are not using software must check every time to see if administering medication for a resident is due or not. Therefore, the alert and prompt feature will be a lifesaver for your staff. Once you input how often a medication needs to be administered and to whom, Unieke’s eMAR system can take care of the rest.
Accurate
Administering the medication at the right time to the right person with the correct dosage is where most errors occur. To alleviate this, our system can automatically provide the relevant dosage and time to minimise any errors. You also don’t need to worry about medicines running out or trying to keep on top of counting it every day as all of this will be taken care of in the system automatically. Bonus!
Fewer errors
The purpose of the eMAR system is to lower the number of mistakes that are made from prescription, administration and documentation of medicines. With eMAR, no medication dosage is missed as the care worker gets alerts before the prescribed time with the correct dosage and a full count of medication remaining for the required cycle.
