Attend the free Oct. 20 webinar on preventing medication errors

Healthcare professionals can positively impact patient safety and their facilities' bottom line by attending the free webinar "Eagle Eye: Exercises in Reducing Medication Errors" from 1-2 p.m. ET Oct. 20. The event will be hosted by Nurse.com. According to the National Quality Forum, preventable medication errors create nearly $21 billion annually in wasteful healthcare spending. Those errors occur in 3.8 million inpatient admissions and 3.3 million outpatient visits each year. "Given the price tag associated with medication errors, healthcare professionals definitely can help decrease the costs associated with lost productivity, ED and urgent care visits, fewer admissions, shorter hospital stays, and resources such as provider and nursing hours or medications," Kim said. "In addition, patients and families who are more informed about their medications tend to have better health outcomes." Kim is a residency-trained pharmacist with experience in the long-term care and community settings. She also has worked in academia with the Touro College of Pharmacy. She is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. Healthcare professionals will get several key takeaways from the webinar. Kim said attendees will learn: o How to openly communicate with colleagues and patients about medications. o The importance of increasing voluntary medication error reporting. o Providing the best care for the patient means all healthcare professions must share the responsibility to reduce medication errors. According to the Institute of Medicine report, "Preventing Medication Errors," an effective way to reduce medication errors is to implement healthcare models in which healthcare professionals communicate regularly with patients and make communication a "two-way street." Healthcare providers should "inform their patients fully about the risks, contraindications and possible side effects of the medications they are taking and what to do if they experience a side effect," according to the report. "They should also be more forthcoming when medication errors have occurred and explain what the consequences have been." The webinar is accredited for registered nurses, physicians, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, registered dietitians and social workers. Healthcare professionals are invited to register for the webinar via the signup page. To comment, email editor@nurse.com.