Medication Safety During Anesthesia and the Perioperative Period

1. Introduction to Medication Safety in Anesthesia and the Perioperative Period
2. Frequency and Nature of Failures in Medication Safety during Anesthesia and the Perioperative Period
3. Frequency and Nature of Failures in Medication Safety in the Intensive Care Unit and Ward
4. Impact of Medication Errors on the Patient and Family: Managing the Aftermath
5. Consequences for the Practitioner
6. Why Failures Occur in the Safe Management of Medications
7. Errors in the Context of the Perioperative Administration of Medications
8. Violations and Medication Safety
9. Interventions to Improve Medication Safety
10. Medication Safety in Special Contexts
11. Legal and Regulatory Responses to Avoidable Adverse Medication Events in Anesthesia and the Perioperative Period Part I: General Principles
12. Appropriate Legal and Regulatory Responses to Avoidable Adverse Medication Events in Anesthesia and the Perioperative Period Part II: Practical Examples
13. Barriers to Improving Medication Safety: Why is Patient Safety So Hard?
14. Conclusions.

With medication errors in healthcare an internationally recognised problem, this much-needed book delivers a comprehensive approach to understanding medication safety in the perioperative period. It reviews what medication adverse events are, and how often and where these errors occur, as well as exploring human cognitive psychology and explaining why things can go wrong at any time in a complex system. Detailed discussions around mistakes, judgement errors, slips and lapses, and violations, are presented alongside real-life examples of the indistinct line between negligence and inevitable error. The co-authors bring a wide and practical perspective to the theories and interventions that are available to improve medication safety, including legal and regulatory actions that further or impede safety. Essential reading for anesthesiologists, nurses, pharmacists and other perioperative team members committed to improving medication safety for their patients, and also an invaluable resource for those who fund, manage and regulate healthcare.

• The only book on the market offering a thorough review of medication safety with a unique focus on anesthesia
• Presents information from an anesthesiologist's point of view, with stories and examples that make the material relevant
• Takes a global view, exploring medication safety efforts in low income countries and offering the reader understanding of issues both in their local area and across the world

Alan Merry, University of Auckland
Alan Merry is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland.

Joyce Wahr, University of Minnesota
Joyce Wahr is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Vice-Chair for Quality and Safety in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Minnesota.