Dispensing errors in the course of dispensing practices of pharmacy personnel in the Western Cape, South Africa with the impact of medicine artwork as a primary endpoint.
| dc.contributor.author | Theunissen, Tané | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-10-21T08:36:17Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-10-21T08:36:17Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Introduction: On World Patient Safety Day in September 2022, it was communicated that medication errors resulted in an enormous negative worldwide impact worth forty-two billion dollars, on an annual basis (WFSA, 2022). This significantly worrisome statistic suggests that medication errors not only adversely affect the patient but also places a burden on the world economy. Medication errors are defined as any error that occurs during medication prescribing, transcription, dispensing, administration and/or monitoring. It is also an ever- remaining problem with many facets that requires investigation and reporting. Overall aim: The purpose of this study was to determine whether medicine packaging and its design plays a significant role in the dispensing of medicines and subsequently lead to medication errors in pharmacies in the Western Cape, South Africa. Methodology: The study has investigated some guidelines set out by well-known regulatory agencies about registering medicines and approving the medicine packaging of these medicines. The perceptions and experiences of registered pharmacy personnel (n = 16) practicing in the Western Cape were collected utilising a questionnaire. This was followed by a mixed method review and thematic analysis of their views on this point. Themes related to the study’s two sections were created and applied in the evaluation process and positive findings were retrieved. Results: The results indicated that the presentation of medicine packaging does affect the process of dispensing and contributes to medication errors in this province of South Africa and can easily happen in other pharmacies as well. The factors contributing to these errors were found to be noteworthy and meaningful recommendations were formulated accordingly. Conclusion: Visual aspects and design qualities of medicine packaging plays a key role and does carry at least some responsibility for medication errors pharmacies of the Western Cape experiences and contributes to faulty medication dispensing and consumption, and consequently a decrease in pharmacotherapy of patients. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10566/21098 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of the Western Cape | |
| dc.subject | Medicine Errors | |
| dc.subject | Dispensing Errors | |
| dc.subject | Medicine Artwork | |
| dc.subject | Pharmacy Errors | |
| dc.subject | Contribution To Pharmacy Errors | |
| dc.title | Dispensing errors in the course of dispensing practices of pharmacy personnel in the Western Cape, South Africa with the impact of medicine artwork as a primary endpoint. | |
| dc.type | Thesis |