Prac+Safe® and Medication Errors

Prac+Safe® was developed by experienced Clinicians & Academics and aims to develop proficiency in the key areas of medication safety to reduce medication errors. Prac+Safe® has tens of thousands of licensed users around the world with overwhelmingly positive feedback from users and institutions alike. Prac+Safe® works collaboratively with the Hospital and Higher Education sector and collects de-identified data about actual hospital and student errors. This data is used to develop genuine authenticity, realism and simulation.

Medication Errors are far broader and more complex than just dosage calculations. In fact, dosage calculations contribute to very few of the total medication errors that are made in clinical practice. Whilst Prac+Safe® comprehensively covers math and dosage calculations, it also includes critical thinking exercises which address the more complex areas of medication safety where the majority of medication errors actually occur. This includes: allergies, non-therapeutic doses, contraindications, recognizing that certain medicines require patient observation/assessment prior, during and/or following administration and correct documentation and management of withheld medicines. Prac+Safe® encourages and promotes (with user feedback) the development of critical thinking skills which is essential to safe clinical practice.

Medication Safety is a global phenomenon. On 29th March 2017, the World Health Organization launched an initiative to reduce severe, avoidable medication-associated harm in all countries by 50% over the next 5 years. Medication errors cause at least one death every day and injure approximately 1.3 million people annually in the United States of America alone. Unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading cause of injury and avoidable harm in health care systems across the world. Globally, the cost associated with medication errors has been estimated at US$42 billion annually or almost 1% of total global health expenditure. (1)1. WHO (2017).

WHO calls for urgent action to reduce patient harm in healthcare: https://www.who.int/news/item/13-09-2019-who-calls-for-urgent-action-to-reduce-patient-harm-in-healthcare
Medication Without Harm: WHO’s Third Global Patient Safety Challenge http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/medication-related-errors/en/