“Don’t go to a teaching hospital in July.”

That is not a new piece of advice, traditionally given with a laugh.

No one can laugh at this new data. A just-published study shows that fatal medication errors peak in July—when new residents come into the hospital.

Is that inexperience the cause for an increase in the following serious medication errors? The data points to that conclusion.

• Accidental overdose of prescribed drug
• Wrong drug prescribed or taken by mistake
• Drug taken inadvertently (care-givers do not know patient has taken it)
• Drug accidents related to medical and surgical procedures.

What Can You Do If You Must Be a July Hospital Patient?

• Ask a friend or family member to take notes about medications you are to be taking, which doctor prescribed them and why you need them. This means someone needs to be with you at all times in July. Normally, the most important time to have personal help is from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., an error-prone shift in hospitals which has been identified through a number of research studies.
• Ask the nurses who bring in medications in any form what it is, who ordered it and why.  They are running hard. It helps if you ask in a neutral or positive tone of voice.
• Don’t feel shy about saying you are trying to prevent medication errors because you have only one patient to worry about and they have many. Don’t assume they are wrong. Don’t assume they are right. Check to be sure for the patient’s safety and peace of mind.  Hospital staff know about this issue. They should understand your concerns.

Science Daily (News Release)

“Are new medical residents a threat to patients? According to Dr. David Phillips and Gwendolyn Barker from the University of California, San Diego in the US, fatal medication errors peak in July in teaching hospitals in particular, which coincides with the yearly influx of new medical residents who are given increased responsibility for patient care. (Emphasis added)

“Their findings are published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, published by Springer.

“Phillips and Barker looked at the relationship between inexperience and medical error by focusing on changes in the number of medication mistakes (involving accidental overdose of a drug, wrong drug given or taken in error, drug taken inadvertently, and accidents in the use of drugs in medical and surgical procedures) in July, when thousands begin medical residencies. They tested the hypothesis that the arrival of new medical residents in July is associated with increased fatal medication errors.” (Emphasis added)

Source: Science Daily, June 2, 2010

Citation: Journal of General Internal Medicine. No abstract available. No citation information available. Subscription required.