Evaluation of the Frequency, Type, And Reasons of Dispensing Errors at Enchini Primary Hospital in the Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia's West Showa Zone

Abstract

Introduction: Making ensuring the right drug is given to the right patient in the right dosage, the right form, with the right instructions, and in a container that retains the drug's potency is the aim of dispensing. However, only a little amount of data from Enchini Primary Hospital can be used to estimate the extent of dispensing errors and their origin. Objective: To enable taking the necessary action, and determine the different types of dispensing errors, their causes, and their occurrence in the pharmacy at Enchini Primary Hospital. Method: A cross-sectional prospective study using a systematic observational checklist was conducted at the OPD pharmacy at Enchini Primary Hospital from March to June 2022 (EPH). Extensive interviews with hospital pharmacists and druggists were also conducted to further investigate the potential causes of the dispensing error. Result: In this study, 384 patient prescriptions were analyzed, and the dispensing mistakes that were found were categorized into four groups: patient identification mistakes, content errors, labeling mistakes, and mistakes in patient teaching or counseling. There were 384 prescription papers in total; of these, 27.9% had been filled out without the patient's name, 59.9% without their age, and 59.9% without their sex having been confirmed first. Only 7.3% of the 733 drugs prescribed had labels including the drug name, patient name, patient's age, sex, and usage instructions. No medications have warning or expiration dates on the label. 11.5% of people also know where to store the medications. Of the 384 patients evaluated, none were aware of the side effects of the medications or how to treat them. Conclusion: The four main types of dispensing errors in EPH identified by this study are errors in patient identification, substance, labeling, and counseling. The biggest percentages go to labeling and patient identification, whereas the lowest percentages go to content error and counseling error. The pharmacist/druggist has discovered several causes of dispensing errors, including high patient workloads, illegible handwriting, poor dispensing surroundings, a lack of workflow systems SOP of the hospital pharmacy, and others.