UNAIR NEWS – UNAIR FKM (Faculty of Public Health) with Patient Safety Research Center held a community service on “Health workers and community’ role improvement in preventing medication error incidents: Assistance program at the Sobo Community Health Center (Puskesmas), Banyuwangi. The community service was carried with a survey, continued with a webinar “Medication Safety for Community” on September 11, and training for health workers at Puskesmas Sobo, Banyuwangi. It was held online on Thursday, September 22, 2021.
“Thank you very much to the community service team for giving us new knowledge. We also thank the presenters who will later provide education on medication safety. Everything is solely for the community because our activities regarding the medication safety for patients are very important, especially for us as health workers who carry out the medication,” said Dadang Tripitoko, Skep.MSi., in his speech as the Head of the Sobo Community Health Center.
It invited one of the lecturers from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Airlangga, Apt. Elida Zairina, MPH, Ph.D., was invited as a speaker for the topic of “Improving Medication Safety.”
Inge Dhamanti, SKM., M.Kes., MPH., Ph.D., as the head of the community service, explained that the topic of medication safety was chosen due to research showing high number of cases related to medication errors.
“That’s why we think that this issue is significant to address. The problem is that not all incidents related to medication errors are reported. So we may see no cases in an agency because nothing has been reported, even though the incident may actually have existed,” she explained.
Furthermore, continued Inge, it is also necessary to establish a well-organized system in healthcare services. There are actually many causes of medication error cases, but we can focus on the knowledge of health workers, patients, and patients’ families as important keys to prevent medication error incidents.
She continued that it is also supported by the survey results from health workers at the Sobo Community Health Center carried out from August 4 to 20, 2021. The survey, Inge explained, aimed to explore the conditions regarding medication safety at the Sobo Community Health Center as part of community service activities in collaboration among the Faculty of Public Health Universitas Airlangga, Patient Safety Research Center, and Sobo Community Health Center.
This activity could increase the knowledge and awareness of health workers regarding the medication safety for patients and reduce the cases of medication errors. Therefore, the welfare and safety of the community can be ensured because basically, these activities aim to support the third Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), “Good Health and Wellbeing.”
“I really hope that this collaboration can continue because it is also our role as a higher educational institution to contribute to the benefits of the society. And hopefully, we can collaborate with other health centers in Banyuwangi regarding patient safety,” she concluded.
Author: Tyas Ratna Manggali
Editor: Nuri Hermawan (YA/AP)
