CHEARS

The administration of the wrong medicament or dose of medication drug, diagnostic agent, chemical, or treatment requiring the use of such agents to the wrong patient or at the wrong time, or the failure to administer such agents at the specified time or in the manner prescribed or normally considered as an accepted practice.

They are nine categories of medication error as follows:

 

1) Omission error: it is the failure to administer an ordered dose. If the patient refuses to take the medicine it is not considered a medication error. Also in view of the recognized contraindication if the dose is not administered it is not considered a medication error.

 

2)Unauthorized drug error: This error means administration to the patient of a medication dose not authorized for the patient. problems like a wrong patient, duplicate dose, unordered drug, and misplaced drug.

 

3) Wrong dose error: Any dose that is being placed instead of which the above or below standards and numbers are obtained is called wrong dose error.

 

4) Wrong route error: It is the administration of a drug by a route other than that ordered by the physician . for example: if an eye drop is ordered , it includes dose given given by the correct route but the wrong side( right eye instead of left eye).

 

5)Wrong rate error: It resulted due to administration of a drug at a rate which is different from the rate prescribed or the one established by the hospital pharmacy.

 

6) Wrong dosage form error: It is the administration of the drug by correct route but in different dosage form. Any dosage form other than the one prescribed by the physician can be harmful without knowing its effects.

 

7)Wrong time error: It is the administration of a dose of drug greater than the time being or lesser in time. it can lead to overdosage and underdos

age.

 

8) Wrong preparation of a dose: Incorrect preparation of a medication , incorrect dilution, expired drug and mixing of drug can lead to wrong preparation of drug.

 

9) Incorrect administration technique: the drug being prescribed is not given by the correct route . Incorrect use of the administration device is also part of it.