Introduction to medication errors and the error prevention initiatives in a teaching hospital in Western Nepal.

Pharmacotherapy is a complex process and involves interaction of the patient and the healthcare professionals at various levels. Prevention of medication errors is important however, errors may occur even in a carefully monitored healthcare setup. The out comes of the errors may range from mild inconvenience to the patient to even fatal toxic reactions. There are several predisposing factors for the occurrence of errors starting from improper drug selection to errors in administration technique by the healthcare providers' and patients. Several methods can be employed to detect the occurrence of errors. At the Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal, the Department of Hospital and Clinical Pharmacy has taken the initiative in identifying the error prone situations and has taken remedial measures including educational and managerial interventions to minimize the occurrence of errors.