Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Pharmacists are multi-tasking professionals. Most of the pharmacy works are done and accomplished by a registered
pharmacist. From the management down to client care, a pharmacist is always needed in a pharmacy to effectively
provide optimum service to the community with good quality and effective medicines. Pharmacist's important role is to
interpret prescription orders, dispense drug order and counseling patients regarding all information needed to know
about their medicine. But because pharmacists are multi-tasking individuals sometimes the most important key function
they must be is disregarded. Due to this circumstance dispensing errors occur.
Dispensing Errors
Dispensing Errors are errors committed by pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and/or any personnel who are involved in
dispensing medicines before, during and after the transaction with the client. Errors can be either human error,
technical, procedural or machine errors. These errors could be associated with the drug error, labeling error and
issuance error.
1. Drug Error
a. Incorrect drug dispensed
b. Incorrect strength dispensed
c. Incorrect dosage form dispensed
d. Expired/deteriorated/substandard drug
e. Failure to supply drug
2. Labeling Error
a. Incorrect drug name on label
b. Incorrect strength on label
c. Incorrect dosage form on label
d. Incorrect directions/warning on label
e. Incorrect patient name on label
f. Incorrect ward/cost center/ prescriber
h. Completely wrong label on bottle
3. Issuance error
a. Incorrectly given to wrong patient
b. Incorrectly bagged
Contributory Factors Affecting Dispensing Procedure Leading to Errors and Possible Remedies to Prevent them.
Errors and mistakes are sometimes inevitable and unavoidable. They usually happen unexpectedly. Pharmacists are also
human beings and tend to err also. But because of the seriousness and gravity of their function and responsibility that
can lead to patient's harm or even death mistakes has no room to their profession. I, too, had experienced dispensing
errors twice before but not that too serious. I believe that every pharmacist had experienced it. Nobody is exempted to
it. Maybe in your entire career at least once or twice you have committed it. Instead errors staying on you, you can turn
that in to a positive perspective. Take your dispensing errors experience as your learning lesson. A lesson that should not
be committed anymore and teaches you to be prudent and to love your work even more. Everybody deserves second
chance. Remember that you have earned your degree with hardship and you do not want to take it from you that easily.
Or worst of all you can be penalized for your wrong doings and be sentenced and thrown against bars that you do not
want to happen to you. Love your work, be happy always and smile each time a customer enters your pharmacy.