Patients have right to know their drugs,  seek clarification when necessary – Experts  

In order to avoid risk of having adverse drug reactions capable of prolonging the treatment period in the health facilities in Nigeria, experts have advocated the empowerment of patients to know the drugs being administered on them and seek clarifications from their healthcare providers when they deem it necessary.

The call was made when the Occupational Health and Safety Managers in Nigeria, commemorated the Work Patient Safety Day with the National Orthopaedic Hospital Igbobi, NOHI, on Tuesday.

Speaking at the programme aimed to advocate patient safety to members of staff of the NOHI with the theme: Medication Safety with the slogan ‘Medication Without Harm’,  the Director of Nursing services, NOHI, Mrs Temidayo Rasaq-Oyetola, said where there is no medication safety, the patient is at the risk of having adverse reaction that can prolong his or her treatment period.

She said: “Patient’s safety should be  every stakeholder’s priority that will lead to delivery of efficient health care and best patient outcome. Also, every health institution should ensure medication safety with series of checks.”

Speaking on the gaps in the health sector particularly Nursing section to be addressed by the federal government, Rasaq-Oyetola, urged that nurses should be adequately remunerated.

She said: “FG should remunerate nurses adequately to prevent mass exodus of nurses to other countries.

It should provide modern equipment in hospitals to reduce the stress of Nurses and also provide a safe and conducive work environment for Nurses.”

Meanwhile, earlier in his remarks, the Medical Director of NOHI, Dr. Mustapha Alimi said that quality improvement is a necessity in every aspect of nursing care, not just in medication administration but in the overall patients care.

Alimi who was represented by the hospital’s Head Clinical, Dr. Oluwaseyi ldowu said: “Medication safety cannot be overemphasized to all healthcare workers and patients globally. The reality is that almost all of us will be patients at some point in our lives hence the need to get the right medication in a safe manner to reduce adverse effects and enhance efficacy at the same time.”

Similarly, in his presentations, an Occupational Health and Workplace Wellness Consultant and also the founding Chief Executive Officer of Occupational Health and Safety Managers in Nigeria, Mr. Ehi Eden noted that globally, more than 2.78 million people die annually as a result of workplace-related accidents or diseases, corresponding to one death every fifteen seconds. 

Also, available statistics have shown that there are an additional 374 million non-fatal work-related injuries annually.

Ehi, in his message, stated that there’s a need to empower patients for them to know the drugs being administered to them.

According to him, this will reduce some of the causalities resulting from adverse effects of patients’ medications.