The Joint Commission has named improving medication safety as a National Patient Safety Goal.

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality nearly 5% of hospitalized patients experience an adverse drug event (ADE), making them one of the most common types of inpatient errors.It is generally estimated that about half of ADEs are preventable.

Estimates are that roughly 10% of nurses are dependent on some type of drug. With that statistic, if you are not finding them in your facility you are not looking hard enough.