At least 1.5 million preventable medication errors occur in the United States of America each year. On average, a hospitalized patient experiences more than one medication error a day, (Institute of Medicine, Report on Preventing Medication Errors, 2006).
(Honolulu, Hawaiʻi) — The J.M. Long Foundation has made a $40,000 gift to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene to support the Safe Medication Administration Initiative. Their gift will support the purchase of five state-of-the-art Simulated Medication System packages. These computerized medication dispensing units prepare students for real life situations by letting them learn in safe, simulated environments. This initiative is a vital component of the curriculum offered within the UH Translational Health Science Simulation Center (UHTHSSC).
"Medication errors related to nursing practice include giving the wrong dose or wrong drug, overlooked allergies, and incorrect administration site," said Mary Boland, dean, School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene. She continued, "Because safe administration requires clinical reasoning and decision-making, simulation based learning provides the opportunity to provide education in a safe setting where patient risks are eliminated."
The Safe Medication Administration Initiative will ensure that all graduating nurses in Hawaiʻi are highly skilled and prepared to provide safe medication administration across health care delivery settings.
Please contact Nadine Little at (808) 956-3659 or [email protected] for information on how you can support the students and faculty at the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene. You can also make a gift online at www.uhfoundation.org/GivetoNursing.
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The University of Hawaiʻi Foundation, a nonprofit organization, raises private funds to support the University of Hawaiʻi System. Our mission is to unite our donors' passions with the University of Hawaiʻi's aspirations to benefit the people of Hawaiʻi and beyond. We do this by raising private philanthropic support, managing private investments and nurturing donor and alumni relationships. www.uhfoundation.org.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa serves approximately 20,000 students pursuing more than 225 different degrees. Coming from every Hawaiian island, every state in the nation, and more than 100 countries, UH Mānoa students matriculate in an enriching environment for the global exchange of ideas. For more information, visit manoa.hawaii.edu.
The School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene supports the mission of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa: to provide an innovative, caring and multicultural environment in which faculty, students and staff work together to generate and transmit knowledge, wisdom, and values to promote quality of life and health for present and future generations. To reflect Hawaiʻi's unique cultural diversity and heritage, the SONDH is committed to increasing Native Hawaiian and other underserved people in all nursing and dental hygiene programs. http://www.nursing.hawaii.edu/
The J.M. Long Foundation Joseph M. Long, an entrepreneur and co-founder of Longs Drug Stores, created his foundation, The J.M. Long Foundation, in 1966 as a way of giving back to others from whom he received during his lifetime. As Chairman of the Board of Longs Drug Stores, he noted: "In everything we have done I have never forgotten my mother's admonitions about caring for people; caring for those who work with us, caring for those we work for, caring for our fellowman. We go through this life but once. If there is anything we can do, or help that we can give, let us do it now, because we may not pass this way again.”
