Controlling and Preventing Errors in Nursing Care of Pediatric Patients

This book offers nurses guidance about the most common and the more serious errors made in caring for pediatric patients, from infants to adolescents (ages 0-18 years), and how they can be avoided. Nurses play the largest role in patient care, and their overwhelming workload may sometimes lead to errors that are, in some cases, irreversible, putting a great deal of responsibility on nurses. This book is unique in identifying risk, potential, and actual errors, determining root causes, and identifying best practices. This book covers learning specific to pediatric patients, such as their frailty or their inability to communicate. It also reviews the predisposing and contributing factors (staff shortage, work overload, fatigue) and describes the types of errors, including omission, medication errors (prescribing, dosing), identification errors, and procedural errors to name a few. Consequences, detection, and monitoring for nursing errors are also included. The book describeshow errors can be avoided by taking the appropriate measures and how they can be adequately managed according to current evidence-based practice. Recommendations for further study are also provided. This is a valuable resource for professional nurses, as well as nurse educators, leaders, and mentors to train and guide their students and novice nurses.